Brandon DeJesus
02/06/14
Music’s of the World
Thomas Bingham

The Haka The Haka, or dance of war, is an ancient Maori dance used to demonstrate a tribes pride, strength, and unity. The Haka was performed for many different occasions in Maori culture, but is most known for its use in pre-battle ritual. Its purpose on the battlefield was to intimidate the opposition before the battle has started. In modern day society the Haka has been reformed into a different meaning. It is now widely renowned as a pregame ritual for the New Zealand rugby team the All Blacks, and has previously been called “the greatest ritual in all of sports.” The Haka origin date is still unknown, but it grew to be known worldwide in the early 1900’s when it was introduced as a pregame ritual by the New Zealand rugby union team. Haka such as the “Ka Mate” and “Tena Koe Kangaroo” became a pregame tradition for all rugby teams in New Zealand. These teams looked forward to not only perform the Haka, but to also show off to their fans. Many fans of rugby tend to revere the All Blacks as the best rugby club in the world. Fans of rugby all over the world watch in awe as the best team in the world performs the most intense pregame ritual known to man. Many fans demonstrate their loyalty to their favorite teams by performing what is now known as a Flash Haka. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puXad30DSfg This video demonstrates the amount of pride and loyalty fans have in their team. Many Flash Haka are usually done when a team is competing in some form of tournament usually across seas. A friend of mine told me he witnessed a flash Haka when the All Blacks came to compete in a tournament in Las Vegas. The fans seemingly come out of nowhere to perform in a public area. Though the Haka was originally a Maori tribe tradition, ruby has turned it into an internationally known