The Haka

https://hakatours.com/blog/haka-meaning/

 

The  Haka is the most iconic piece of NewT Zealand culture known in the world. Mainly because the All Blacks team perform it before every game. You may notice that they perform lots of different Hakas to different countries and on special occasions. For example, they perform a special haka for finals and semifinals, another for pacific countries, one for South Africa and another for the rest of the world. 

 The whole history and Geography of the Haka is not very clear. The meaning is deep in New Zealand culture. The old soldiers in the pacific island tribes would all perform their own Haka before battle. The Haka was used in order to rally the warriors together and to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. The different hakas would have been designed by the tribal leaders and the village elders along with the warriors of the village. The Haka has been an inspiration to warriors, rugby players and others alike, it is a symbol of the old Maori culture in New Zealand and has lived on for centuries.

The Canoes

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The old Maori Canoes that were used to travel between islands in the area and to explore new lands up until the late 19th Century, were called Kurahaupó, after the first tribe to build them.

There are many legends associated with the canoes in New Zealand mytology. The people of New Zealand made thin and light boats to move quickly between islands. They needed strong men to board these canoes in order to keep the boats stable in case of storms and emergensies. The men that would have piloted the boats had to build themselves up in order to complete such a task. The rowers trained for moths and years building themselves up for the boats. They also had to build themselves for war as these were traditionally war canoes and there were lots of rivalries.

The Canoes themselves would have traditionally made out of birch bark, and eat tribe would have special craftsmen to make such boats.

One legend about canoes is about the first ever canoe. It states that one day whilst an old maori man was walking on a beach, we saw lots of sweet potatoes floating on the water, he quickly swam out to them and brought tem in. To his suprise he found that a single strip of birch bark had kept them afloat, the old man then spent the day crafting the piece into a piece that could support two men. He then revealed it to his tribe leader who exclaimed that it was a masterpiece.

As you can see from the following video the All Blacks are composed of a truly world beating squad. This is the product of centuries of hard working genes that I have explained in my past post. The New Zealand to constantly produce quality teams is what lets them dominate the sport.

https://pixnio.com/free-images/miscellaneous/oceania-geopolitical-map-of-oceania-725x487.jpg

New Zealand has been famed for the last century, as the greatest rugby team ever. But how is this? And how are they able to replace their players when they retire with players of equal quality?

    As you might see from this map of Australia, the amount of Islands that are scattered along the sea. To communicate amongst the islands, there would be teams of 12 men rowing from island to island. This is one of the reasons that men from the pacific islands around Australia develop muscle extremely fast. It has been shown that 80% of growth of muscle height and weight is to do with genetics and the rest I due to lifestyle. In the early 20th century, the most common job in new Zealand was farming, which requires lots of manual labour, which would indeed improve your muscle mass. The food eaten at the time was very healthy a contributed to the muscle gained and well-being of the people.

Hello. My name is Andrew and this is my blog outlining the New Zealand Rugby Genes and comparing the New Zealand genes with Genes from around the world.