Understanding Rugby: The Haka
6 08 2007With the Rugby World Cup just around the corner, With Malice… will explore some of the history of the game. Today, the haka.
So, the Haka. Why? Why do the All Blacks do the Haka at the beginning of rugby matches? What’s it’s purpose?
The Haka is simply a traditional dance native to New Zealand’s Māori people, and there are many different kinds of haka. But for all intents & purposes, we’ll be looking at the ones performed by the New Zealand national rugby team: The All Blacks.
The All Blacks perform two haka - the ‘Ka Mate’ and the ‘Kapa O Pango’. The Ka Mate is the traditional haka, and it was first performed as part of the pre-match ritual for the All Blacks in 1906, and is basically a celebration of ‘life over death’.
Here are the words to the Ka Mate, with translation…
Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! I die! I die! I live! I live!
Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! I die! I die! I live! I live!
Tenei te tangata puhuru huru This is the hairy man
Nana nei i tiki mai Who fetched the Sun
Whakawhiti te ra And caused it to shine again
A upa … ne! ka upa … ne! One upward step! Another upward step!
A upane kaupane whiti te ra! An upward step, another.. the Sun shines!!
Hii…
And as performed by the All Blacks…
The Kapa o Pango is a recent creation, and is more related to the All Blacks as an entity than the Ka Mate Haka, tho’ many would argue that the Ka Mate is a more integral part of who the All Blacks are. Although Māori cultural experts were consulted in it’s creation, it initially upset many people. Some argued that it didn’t truly reflect Māori culture, as it’s newly created. Some thought that it was far too aggressive - initially it did incorporate a throat-slitting gesture, which has an entirely different meaning in Māori culture - the drawing of vital energy into the heart and lungs, but that has since disappeared, being replaced with raking the right arm across the body.
Words & translation of the Kapa o Pango…
Kapa o Pango kia whakawhenua au i ahau! All Blacks, let me become one with the land
Hī aue, hī! do one Ko Aotearoa e ngunguru nei! This is our land that rumbles
Au, au, aue hā! It’s my time! It’s my moment!
Ko Kapa o Pango e ngunguru nei! This defines us as the All Blacks
Au, au, aue hā! It’s my time! It’s my moment!
I āhahā! Ka tū te ihiihi Our dominance
Ka tū te wanawana Our supremacy will triumph
Ki runga ki te rangi e tū iho nei, tū iho nei, hī! And be placed on high
Ponga rā! Silver fern!
Kapa o Pango, aue hī! All Blacks!
Ponga rā! Silver fern!
Kapa o Pango, aue hī, hā! All Blacks!
And as performed by the All Blacks (a handy clip with words/translation)…
Often, it’s used in advertising - Adidas, the All Black sponsor, have used it in advertising campaigns… the New Zealand Bakery of the Year… but my favourite ad with the haka is the Adidas one where some of the All Blacks describe what the haka means to them.
Now… as to why. Watching the Haka is a pretty amazing experience. It is an aggressive display, regardless of the meanings of the actual words - and it really fires the players up, readying them for the clash ahead. However, the All Blacks haka is backed up by their amazing on-field success, the sheer brutal force of will that the All Blacks assert upon the game. Samoa has the Manu Siva Tau, Fiji has the Cibi and Tonga has the Kailao - an awesome clip here of the Tongans performing the Kailao right back at the All Blacks - and all three of these are actually war dances: all far more warlike in origins & motions than the haka… but it’s the Haka that has the impact. Purely because not one of these island nations enjoys the success that the All Blacks do.
As such, the haka is intimidating. Every performance is a reminder of just how good this team is. Without a doubt, one of the most dominating presences in any sport.
One last clip: a whisky add asserting that the Scots, are just not… intimidated.
With Malice… will be having a heap of rugby news/articles from a wide variety of folks from all over the world - be sure to check!
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I don’t think its fair on the rest of the world teams - the South African team has great warcries too in several of the country’s 12 official languages, but we are too polite to use it!
The Springboks are talking about a Zulu war dance in response to the haka. The haka is one of the fabulous bits that make international rugby matches such fun to watch.
Watching The Haka is one of the most intimidating experiences ever. Just thinking about it is enough to give me the chills. I love how opposing rugby teams line up together to watch the Haka before each game. I wonder if anything like that would ever happen in say American Football. I can’t imagine the Bengals putting their arms around eachother to watch another team perform like that.
