New Zealand Tall Blacks Haka Explained
I never knew that the new Zealand basketball teams nickname was the tall blacks but I love it
Wait till you know what our badminton team is called
It’s Black (Shuttle)Cocks isn’t it?
Yep lol the black cocks
Average Blacks?
The black clocks
Keep guessing.
Gay blacks
Honestly? Not that far off.
why is the cock word associated with badminton ?
Because its a game of slapping cocks
I thought it was a typo and I’m so glad it’s not.
The wording in the other post about the US team being “forced to watch” is so weird
Honestly was a disgusting thread. Just shows how uncultured Redditors really are when they pretend they are a bunch of intellectuals. Even having grown up in Hawaii the haka was present at things like graduation, sports games, etc.
People on Reddit are miserable. They see a culture doing something that celebrates their culture and is fun and get upset about it because they gotta be contrarians.
You don’t understand, the us players had to watch. I’m sure this was really a horrible experience for them.
No it wasn’t, the haka - and specifically the sanctimonious demand that opposition teams respect it - has been a hotly contested issue for decades. Even among many NZers the haka has become a source of cultural cringe, particularly after we reached “peak haka” the 2006 Commonwealth games when Dave Currie (our Chef de Mission) insisted on doing one every ten minutes.
You can think the Haka is cringe but don’t act like you speak for the country.
it’s sad that there aren’t enough kiwis on this sub to argue this, so people will blindly believe you.
the only people who think the haka is cringe are middle aged/older white people who need a way to express their racism. most people find the haka a source of pride, especially the younger generation. in 2006 it was only being done by sporting teams on a national level, 20 years later it’s being done by high schoolers who care passionately about that identity.
Those “many NZers” tend to be cut from the same cloth, especially when it comes to respecting indigenous customs.
There is no amount of sanctimonious browbeating that is ever going to make me not think it looks silly. I can understand the culture and tradition behind it. Dancing around, screaming, and making weird faces is silly time.
I always find it funny with the “my culture is right and yours is wrong and weird cuz we don’t do it”.
It’s just Americans in general
There are intellectuals on reddit, but what makes you think you’d find them on r/nba ?
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How many “opponents” have been “forced to liste tk the US national anthem?
It was very weird and disrespectful, intentionally i’m sure
How is this upvoted?? Both anthems are played.
At the recent South Africa vs New Zealand rugby match in Baltimore the US national anthem was played in addition to the actual teams playing the match for some reason.
Is the national anthem played before every international competition regardless of who the host nation is?
Generally it’s the custom to play both anthems
And gets played for both countries playing.
I think USA is the only anthem I’ve heard played, when they aren’t even competing in the game. Like the world cup.
Are you referring to matches from the most recent FIFA World Cup that were hosted in the US?
Both teams have anthems played before a match. This would be more like if the players did a Native American war chant after the anthem
It’s actually disgraceful
My only thought is how the rest of the world is “forced to watch” the US every day.
It was such a fucked up imperialist take and the amount of people supporting it in the comments was disgusting
Haka is emotion, respect, and just down right cool. I’ll never forget the kid that did it at his brother’s funeral. Shit gives me goosebumps.
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The best part of haka discussions are the people who demonstrate their enlightened views on differing cultures by singling out a culture and disparaging it as inferior. Kills me every time lol
Reddit is just filled with racist cunts
So funny that the thread says they were “forced to watch” When the coach said that not only did they know the NZ team were going to do the haka, but that it was their own decision to stop their warm up and watch
Well its Reddit, so if it’s not Seattle coded, it’ll probably get shit on.
the maori arrived like 400 years before the europeans in new zealand and genocided the peacful indigenous people with european weapons
🤦♂️ how is the Morior*i myt*h still being spread in 2026? Surely we’re done with justifying colonialism with fiction by now. Meanwhile memory of the actual genocide of Moriori on Rēkohu gets lost in the process
It is pretty accepted that the first arrived between 600 and 1000 years before; there was also no genocide. I assume you are talking about the Maori Ori, who are a tribe, not a different race. They still live on their island.
Wait wait wait… They arrived 400 years before the Europeans and “genocided” the indigenous people with… European weapons? That they wouldn’t get their hands on for another 400 years…
I don’t think it’s inferior. I think it’s ridiculous.
Y’all will say anything cool if we label it indigenous.
