"Ka Mate" - HAKA
Leader: Taringawhakarongo! (Ears open!)
Kia rite! Kia rite! Kia mau!(Get ready...! Line up...! Stand fast!)
Team: Hī! (Yeah!)
Leader: Ringaringapakia! (Slap the hands against the thighs!)
Waewaetakahiakiakinoneihoki! (Stomp the feet as hard as you can!)
Team:Kia kinoneihoki! (As hard as we can!)
Leader: Ka mate, ka mate (You die! You die!)
Team:Ka ora' Ka ora' (We live! We live!)
Leader: Ka mate, ka mate (You die! You die!)
Team:Ka ora' Ka ora' (We live! We live!)
All:Tēneitetangatapūhuruhuru (Here stands the Hairy Man...)
Nāna ne I tikimaiwhakawhititerā (who can bring back the sun so it will shine on us again!)
A Upane! Ka Upane! (Rise now! Rise now!)
A UpaneKaupane" (Take the first step!)
Whiti terā! (Let the sunshine in!)
Hī! (Rise!)
Being born in India, Rugby was a relatively unknown sport to me until my High School. One day duringmy summer vacations, while scrolling through the TV sports channels, I found something terrifying. A group of heavyweights with extremelymuscular limbs who were wearing an all black jersey with their eyes wide opened and tongue out looking like monsters with vigorous movements like slapping of hands vigorously on their body and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment, in a big ground being watched and applauded by the crowd in the stadium and with their opponents (war opponents?) watching them visibly terrified.
The act was new to me, and as a 15-year-old who watched it, I got frightened, tensed and thought what it was all about. After some time, the match, that was relatively not known to me, began. Although the game looked like football, the players who carried an oval ball in their hand were physically and brutally tackled by the opponent players. The player who had the ball passed the ball to his team members and together they moved towards the opponent’s goal post that was visibly taller than the goal posts in traditional football.
Although I lost interest watching the game soon and flipped through the channel, the memories of that dance (or was that a war cry?) remained in my mind for long. On googling it later, I found out that what I had witnessed was Haka,performed by the great Rugby team of New Zealand.
A haka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge of the Māori people of New Zealand which the New Zealand national rugby union team, the "All Blacks" perform before their international matches.It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment.
Performed by the national side before every kick-off, the dance involves the stamping of feet, slapping of hands on the body and several facial contortions involving the tongue and eyes.It generally begins with the words: "Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora!", which means: "I die! I die! I live! I live!"
It was first performed by the New Zealand Native rugby team in 1888 and 1889.Up until 1986 it was only used by the All Blacks at away matches, but it is now an integral part of their pre-match ritual for every game.The haka is enjoyed by spectators, andis considered to be an attempt to intimidate the opposition before the match begins.
Apart from frightening the opponents, Haka bonds the New Zealand Rugby team psychologically and physically in to a tight unit. It makes the team feel connected and builds rapport. For many All Blacks fans, it is a matter of pride and culture and about a challenge to their opposition and for all the Rugby fans in the world, the Haka does bring some drama to the game. The fact that Haka gives an edge for the All Blacks can be proved by the fact that they are the most successful team in the history of Rugby Union.
Below are few YouTube links of the entertaining Haka performed by the All Blacks Team. Advise to watch it in full volume in your headphone:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yiKFYTFJ_kw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vnvI6V-TtLs https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofj3dCKyI38
Arun John Cherian HR Department Indel Money Pvt Ltd