22 March, Pipitea Marae.
A Saturday, a little windy, a little cloudy, a little quiet at the Parliament end of the city.
People started wandering towards the marae atea, expecting to stand and wait to be told their next move, expecting someone would call them forward toward the wharenui in the form of a karanga that might pierce the warm late morning air in a melodic manner.
But it wasn’t so.
Instead, one of the authors themselves, stood at the gate and greeted families and individuals as they arrived, the other, stood indoors and welcomed them into the large meeting space. There was a relative informality to it, a familiarity, a blend of cultures and ages all together in a semi-circle of chairs, chatting and waiting; curious about what the event would bring.
Where the launch of Guidebook 1, was a formal affair; full pōwhiri with wero, whaikōrero and demonstration; it opened the eyes of guests to the beauty of Māori ceremony and celebration. For Guidebook 2, the intent was, rather, to share explanations about the martial art and what actually was in these books, and encourage those who have never tried, to give it a go.
We began with a mihi whakatau, a shorter introduction. Matiu, who naturally loves to speak, let out a chuckle and advised the group that we weren’t even going to start with talking about what we were all gathered to hear about, we would be going straight into the dining room for a cup of tea and a chance for whakawhanaungatanga (getting to know each other). The informality sought to break boundaries between cultures, between backgrounds and experiences and this was heartily supported by both our guests, but also by our wonderful hosts, Ngāti Pōneke, who fed us twice in two hours! Here, there was the opportunity for people to really talk to each other, and to feel comfortable in each other’s space, and in-between, to sit with their bellies full, and listen to a little of the magic of TUMA.
The best of my planning can never really anticipate what will happen in a presentation however. When my slick powerpoint suffered a few technical hiccups, it offered a moment of pause and laughter. And then I had it set it so that we would each have a about five to ten minutes to talk….. nice try! Matiu’s 5 minutes soon turned into nearly an hour as his excitement about the topic took over. One guy in the back was snoring….. we later learnt he had just returned from a tangi, – phew! Māori are often rushing from one event to the next, supporting their family and peers where they can; and this event was no different. A few were then called upon to support in other ways, karakia and kōrero from Brent, Mikaere and Eric – we really were blessed by the positive energy around us.
Nothing like the delicious scent of Thai food to get us back out of our seats (and into some others!) Tuakana and his team had out done themselves and provided a feast, leaving our guests overwhelmed by the hospitality.
Now that’s some way to launch a book!
If you are interested in learning more – head to our bookshop or get in touch