A "taiaha".
Anybody coming at me with one of these while I'm in my own home is going to find him or her self rapidly collecting .45 diameter holes in their chest and skull.
And I won't stop till they're dead, Maori sickness or no.
L
The article mentions a "taiaha" as being a "long club" -- it isn't, really: the "long club" is a very different weapon.
The "taiaha" is about the length of a quarter-staff, is elaborately carved, and has a sharpened wooden "paddle-shaped" blade on one end, and a sharp "spear-point" shaped blade on the other (sometimes made of greenstone or jade, just as often carved out of wood). It is made of dense, heavy an strong hardwood, often manuka (one of the trees that renders tea tree oil). The spearpoint end is surrounded by a feather collar, which is used both as a distraction and as a means of stopping blood from making the rest of the taiaha slippery.
It is used something like a quarterstaff, something like a Japanese Katana, and something like a bayonet, something like a baseball bat and something unlike any other weapon I've ever encountered or am aware of.
There is an entire Maori martial art surrounding its usage. In skilled hands, it is much more effective than a rifle/bayonet combination as the British colonial soldiers often found out to their cost. It is supposed to be one of the most lethal edged hand-weapons known to mankind.
The martial art dedicated to its use looks much like a dance (well, it is, sorta -- a very real, very dangerous dance). Quite frightening to watch, while being very entertaining and thoroughly effective as well.
So, this burglar packing one of these should have been treated as seriously as any person carrying, say, a large edged weapon to the scene of a crime: it isn't just for decoration. It will be interesting to see if his defense is successful.
The article also mentions a "tapu" -- as I understand it, a "tapu" is something like a curse, something like a societal convention, something like a "taboo".
(I am not Maori, so the concept doesn't easily translate for me. But, like I said, I believe there may be a grain or two of truth in these concepts -- at very least.)
*DieHard*
Tonight, having drunk about 22/3 third of a 5th of jack danials I believe this to be absolutely true. So help me God.
A crazed native violently enters an occupied dwelling armed with a slashing weapon intent on doing violence to the innocent occupants of said dwelling.
The dwelling occupants fire a shot at this miscreant who by his own admission is out of his mind at the time.
And your authorities have charged the folks who were defending themselves because they fired a shotgun?
Is that about right?
I'll wait for your answer before I state categorically that your legal system is stark, raving, gibbering, slobbering mad.
L
A "taiaha".
Anybody coming at me with one of these while I'm in my own home is going to find him or her self rapidly collecting .45 diameter holes in their chest and skull.
And I won't stop till they're dead, Maori sickness or no.
L
Makes you wonder what the courts would have done if the homeowner had actually killed the dirtbag in question.
In a way I'm glad that I didn't' hang out too long with that beaut of a Maori babe from NZ, whom I met in Nepal. She was quite the stunner, and had the NZ accent which IMO works better for women than the Aussie version.
But there were some oddities about her which I've always thought were cultural rather than personal or individual.
Here in the US we have the "Twinkie" defense.
Is this the same nonsense that we see in the USA where some people are automatically forgiven for their crimes because of their background/origin?
Before I finished the first sentence, I had high hopes that this thread was about Sandy "the burglar" Berger.
I read the headline of this article and thought this had to be about Sandy Berger...
Oh no! not another liberal attorney's client excuse!!!!!
Rehabilitaion? of coarse! He was a victim!
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
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