Can we bring back pre game human sacrifices if the game is in Mexico City?
Are you volunteering?
I am
Honestly getting sacrificed to a god would be a wild way to go. If I could go out like the guy who had his heart taken out and then got lava blasted in Temple of Doom I might go for it.
Nah y’all go ahead and sign up tho if you’re so desperate to impress others
Kind of weak to talk about bringing it back if you’re not going to volunteer.
You are comparing the haka to human sacrifice? Do you hear yourself?
We’re talking about a dance.
A dance. Not a hoedown. A dance. A dance.
You taking a reasonable thing people would reasonably expect to respect or just ignore to the point of murder makes you look very smart. You’re right, we can only have nothing or murder before games. Very good point
Some cultures are inferior, like those that think gays should be executed. Disparaging culture is part of culture, so your comment is a paradox like being against hate.
We’re talking about a dance
And with basketball we’re talking about a game
And with practice we’re talking about practice
What hurt you so bad you decided Evil was your armor?
Be strong and against hate, not scared and bitter.
What part of the haka is about executing gay people.
lmao explain how being against hate is a paradox
Coming from a username like pacifismisevil I’m sure it’s going to be a real edge lord explanation.
lol, the tall blacks… I feel like those that don’t understand the rugby connection will be even more confused now.
Thank you for posting this here.
I could watch this dude talk about anything for hours. Such a soothing speaker. Really liked the way he translated and explained the sections too
Just want to say the Haka is awesome in person and the Kiwis love it when you respond. I played highschool rugby and a highschool from Napier came over to do a tour of the West coast of my country, we got to play their team and they performed the Haka beforehand. Now we had a single kid who moved here from Australia in Middle school on the team and he told us we have to give a response so he got himself in the center with the single Indigenous kid on one side and the single black kid on the other; his explanation so that nobody could say it was racist. The rest spread out all with our arms over each other’s shoulders and while they performed the Haka we got as close as possible without touching them.
They kicked the shit out of us, 79-12. But we all hung out after and they loved the response, awesome dudes.
Expecting Americans to understand and respect other cultures is a losing battle.
I like how every angry response refuting this also includes a bit about why they don’t respect another culture.
“No! That’s not true! Anyways, your culture is weird and stupid for the following reasons…”
Most of us aren’t like this, but a huge portion of us are, and they are way more vocal and confident about it under the leadership of their daddy who has no respect for anyone.
They’ve gone from “I do respect your culture, but I demand you respect mine harder!” to “I do respect your culture, but it doesn’t matter because I don’t really have to, and actually I don’t, so fuck you.”
Bunch of cunts
Something so ironic about calling an entire country citizens a bunch of cunts lol.
They shouldn’t act cunty then
Can we not think it’s a weird thing to do before a basketball game? Is that so bad?
if the national anthem can be played before every god damn sporting event in this country, kiwis can do the haka
Oh they sure can. Never said they couldn’t. Just said it’s weird, because I think it’s weird.
Fair enough. We Kiwi’s think that you chaps singing a song about a war when the Brit burned the Whitehouse down before is pretty weird too. It can be fun to enjoys other people’s weirdnesses. It make the world more interesting.
You guys sung your own national anthem at the All Blacks vs Springboks game lmao
Your American teams can eat Wendy’s while doing a quick ad for online gambling, if you want?
Lol so maaaad. That American team whooped NZ’s ass btw. Maybe Kiwis should eat more cheeseburgers.
It would be pretty embarrassing if a country that is like 70x the size of NZ couldn’t beat them at a sport we invented tbh. I don’t think Kiwis are that bothered by losing to us.
Playing the national anthem before a game seems much weirder than a group doing something in honor of their culture.
Yeah screaming and stomping at the other team is totally normal before a sporting event. The national anthem (which every country has their own) is the weird thing to do.
I mean… at least New Zealand doesnt make its students stand up and pledge their love for the country every morning. Now thats weird.
not bad, more like ignorant.
It’s fuckin’ weird and cringe lol. Just sing your country’s stupid song and then play the game. Nobody likes hearing the national anthem, but this bullshit is culturally enriching or something I guess.