I will say this though, watching the Kiwi basketball team do the Haka is freakin’ hilarious. Nothing like scrawny 6′9” guys trying to be intimidating
[...] Great hitters who also pitched. [One More Dying Quail] • Understand, and fear, The Haka. [With Malice] • The EPL’s starting real soon. [Oh, You Beauty] • To the ground, Bears [...]
I don’t know much about rugby but I do love the haka. Are the other teams forced to stand there and watch them? Could they just turn their backs and walk away?
If an NFL team tried to do that I guarantee and brawl would break out.
Watching these clips manages to raise the hairs on the back of my arms and you can see why it’s so effective.
@Marc - the other teams are not forced to stand and watched. However, they do for several reasons.
1) To watch your opponents try and scare the bejesus out of you and you *not walk away* is a psychological bolster to you as a player and your team. Turn your back on the opponent? Exactly what they’re looking to achieve.
2) Walk away and you’d be crucified as an ill mannered wuss.
3) The England team tried the opposite a few years ago, whereby they got up close and personal during the haka, and virtually prevented the leads from doing the last jump. *They* got crucified in the press as ill mannered wusses, preventing the All Blacks from completing a time honoured traditional pre-battle warmup.
Take it like a man, as that’s the only you’re gonna get through it.
Indeed Nordie. There’s actually a clip in the article to when the Tongan team responded with their own Kailao mid-way through the All Black Haka - now THAT was awesome!
The haka one of the great traditions in world sport and a marvellous reminder of the positive roll that traditional culture (even when adapted) can have in modern business (which professional rugby certainly is).
A whole lot more meaningful than a bunch of blokes standing around scratching themsleves while trying to remember the words to their national anthem. (Actually international rugby teams are a lot better than US sports teams in this regard - all the Spingboks actually seem to know the words in all three languages, and all credit to them for doing so.)
[...] Understanding Rugby: The Haka With the Rugby World Cup just around the corner, With Malice… will explore some of the history of the game. […] [...]
Moon ‘em,I say…Like all teams,,the Not So Whites get to sing their National Anthem…That’s it !!! No more gee ups allowed…Stuff the tradition….How about American Indians doing a war dance….How about the Indian cricket team having a one minute meditation…How about the Poms eating a Pork Pie…How about the Kaffas chucking a few spears around…How about the Aussies indulging in a couple of tinnies…All time and tested national traditions…
Stuff the dole bludgers….
Bloody MOON ‘EM..
“Are the other teams forced to stand there and watch them? Could they just turn their backs and walk away?”
No team is “forced” to watch the Haka, each team decides on the response… Unfortunatly for the Welsh last year the WRU decided they didnt want the ABs to perform it on the park, so the boys did it in the changing room…
final score of that match… 45-10
Agreed zneakyp - one thing you’d better do (if you’re opposition), and that’s face up.
Big Al,
are you serious. The haka is as important to rugby as the law against forward passes. You want boring watch another sport. If you want exciting atmosphere and great matches leave the haka alone. “Dole bludgers” indeed.
cheers,
rb
What a great article. As I understand Maori tradition, to stand and face the haka is to accept the challenge. So, for that reason it is better to stand and face up to the Haka. As mentioned, those that have tried other things, have done so to their own downfall.
Richard Brown,,where in any rule book does it state that the haka is part of the game….It may be important to you,but it means jack sh1t to me..It’s a bloody game of football for crissake,,not some cultural exchange…Ban the bloody thing,,and dont give them a free gee up….Hang on,,how many World Cups have they won doing it????How many has Australia won ??? Maybe let them do it,,if it helps them to choke again !!!!!
Sorry Al, gotta go with the others on this - as my article intimated. Happily entertain discussion about it tho’!
I still hold to my belief that if various teams are allowed to do their cultural intimidation routine, then the Australian team should be allowed to as well.
That, of course, giving the opposing team the one fingered salute and crying out ‘F*** you, mate!’.
It’d be a classic.
I agree, the haka is a great spectacle - even for a non-kiwi perspective. There is nothing worse than missing the haka before a NZ Test - especially before a Bledisloe!
I do think that it is a gee-up for NZ, and gives them some sort of a psychological advantage, but the major teams have seen it enough times they should have learnt to deal with it by now!
