What is the relevance of the haka for new zealand before the start of a match?

Question

What is the relevance of the haka for new zealand before the start of a match?

Answer 1

It means absolutely nothing when translated. It is just a traditional tribal dance that is supposed ti intimidate the opposite team.

Answer 2

it boosts the tv ratings by allowing an extra ad-break before and after the haka and before the game begins

Answer 3

The Haka is a traditional Maori dance. It is a war dance and some of the words translate to death and rage. The original is the true haka, the new one with the throat slit is meaningless to the Maori members of the team

Answer 4

to sike the players, and scare the opposition. it is a Māori traditional dance, Haka are performed for various reasons in the Maori tradition, but the ones the All Blacks use are like the war ones and used as intimidation, like all war cries.

Answer 5

Although the use of a haka by the All Blacks has made one type of haka familiar, it has led to misconceptions. Haka[2] are not exclusively war dances, and nor are they only performed by men. Some are performed by women, others by mixed groups, and some simple haka are performed by children. Haka are performed for various reasons: for amusement, as a hearty welcome to distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements or occasions (McLean 1996:46-47). Various actions are employed in the course of a performance, including facial contortions such as showing the whites of the eyes and the poking out of the tongue, and a wide variety of vigorous body actions such as slapping the hands against the body and stamping of the feet. As well as chanted words, a variety of cries and grunts are used. Haka may be understood as a kind of symphony in which the different parts of the body represent many instruments. The hands, arms, legs, feet, voice, eyes, tongue and the body as a whole combine to express courage, annoyance, joy or other feelings relevant to the purpose of the occasion.

Haka are sometimes popularly thought of solely as war dances, but individual haka have different purposes, not all related to war. War haka, which had their own term, 'peruperu' were originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition. Today, haka constitute an integral part of formal or official welcome ceremonies for distinguished visitors or foreign dignitaries, serving to impart a sense of the importance of the occasion

Answer 6

There are many different types of "haka" used for different purposes. The one performed before the match is a war haka designed to intimidate the opposition. It was performed before battle to demonstrate the power of the participants. Hakas can be performed for many reasons and are used as a means entertainment for many groups, including women.

Answer 7

gonna sound duumb here, as I played rugby for donkeys years and follwed internationls all my life, but isnt the Haka a traditional welcome dance??

Answer 8

The answers from our knowledgeable Kiwi contributors are spot on, but the relevance to Rugby is this. On the 1905 tour of Britain, New Zealand were to play Wales at Cardiff as the opening match of the tour. The AB's performed the Haka in front of the opposing team and home crowd for the first time, in an almost spontaneous response the crowd started to sing the Welsh national anthem. From this was born the tradition of singing national anthems at every international Rugby match.

Wales went on to win 3 -0. The match was billed as the greatest game of Rugby ever played

Thanks All Blacks see you in RWC07.

Answer 9

Yeah yeah yeah. So what is the relevance? Te Rauparaha was possibly the greatest ever wartime maori chief. He certainly had the most renown by the settling Europeans. So when the  N.Z. rugby team (at that time not known as the all blacks) wanted to show their independance from mother England on a world stage they couldn't do it by singing the national anthem, which at that stage was the same as the british, so they chose Te Rauparaha's Haka, Ka Mate.  It hasn't always been done and very recently the all blacks chose to do it in their dressing room rather than on the pitch after a disagreement with welsh  rugby officialdom at the Millenium stadium. Since the 1980's however when the maori, Wayne (Buck) Shelford started captaining the side more and more emphasis has been placed on this 'tradition'. The new Haka, Te pango o Kapa was written especially for the All Blacks by a maori elder, and extolls the virtue of wearing the black jersey.  So what's the relevance? Man you decide, but whatever it is, it's a h**l of a way to start a rugby game and always sends shivers up my spine.  Go the mighty AB's!

Answer 10

this site explains it all. some of the above answers seem to be off the mark and that was before I looked online.

http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/ab...

Answer 11

It hasn't any relevance to the game. But it is a means of stirring up the blood of both the team and the spectators. And giving the "hurry-up" to the opposition.The haka is a War Chant made famous by the great Maori Warriors here in NZ.If you check it out-the Samoans have a war dance, and so do the Tongans.It is just traditional to pacific teams.