God your a miserable bloke arent ya
Fucking Canadian saying this when y’all just larp our politics and pretend to be more French than the French is so funny
You dorks had truckers for trump in fucking Canada, could you be more obsessed
Raptors fan status revoked, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. It’ll cost you years of hospital debt.
ahahahahahahaha
feel free to wait 9 months for an MRI while dying of cancer, or I guess you could just go to upstate New York like every Canadian who pretends like their healthcare is worth a damn
Account based in Israel.
But…. you’re a Raptors fan? Je comprends pas!
So there’s this thing called the Internet that lets people from one place learn about things in other places.
I liked dinosaurs as a kid, I didn’t sign up for Canadian citizenship, and I’m pretty fucking sure my flair isn’t team Canada
So you apparently dislike Canada but you’re a fan of Canada’s team. The logic is going way above my head here.
It’s also ironic that you have the internet yet know nothing about Canadian politics or French culture.
This is such a confusing mindset.
Nah, just it’s a lot cooler doing it before a rugby match and winning, or on the floor of parliment over environmental legislation is badass. Doing it before losing to Team USA basketball by 30 points 10 years ago was performative. Seems like a beautiful and powerful tradition that should be reserved for certain situations and appreciate the explanation though.
🙏🏻,
🇺🇸
“Performative”, while America and Canada (because of American influence) are the only places in the world that play the national anthem before non-international sporting events, lol. Same country that needs an 80 foot flag to show off before a regular season football game 😅. Thanks for validating my point.
Americans should love performative bullshit though.
They’re downvoting you but you’re right. Only culture these fellas are seeing is the loser handshake line. Kinda hard to fear them when you got a 6’2 35 year old Steph curry giving back shots to the world in the Olympics. What are they supposed to do even
Absolutely love Americans from Canada. That’s definitely what those words mean in English.
only white Americans are disrespectful of other people’s cultures. the POC players on Team USA loved experiencing the Haka
only white Americans are disrespectful of other people’s cultures.
Bless your heart…
Good bait
Thanks for the video.
But I can guarantee every time the haka is posted, it’ll be the same idiots talking about ‘its cringe’ or about “it doesn’t work’ or some other dumb shit.
It’s 100% cringe, they’re not some fucking group of tribal warriors, they’re a tiny island nation.
Like yeah man, cool scream and make weird faces while everyone just watches in awkward silence, this was soo necessary.
It’s literally only cool in rugby and only because they’re good at rugby. Looks fucking ridiculous doing that shit and then you get waxed by team USA, you need to be medaling if you’re going to do all that extra shit
Its called culture, its not cringe at all. Is it necessary for the Tall Blacks to perform the Haka? No. Do they want to perform it because they take pride in there culture and where there from? Yes. Does the outcome of the game depict whether the Haka is necessary? No. Is your take on this childish? Yes.
Pretty sure the guys screaming and making weird faces are closer to being childish than the people that correctly point out it’s embarrassing.
Just because you label it culture doesn’t mean it’s not lame as shit, my culture hates gays and women you don’t see me going on about how cool and justified it is.
No one even saying they shouldn’t be able to do it, but you guys are sooo desperate to police people’s opinions of it that it makes it even funnier
Holy cow, possibly the worst take on any subject I’ve ever seen on any subreddit
I’m talking to an idiot, it’s called a war cry. You would know if you searched it up before you started talking shit.
bro why are you under damn near every comment? no way the Haka got you this bothered
Jesus bro what the fuck is your problem? I’m seeing you in every replies shitting on this and you genuinely sound like a sad little kid. If you haven’t got an interesting culture, that sucks to be you but don’t belittle other peoples just because you’re a boring fuck
I’d say having to risk bankruptcy for a routine doctor / hospital visit is pretty cringe, but that’s just my opinion.
As a foreigner, watching their Hakas before games are hyping me as well. Respect.
It’s as cringe as Americans “honoring” military members. Athletes aren’t warriors. Playing a game has nothing to do with going into battle or honoring your culture or nation.
Haka aren’t exclusively for going into battle. Playing a game as a representative of your country is a great opportunity to promote and honour your culture, not sure why you’d think otherwise.
They’re honoring real military members and not the athletes themselves. They’re just doing it on-court. What’s wrong with that?
I do think - as someone who has seen the Kapa o Pango live, that while the Haka is cool, there’s maybe a tad bit too much made about the sanctity of the thing. Like as recently as 50 years ago, even on a rugby field it looked like 15 men not 100% of how the hokie pokie was done.
