Olympics 2021: Watch New Zealand’s haka after their historic win
We often think of sports as mere entertainment. It adds no value to the complexities & essentials to the world. We don’t think of athletes as being amongst the people who change the world since they play games for a living and that’s all. But none of the previously mentioned statements are even close to the truth! What’s interesting about society is that stories aren’t the only thing uniting us. Games unify the human race too!
According to the International Olympic Committee, “The goal of the olympic movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”
Like the movies & shows we watch, the Olympics are a continuing source of fond memories and inspiration. Watching a sports victory often feels like a scene in a movie that makes you joyously emotional to the point where you just can’t stay still.
Watching the whole game is just like watching a show or movie. Plus, there’s always that great suspense. You never know what’s going to happen. And the Olympics 2021 are no different! Remember New Zealand’s haka after their historic win?
The Haka
Victory always calls for celebration, especially when history has been made – the kind of history that tomorrow’s generations will read about in books and see in documentaries & movies! Clearly, celebration can come in many ways but art is probably the best way – through music or dance. Let’s talk about dance.
Perhaps, by now, you’ve heard of the Haka. It’s a type of ceremonial Māori dance. Performed as a group, it’s filled with symbolic meaning. The Haka illustrates a tribe’s pride, strength, and unity which wears heavy resemblance to what the Olympics stand for.
The dance includes tongue protrusions, foot-stamping and rhythmic body slapping, alongside a loud chant. The most famous were performed by men with the chief reason being to frighten enemies while beginning a battle.
The dance was born in New Zealand as a tradition of the Māori people.
New Zealand Black Ferns
The New Zealand Black Ferns just brought the Haka to their victory this weekend. They celebrated their gold-medal in women’s Olympic Rugby 7s with a certain version of the Haka. It was meant to reveal all the fierceness & focus that guided them to their win over France in the final at the Tokyo Stadium on Saturday.
The version was called ‘Ko Uhia Mai’, or ‘Let It Be Known’. The Black Ferns faced what they deemed a disappointing silver-medal performance in Rio five years prior. But they definitely made it up to the 2021 Olympics!
Captain Sarah Hirini told reporters, “It’s pure joy. I just think about everything that we’ve had to do to get to this moment. I thought about all the people back home who have helped us, also the players who trained hard but missed out on getting here.”
“To win this is pretty crazy and it’s something where you look at your teammates and think, ‘We finally did it. We’ve done it for New Zealand.’”
Historic Win
There’s a notion sneaking around that success, and failure is like a fork road. One path is success, the other is failure. But success & failure are really like a zig zag. The truth is: failure is a part of success. Every great leader & winner throughout history has had many failures. Those who are successful use those failures to their advantage.
The captain went on to talk about how the Black Ferns used their disappointment of losing to Australia five years prior. “It’s a pretty special group to be part of, where there is a genuine love for each other. I am sure you’ll see when we get out of quarantine that we’ll all continue to hang out together.”
Victory is a great source of lasting friendships.
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The Olympics 2021 will probably bring plenty of great friendships! What are your favorite moments so far? Let us know in the comments!
