Over the last week we have been revisiting a kapa haka favourite ‘Ka pioioi’ with Matua Henare. We are learning a new kapa haka skill to add to this classic.
Tītitōrea - These are a type of traditional Māori sticks or a stick game that is performed to waiata. Our students have been learning to hold these wooden tītītōrea and striking them, tapping them on the ground, against each other, or throwing them to a partner. It has been impressive to see how quickly the children picked these skills up. They learnt to throw a tītītorea upright into another person's opposite hand while keeping a beat. This has been great for our hand eye coordination.
The original purpose of Tītītōrea - In the past Tītītōrea have been used to train warriors by building hand-eye coordination, wrist flexibility, and quick reaction times essential for hand-to-hand combat. In our context it is a little different. These days Tītītōrea remain a popular educational game and tool for performing arts. The many benefits that come from tītītorea are very similar to the learning we did earlier on with our Poi Toa. When we are expecting our children to work on transcription - the fine motor skills of writing, we are asking them to use a multitude of skills. To develop our fine motor skills we need to also develop our gross motor skills too. All of that combined is a big ask ! Tītītōrea is a great way to do this while singing and working together.
We are looking forward to showing you more of our polished Tītītōrea skills next term after we have had a few more opportunities to practice !
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