Saying that, the other thread was wildly disrespectful about something that’s done in like two minutes, and in basketball anyway (in rugby you’re basically going to see some version of the haka every day at the beginning of the World Cup), offers something a bit different.
As a kiwi I think it’s a great testament to how far we’ve come as a nation that the haka is taken much more seriously than it was in the 1960s.
Thank you Sir Buck Shelford
It’s just basketball mate, this isn’t Syria.
Americans experiencing another culture not their own, be like “wut?”
I think where the super pro haka “you lack culture” type of argument fails is that I dislike the haka because it’s super corny to do when you are not elite in a sport.
You do this dance and then absolutely smack the opponent, it is super badass; you do this dance then get smacked around, you look like a jester.
It’s that simple
Yes, you should show up to a match and decide on the day, right before the match has begun, that you are not good enough to win today and so you skip the haka.
I want to learn all about elite sports from this guy
I mean, if you’re a professional athlete and you’re stupid enough to not be able to objectively rate your own team’s skill level, you are a clown organization. Everyone who has played a high level sport understands this, you have a win always mentality but you have realistic understanding of your sports ecosystem and hiarchy.
I mean what I said in general? You’re the Olympic Dream Team? You can do anything like the haka and etc and it’s sick because you dominate your sport
You are barely a d3 level basketball organization? Probably leave it at home
Still cringe asf idc
Honestly, you need not care about their song and dance, the same way they need not care about your colors and god bless America song and dance.
Just don’t be disrespectful whislt its happening, let it happen, and then play the game.
We Aussies are used to ignoring the Hakka. Our national teams for whatever sport we’re playing just tend to turn around and huddle and use the extra time to discuss the upcoming match.
I mean the kiwis can do their Hakka but we don’t need to be subjected to it
The Wallabies just cry when facing the haka.
You obviously don’t watch much sports lol - when was the last time the Aussies ignored it?
Buck Shelford days
Hahahahah hard. This guy just making shit up
You “tend to”? Really? Your rugby team ignored it once in 1996, got absolutely trounced, and they’ve been shite ever since. Your captain called the decision one of his biggest career regrets.
But sure, talk it up.
43-6, oof.
Ireland did a less-disrespectful thing in 1989, walking right up to challenge them during the haka.
Only got beat 23-6.
I guess being subjected to it doesn’t involve learning to spell it properly.
How’s that normally go for you?
From what I’ve seen it depends on the sport. Rugby Union is basically a guaranteed L, but Australia usually beats NZ in basketball and cricket for example while other sports are competitive. Most of the time the players just watch on impassively or stare into the distance.
The guy you’re replying to smugly implying that Australia sucks at sports is pretty fucking funny. Delusional, but funny
Lolno that’s not how you react.
Generally you guys just watch it and acknowledge it respectfully. When it’s ignored or disrespected it always ended badly for you guys. So you’ve learned.
The Haka is always awesome to watch how fkn pathetic can this sub get, first thread was embarrassing
Y’all have no sense of humor. The reason it’s funny is because they lost by 30 points. It’s the exact same cringe as when France was talking about their chemistry and teamwork while getting massages and it just cuts to KD being like “That chemistry going to help you when you got to guard Steph?”.
Like doing the Haka when you’re a huge underdog is asking to get embarrassed. It’s like Conor McGregor’s walkout.
the american education system was a mistake
Country of dumb cunts
This shit IS dorky.
Don’t be an egg bro
Americans are dorky
Sorry, if this is what it is, why is it performed AT the opposing team?
It’s a cultural challenge.
That can be responded to by another cultural challenge. In NZ schools have their own haka and both perform theirs before a big game. When we play Samoa or Fiji we also do ours and they do their cultural challenge.
Every kiwi sports team doesn’t it and it’s very typical that the only time it was taken the wrong way was when they were playing Americans
It would be cool if we got a bunch of crips out there crip walking saying they’re just trying to rep their set
Wrap it in what? Also this is a very dumb comment
Good look on the typo, that’s a cool thing about freedom of speech. You ain’t got to like it. Also don’t care LOL
Only ones that call stuff like this stupid is white people
Always respected Maori culture. Its just cringe when all you non maori kiwis steal it and make a fool of yourselves.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/jan/23/the-haka-isnt-yours-stop-performing-it?CMP=share_btn_url
Be mad more, white people disgrace themselves on a daily basis
Dumb
You? We know
Anyone who’s ever been on a football field and had a team full of Samoans doing the haka understand how intimidating a Haka can be
Just for the future - Samoans don’t do a haka, they do a siva tau. A haka is a New Zealand Maori ceremonial challenge.
