The new fitness comp boosting te reo and hauora Māori at the same time

Developed by the Kapa-Kīngi triplets, the first-ever Māori language crossfit-style purposeful health competitors is going down this month, with the goal of elevating Māori well being and language concurrently.

Three Māori males of their mid-20s, the Kapa-Kīngi triplets, are combining their passions for lifting Māori well being and championing te reo with a fail-proof system that Māori love – competitors.

Mātātoa is a crossfit-style purposeful health competitors based by brothers Heemi, Tipene and Eru Kapa-Kīngi, who hail from Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa, Waikato and Te Whānau a Apanui. 

“Mātātoa is a illustration of two issues that my brothers and I are keen about, te reo and health,” says Eru Kapa-Kīngi.

Competition is one other essential ingredient. “That’s the whanaungatanga component,” he says. “Kei roto i a tātou te wairua whakataetae, we thrive off competitors. I runga i te wairua pai, all of us love a little bit of that. That’s why so many Māori do kapa haka, so as to add that aggressive component,” says Kapa-Kīngi.

Functional health works for Māori

For Eru Kapa-Kīngi, crossfit and purposeful motion is a pure space for Māori who wish to enhance their well being and health in a workforce surroundings.

Most individuals who do kapa haka will do some type of purposeful coaching, in order that they’ll have one foot in that realm, and one other foot in te ao Māori and te reo Māori,” says Kapa-Kīngi.

The triplets are long-time health club goers and former footy gamers who made the shift into crossfit up to now few years. The features for Eru Kapa-Kīngi are quite a few.

“You don’t get concussion such as you do when taking part in footy, te mea te mea, it’s a pleasant outlet for coaching and it most likely aligns extra to how our tūpuna would have skilled – purposeful stuff, working, climbing hills, coaching the bodily and psychological resilience,” he says.

One of the exercises for Mātātoa is known as “upoko pakaru”, which is tied to the Māori proverb “kaua mā te waewae tutuki, engari mā te upoko pakaru”. It encourages us not to surrender after we’re dealing with adversity, however to push by way of.  

For Kapa-Kīngi, his whakapapa Māori and kōrero tuku iho is how he channels his inside power.

“When you’re proper in that darkish place, i roto i te pōuri, I take into consideration my tupuna Te Houtaewa. He was famend for his athletic skill, he ran up and down Te Oneroa a Tohe and he was recognized for that. If I’m out working, I’m excited about embodying my tupuna,” he says.

Kapa-Kīngi is a powerful believer in bodily health being an integral a part of our total well being.

“We wish to see extra Māori for the well being advantages so we are able to alleviate a number of the unfavorable stats round hauora inside our iwi.

“Māori are a reasonably gifted bunch, so for lots of Māori who couldn’t crack it in footy, in case you nonetheless like coaching and health, bro, crossfit is a imply approach to do it,” he says.

Tipene Kapa-Kīngi and Kerri Johnson competing within the CrossFit nationals in 2020; and Tipene, Eru and Heemi Kapa-Kīngi coaching collectively (Photos: Supplied)

Normalising te reo and kaupapa Māori

Functional health is large. The basis of purposeful actions is a well-liked approach for athletes throughout a number of codes to coach, though the emergence of crossfit has seen a brand new world business stand by itself toes.

The introduction of te reo into these areas is a pure development and embodies how far efforts to normalise and revitalise te reo have are available 50 years.

Mātātoa has been supported by Te Mātāwai, an impartial entity arrange beneath Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Act) to advertise using te reo in the neighborhood, with the concept being to allow rangatahi to create a future the place our tradition is normalised in all areas.

“You don’t need to be a mātanga reo, or a prime athlete both. All our wero are reorua, all our comms are reorua. At the second the language getting used is on the introductory section,” says Kapa-Kīngi.

The workout routines within the competitors are being launched on Instagram in a series of “wero” videos, with all of the actions having kaupapa Māori behind them.

“One exercise has rope climbs – that pertains to Tāwhaki who ascended to the heavens. Another exercise focuses on leg power, associated to Tāne who separated his dad and mom Ranginui and Papatūānuku,” says Kapa-Kīngi.

The vary of actions centres round gymnastics-based health, power and cardio.

“My brothers and I’ve put collectively a glossary of all of the actions and tools in crossfit, and translated them to advertise the usability of te reo even in that area, even when they’re jargon phrases,” says Kapa-Kīngi.

Burpee has been translated to “papa peke”, and pull-up is “tō runga”, whereas a squat is “tūruru”.

The brothers hope that by way of the competitors, the kupu will probably be normalised within the health group.

“It’s a Pākehā-dominant scene, however this is only one a part of our world and because the saying goes, ‘whakamāoritia tō ao, tukua te reo ki ngā wāhi katoa’ – ‘render your world as a Māori one, mission te reo Māori into all areas’. And that is a type of areas, your crossfit health club,” says Kapa-Kīngi.

As the competitors progresses, the objective for the Kapa-Kīngi brothers is that te reo Māori and te reo health will develop alongside one another.

Ngā piki me ngā heke – the ups and downs

It hasn’t all been straightforward reps, with the pandemic placing all bodily occasions in the previous couple of years in jeopardy. Mātātoa was no exception, with the unique competitors date having to be postponed.

“It’s a kaupapa about hauora, so who would run a kaupapa that may successfully put the well being of the attendees in danger? So that was a consideration for us, to find out the most secure time for the occasion to happen,” says Kapa-Kīngi.

The modifications had an influence on the provision chain for tools, however the trio are grateful for the help of quite a few native gyms who’re practising manaakitanga and supporting the kaupapa by lending gear to assist the motion rise up and working.

Filling a niche available in the market

If demand is something to go by, Mātātoa will probably be breaking out right into a dash in years to come back.

“The response we had was huge, it’s the primary one among its sort and there was an enormous uptake,” says Kapa-Kīngi.

Participants will probably be travelling from all around the nation to Tāmaki Makaurau later this month to check their health whereas partaking with and uplifting our native language.

On the day registrations opened up, all three divisions bought out in beneath two hours. An occasion for these over the age of 18, there are 70 groups in complete and 30 groups on the waitlist, with a cap of 140 athletes this 12 months.

For this primary competitors, athletes will compete in groups of two, female and male.

“He ao takirua te ao Māori, it’s very a lot primarily based on twin realms, being whatukura and māreikura, not strictly gender, however it aligns with how we’ve determined to group our groups,” says Kapa-Kīngi. “We assume that’s acceptable in te ao Māori paradigm,” says Kapa-Kīngi. 

As the competitors grows, the brothers will open it as much as extra groups and a masters division.

“The objective is to maintain rolling and have this as a crossfit equal of IronMāori. That’s how that kaupapa began out – some Māori bought collectively, chucked a kaupapa collectively, now it’s enormous,” says Kapa-Kīngi.

The new date has been set for June 18 at CrossFit Waitākere in Tāmaki Makaurau, proper in time for Matariki, after we will see who’s topped the nation’s Mātātoa.


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https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/02-06-2022/the-new-fitness-comp-boosting-te-reo-and-hauora-maori-at-the-same-time

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