It would be a damn shame if it was ever boycotted again, like what happened in Wales…
Agreed Jimbo. I’m an Australian, but I love the Haka.
Keep it! It’s the only thing some of us furriners know about Rugby. And that’s better than nuthin’ right?
>I still hold to my belief that if various teams are allowed to do their cultural >intimidation routine, then the Australian team should be allowed to as well.
>That, of course, giving the opposing team the one fingered salute and crying >out ‘F*** you, mate!’.
Bingo.
Im half italian and our national salute has to do with our arm being bent at the elbow.
This primitive display will start a brawl one day…. cant wait.
Or until the next team decides to fellate each other on the field… “Hey, were from San Fran…its part of our culture”.
terry
re: Matt
I still hold to my belief that if various teams are allowed to do their cultural intimidation routine, then the Australian team should be allowed to as well.
That, of course, giving the opposing team the one fingered salute and crying out ‘F*** you, mate!’.
It’d be a classic.
Willie Mason did pretty much exactly that last year in the Tri-Nations. As they panned over the Aussies, you could clearly see him say “Get fucked.” I’m thinking they heard him too, because he copped quite a bashing in the match.
Look out Don..The tide is turning…I have a few other supporters of the One Fingered Salute and Brown Eye Staredown !!!!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Don’t the aussies do Waltzing Matilda before the games.Mind you it’s not quite as imtimidating as the haka..LOL>
Sometimes, tho’ not for a while - generally it’s been the crowd at home games.
Most recently (tho’ still a while ago), the Aussies did tackling practice immediately after.
Damn I must be losing my memory.I watched all the tests this year, and I couldn’t remember if the did waltzing matilda..sigh..
[...] Understanding Rugby: Other War Dances 31 08 2007 I’m posting this after getting a request as to what other war dances exist that are performed at the beginning of Rugby… after doing my piece on the All Black haka, Understanding Rugby: The Haka. [...]
Dude, great piece on NZ’S hakas and ty for translating kapa o pongo into english.
Was my pleasure. I got quite a bit out of doing this piece.
[...] far the best of these pre-game war dances is that done by the All Blacks of [...]
I’m a Melburnian and get a kick out of the All Blacks’ haka when they play us. I reckon you blokes who don’t like it are just wimps - jealous because all we can do is sing Waltzing bloody Matilda. Good on the Kiwis for sticking with an indigenous tradition for 100 years so it’s got class and pedigree that no amount of anti-branding whingeing can devalue. Kiwiland is a small place but boy, hasn’t its rugby generations done it proud! We tease the shaky islanders about it but really, it’s a passion we Aussies should respect and understand given that we’re sporting mad ourselves and hate losing. So NZ is better at rugby than we are - usually. Can’t we afford to be generous? Sure, let the Boks and others get something going with an ad agency’s help - but you can’t give it the century of performance and respect the haka has.
Best thing we can do is watch politely then try to tear the black bs to pieces!
I think the Haka is a waste of time and should be done in the change rooms prior to going on the field. Why do a few nations get the opportunity to perform in front of the others for a psychological advantage? Why are the other teams forced to watch such rubbish? The fact that many of the All Blacks have no connection to Maori culture makes it even more bizarre. Perhaps the Wallabies/Springboks/Pumas could do the Haka too with as much relevance? Tana Umaga lead the aka as a Samoan, Rockokoko(?), Jerry Collins, Nonu, and many others are as much Maori as they are Chinese. Perhaps Felix Wong will lead a Haka in the future. Keep it in the change rooms and get on with the game.
No.
[edit].
Idea.
From someone running an advert-board masquerading as a blog.
BTW, removing the link on your name…
I am an American that was just introduced to the Haka by a girl at work. She mentioned her high school football team performed it before their football games.
Watched some videos of the ALL BLACKS vs. TONGA pregame haka, and the hair stood up on the back of my neck.
GOOD STUFF!!
It takes balls to stand there and watch it performed, and then TONGA did their own war dance right back at them. Even ballsier…
RUGBY has now replaced american football as my sport of choice.
The teamwork involved in performing it correctly helps build the TEAM mentality.
Think as one, play as one…
It may account for quite a bit of the teams success
[...] Understanding Rugby: The Haka [August 6, 07] Written just prior to the Rugby World Cup, a look at one of the most recognizable [...]