Ah good to know, I always heard it referred to as a Haka regardless. We mainly had Tongans leading it in my area
Haka is a Maori word. Tongans and Samoans have their own languages and own names for their cultural dances. The All Blacks popularised the Maori name but it isnt a blanket term for all Polynesian dances.
Dunno why you’re being downvoted, brother - you’re clearly showing appreciation for the challenge. But yeah, as u/Gungehammer pointed out, the haka is a Māori challenge. Samoa has its own challenge (Siva Tau) as do other Pacific nations such as Tonga (Sipi Tau) and Fiji (Cibi). When our teams play each other, they’ll often perform their respective challenges at the same time, which is an awesome sight.
I feel if they are going to performa a Haka with words like, “How are we going to stand against this storm?” and the storm is the other team, then they should invite the other team to provide a similar message.
They are sharing their culture, but also asking the other team to be respectful and watch their performance. Asking them for a reciprocal performance done in their own country’s style would make sense. Like against the US they could invite the other team to do their own hype performance that they would watch.
What’s stopping the US team from responding?
Probably self respect, not dancing around like a bunch of jesters pregame.
Nothing. And I don’t think “responding” is the right word, I think “participating” is more appropriate.
Again what’s stopping the US team from ‘participating’.
That’s why I’m suggesting they both should and that it should be offered. When performing something like the Haka it should be communicated from the team that it is culturally appropriate.
Congrats - that’s exactly the right thing to do in response to a haka. In NZ different schools do their own haka in turn before a big game. When we play countries like Samoa or Fiji in rugby the away team does their cultural challenge first and then the home team does theirs. (note, it’s not called a haka in Samoa or Fiji, just in NZ)
We are totally open for the other team to respond in the way that matches their culture.
That’s awesome to hear! I just wonder if that’s communicated well to foreign teams that are new to seeing the Haka performed in their direction.
Good question. I hope so.
The countries we regularly play know but we don’t play the US regularly in many sports
It’s also interesting that you call it a cultural challenge. That’s not how it’s talked about in the video. More reason to make sure it’s well communicated that an answer is appropriate.
In basketball, its probably not well know.
In rugby, lots of teams answer it with their own challenge. Here is a great example from a Rugby League game between New Zealand and Samoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdEjI38R-7I&t=1s
An outside of sports, and great one between the NZ army and the Ghurkas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz1Q_wV0w6M&t=1s
I get that indigenous culture can be confusing or as a lot of you say “cringe” when you’ve never been a part of it or around it.
Traditional cultural practices aren’t made for the algorithm. Its not indigenous people’s fault that western social media had a phase of hyping up the Haka and it being posted everywhere outside of NZ. Naturally people get bored or tired of it, and it falls out of favour because that’s what happens with pretty much anything. Its used up until people stop clicking and generating revenue. It being indigenous just becomes an aspect of the culture war, there are a lot of racists who hated it being popular and now that the phase is over they enjoy shitting on it even more than usual.
I hope all the clowns from the other thread who seemed to be deeply uncultured are banned from commenting, voting, traveling, and whatever else saves us from their nonsense. That post really brought out the cesspool of redditors
Tall Blacks, All Blacks, Ball Sacks, Butt Cracks
You’re missing the nz badminton team. The Black Cox.
Unfortunately the NZ badminton board wouldn’t let them use that even though most of us Kiwi’s thought it was great.
Wait what?!?!? I love NZ for their play off the All Black’s!
The more you know!
Bro, you’re an egg.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_national_team_nomenclature_based_on_the_%22All_Blacks%22
Downvoted for OP calling them the Tall Blacks. Dumbasses
Edit: downvoting myself for not being educated on NZ national team names
Literally their team name…
Wait I was right. Rugby is All Blacks and BBall is riff on All Blacks by calling themselves the Tall Blacks! Lol what
Dude all our names are some variation on “blacks”,“Ferns”, “silver” or “all”. Our football team is the All Whites because they play in white.
Lol oh shit. Ive always thought they were the ALL Blacks.
That’s the rugby team.