Watching the opening “performance” of the England V New Zealand “All Blacks” yesterday, I became aware of the communication which was taking place between the players.
The “All Blacks” performed their Hakka. The haka is a war dance. The words are chanted loudly (shouted) in a menacing way accompanied by arm actions and foot stamping. A haka was traditionally performed before charging into battle. Watching and listening to the menace being shouted I could feel intimidated and I was only watching TV! The England players retaliated with staring down the opposition and the England supporters rallied their team with a rousing chorus of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” which is synonymous with the glory days when England won the World Cup.
A war cry or battle cry is used to cause intimidatation and give a competitive edge. There have been numerous instances of these being used throughout history.
The Biblical account of the Battle of Jericho has the battle-cry of the Israelites, amplified by horn-calls, collapse the fortifications of the city under siege the Biblical account of the Battle of Jericho has the battle-cry of the Israelites, amplified by horn-calls, collapse the fortifications of the city under siege.
The Ottomon Turkish cried Allah Allah.
“Dieu est mon droit” “God is my right” The kings of England are reputedly to have used going into battle.
The rebel yell used by the Confederacy as they went into battle – used to rouse the troops.
Although the opposition may not able to understand the words the way they were communicated supported by the body language and the unblinking stare leaves the receiver in no doubt as to what is meant!!!
A story in The Mail described a 15 year old boy Kadeem Blackwood and the two faces that he presented to the world “smiling school boy” and “scowling gangster” as he became the latest victim of gun culture. Looking at those two faces one would hardly recognise the same person.
Communication has many forms and the way some are used brings fear not only into the street but into the office. We use body language, tone of voice, words and facial expression on a daily basis to communicate a variety of emotions good and bad. The sarcastic comment, the sneer on a face, the shouting and belittling of the bully to a weaker colleague – show intimidation strategies are still alive and worse successful.
Hello
I have watched many times the Haka in all forms and find the whole aspect of the war cry intense. At the Rugby Leauge World Cup the England team formed a circle whilst it was taking place which upset the NZ team so much that they crossed the half way line (something they do not do) and performed the Haka next to the Eng team. Not very respectful of us and in any case just annoyed the NZ team that they went on to beat us by a wide margin!!!
The use of intimidation is all to evident in this day and age – bullying in the classroom, in the workplace and in general life seems to be on the increase. It is how we tackle the bully that matters and that we are seen to make a stand and say NO we will not tolerate this.
So do we seek to stop traditions such as the Haka or do they still have a place in life? I would say that they do but we recognise them for what they are – just traditions
This resonates with the current Barnardo’s campaign “Children in trouble” which uses research that 45% of us apparently think that children are “feral”. Their ad shows images of a girl being treated badly then acting in an aggressive way.