The All Blacks, the international rugby union team of New Zealand, perform a haka (Māori traditional dance) immediately prior to international matches. Over the years they have most commonly performed the haka “Ka Mate“. In the early decades of international rugby, they sometimes performed other haka, some of which were composed for specific tours. Since 2005 they have occasionally performed a new haka, “Kapa o Pango.”

This traditional psyche-up dance is actually a story that explains how chief Te Rauparaha of the Ngāti Toa iwi (clan or tribe) evaded his enemies in 1810 by using a cunning maneuver. He supposedly hid in a food pit storage under a woman’s skirt. When he climbed out, he found someone standing over him. Chief Te Rauparaha thought he was a goner, but the man was actually another chief friendly with Te Rauparaha. Because of the good fortune that bestow him, Te Rauparaha sang a haka with the words -

It is death, it is death: it is life, it is life; this is the man who enabled me to live as I climb up step by step toward sunlight.

These words stuck and are used today in every haka performed. They are interpreted as a celebration of life over death.