slippery

This will probably upset many on here but does anyone feel the same way as me about the Haka. Lets face it in 2007 it’s a bit of a silly thing to do.
If you translate the words they mean bugger all to anyone. All over the world sticking your tongue out and making your eyes bigger does little more than make people laugh. But then you are not allowed to laugh as it is disrespectful apparently. But surely it is more disrespectful to be glaring in peoples eyes whilst screaming at them and making slashing motions across the throat.
If the Haka was originally intended to intimidate opponents either in battle or playing a silly game it clearly does not work anymore if indeed it ever did. The French for example hardly seemed bothered did they and lets be honest their track record for having a scrap is embarrassing.
Now any small island in the Pacific is also doing its own silly song and dance routine prior to any rugby matches …………and they all lost too!
Save the Haka for American tourists, they will enjoy it and more importantly pay for it.

teambwr47

It looks even more out of place when you have obviously white, european descendant players doing it....

How does it fit into their historical past exactly?

Ever since i first saw it as a kid when Wales played NZ i thought it was just funny and still do now. The French were very amusing in the way they stood up to the Haka and one or two even pulled faces at the NZ players as the haka came to an end.......

I think more teams should do something to counter the Haka in future games...

I remember one team actually walking as group right into the NZ team as they did the Haka a while back....

Its the tradition for a NZ team i guess and lots of sports have traditions thats fine but it looks daft......

slippery

Take a look at this and look out for the little guy at the end

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ96rNaHR_E

Terrifying and given with such passion.

garryhg

sorry folks but i love watching it and so do the kids,i would imagine being in a stadium watching a game would be a great experience,and the atmosphere would be electric...keep the haka.....jacky

garryhg

doesn't have the same appeal,they don't even know what they are supposed to be doing

Ted Logan

It's a war dance, trying to scare the enemy off before going to battle.

I for one think its great(again I biased), especially when you have two going at the same time ie AB's v Tonga

teambwr47

Dressing room prior to the game......

'Right guys the coach has just remembered we have to do this Haka thing that the Moari's used to do back home sometime in the distant past....its a tradition eh.....'

'Lets have a little practice i know one or two of us kind of know and the rest will pick it up, just do any kind of dance if you can't get it or get out of time.....no one will notice and it'll be sweet as guys'

"Some bloke over there said its a war dance and will really put the sh*t up the other team....either that or they'll be weak with still laughing at us for most of the game....either way hopefully it'll help....eh'

slippery

It didnt scare the English off all those years ago though did it. They just dropped anchor and told the locals to keep the noise down.
Its a pity that the AB's and Aus never got to play each other as I think the Aussies had something planned for the pre-match warm up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVlGDa5mx28

Love it.

garryhg

southerner

I think thats the great thing about it, that all kiwis are proud to do the haka, its become more than just a Maori thing.

Fortunately most rugby fans (the world over) disagree with you and love watching a haka, especially live.

However, away from rugby I think the haka is way overused by non-AB teams...

Thydney

slippery

Maz

That's just ... odd.

Avid

I've seen photos of the haka being done in the 1920's and it's clear that it was all a bit of a joke.

This photo claims to be 1905 version...even sillier. The caption shows clear self-denial on the part of the archivist.

It's only recently, I've heard, that a po-faced attitude towards national identity has crept into Australia and New Zealand....with a new-found interest in Anzac Day and taking the haka seriously....

slippery

Absolutely Avid.
The third line of the Haka is

Tenei te tangata puhuru huru
Which translates to-
This is the hairy man

Maybe it has a meaning after all