Wakinaguri Tan Mei had a break apart cane.  Wakinaguri's version was a straight Walking Stick and not a shepherd's hook cane like most of Taika's students began this kata with.  As Taika decided to teach this kata, he was trying to develop something that all his students could take anywhere for true Life Protection.  The Shepherd's Hook cane was easily recognized in modern culture as a non-threatening device.  These were also cheap in the non-break apart form so his students would have readily cheap access to them.  As Taika was beginning to disseminate this break apart kata, he decided to do it in steps.  He intended to teach the cane portion (the part you see here) and then later teach the break apart (tanbo portion).  

 

He had great difficulty finding a product that worked.  He wanted a wooden straight cane but the availability of the shepherd's hook version of cane was quite available in U.S. culture and easy to take on a plane.  He wanted a practical weapon his students could carry with them anywhere, including on a plane.  He thus changed the straight cane to the hooked version.  He was unable to get a good quality break apart wood cane into production prior to his death.