Respect for the Haka

[Citroënbender]

I was exposed for the first time today, to an unrehearsed haka at a wake for an acquaintance. It's hard to put into words, how profoundly different this was, to what is almost a "showboating" performance in many sporting and social events with an NZ connection.

To witness someone quivering with energy, as if every fibre in their body is hyper-focused, on point and almost supernaturally driven, to feel the ground shake as feet pound, to observe absolute silence as all commands complete attention - this was beyond remarkable.

Even now, eight hours later, I'm still battered by the emotional "charge" of this experience. It's given some insight into how confronting and terrifying the Māori warriors must have been to colonial arrivals.