Sunday, August 18, 2013

Haka.

Haka. Probably an unknown word for you as it was for me before I heard it during class. The Haka can be a song, a dance or a Maori tribal dance ― an indigenous tribe native from New Zealand. Commonly, people know the Haka as a war cry and a dance from the Maori tribes performed to intimidate and make known his power before the battle, but the Haka has many others features. For example, not only men can do it and may also be expressed as a homecoming dance or even be performed in funerals. More commonly, the Haka is performed by the All Blacks ―New Zealand national rugby union team, which performs to intimidate his opponent during matches.

The Haka consists in a series of body movements including opening the eyes (very largely) and contorts the tongue. Also, moving the feet, arms and other body parts very violently because the thing they want to express here is simply: intimidation. Intimidate the opponent and vindicate the Maori culture. All gestures they make are just to show how warriors they are (and can be). The Haka express war, rivalry and power and it can also been understood as an invocation of Maori mythology.

 How has a provocative connotation towards rival The Haka despite being a sample of New Zealand culture has not been without controversy. The All Blacks have performed since the 1880s in every game they have had official so the history of problems with other computers is not short. Probably the most prominent controversy: during the 2007 Rugby World Cup France national team stood a meter confronting New Zealand's All Blacks while they performed the Haka, and kept looking at them during the rituals (a fact that was later sanctioned by International Rugby Board).

This is definitely a beautiful and provocative form of expression, is a living form to show the culture from the ancestors and convey the spirit and goodwill of these to the next generations. As the Haka has a violent tint, and has had many controversies in the sport. Do you think the Haka breaks the good intentions of sport to transform it from a slightly more aggressive and competitive? (Even more so in the case of Rugby)



 Here I leave a video of the traditional Haka during the 2007 Rugby World Cup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebZVMc0NKZs
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3 comments:

  1. Fernando TroncosoAugust 18, 2013 at 6:37 PM

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    1. Fernando TroncosoAugust 18, 2013 at 6:38 PM

      All I knew about the Haka is that it was the dance that make the All Blacks (New Zealander rugby team). But after the peer teaching that our classmates did and this post I realized that what they trying to do is not just body movements or intimidate the opposite team, but behind all this dance there is a meaning and a story about their ancestors, the Maori. I think we can make a comparison between the Haka (Maori, New Zeland) and Hoko (Rapanui,Chile) in which both dances show their history and culture through body movements. Good post

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  2. UnknownAugust 18, 2013 at 7:43 PM

    I didn´t know anything about the haka either. But, as my classmate Fernando wrote, I learned about that dance of the Blacks, the newzealander rugby team, in the peer teaching of last wednesday the 14th. and now with your post.
    It amazed me all the different ways that a person has to express his/her self and I thing that this is an amazing and very good way to scare you oponent! hahaha
    Thank you for posting this interesting information about the haka! it's always nice to learn about different but interesting things.

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