Oooh...ruggers...
Oct. 12th, 2003 12:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenKA MATE! KA MATE! KA ORA! KA ORA!
Hee.
Chee.
Tee!
Okay, so, I went into the New Zealand v. Italy rugby game knowing two things about the game:
1) To score, you have to touch the ball to the ground in the end-zone-type thingy,
and 2) the team with the most points wins.
I have since learned very little else except that I could really get to like this game, rather like AFL. Things I did pick up were as follows: the referees point to the goal that the team is defending to indicate that that team has possession; a ruck is not the same thing as a maul; you can push the ball forwards if enough All Blacks are shoving you from behind. Seriously rugby's a brutal, brutish sport, but man does it look like fun.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: I learned that there is nothing cooler than the New Zealand All Blacks' Haka. A haka is Maori thing, a chant performed by male warriors before battle (greatly oversimplified, but that's essentially it), though there are other types of haka--generally, it's a dance, but, due particularly to the All Blacks' popularity, it's best known for its aggressive outlets. The All Blacks' Haka is really an ancient one that was composed by a warrior chieften before a battle, and the All Blacks always perform it right before starting a match.
Holy God, is the haka scary. These guys are LOUD. These guys are SERIOUS. These guys are BIG (or 'bug' if you're a kiwi). I got a couple of pictures, but mine won't do it justice. Look up 'all blacks haka' on google or something. This is the shit, people. Seeing the haka performed is worth the price of admission all its own. The time I spent in New Zealand conveyed more strongly than anything else about the sport of rugby just how important the haka is. It's a spiritual thing, in one sense, but it just plain scares the crap out of the other team. If ever you see the pictures of the guys performing it, you'll know what I mean. It's fifteen guys shouting hard enough at you that tendons stick out of their thick necks, their faces screwed up and angry, all muscles tensed. Rugby guys are HUGE, and they're yelling in a language you don't speak, gesturing in a faintly obscene manner at times, and they're all synchronized.
*shivers* It reminded me of what my teacher for Indigenous Studies said about the Maoris--when we compared the treatment of Maoris versus Aborigines, the Maoris were nearly equals to the immigrant European-descended kiwis whereas the Aborigines were technically fourth-world poor (meaning they live in third world conditions in a first world nation). A student asked why that was--turns out the Maoris were the only Pacific Islanders to successfully fight the British to a standstill, being warlike and good enough at it to kick the ass of the supposed invaders (took a treaty that was incorrectly translated into Maori in order to dupe and subjugate the Maoris).
If a bunch of Maoris started screaming a haka at me, I'd drop my rifle and turn tail.
Heh.
So, yeah, good day at Rugby World Cup 2003. Also, have determined to marry #12 on the All Blacks. He's all of a month older than me and is cute, clearly athletic, great body...cannot stress enough how nice that body is. Rugby players, the leaner ones mind you, are quite possibly the perfect body type for me--nice arms, tight buns, and they all look older than they are. This might solve my unfortunate problem of being attracted to men twice my age--if an All Black born all of a month before me can look to be my brother or older sister's age, good lord....My only qualms are he must not have 'cauliflower ears' or whatever (which you can avoid in rugby by taping them back), and he mustn't have a thick neck. Otherwise....*drools*
After the game, it was off to a night out with the ladies of Seido. I missed the first day of the Women's Seminar for the Rugby World Cup (despite the cost of the game, I'm totally not sorry I did). Nicole very kindly offered to drive me up and ended up taking me back. We had wine at a wine bar in Fitzroy, where I got to meet some of the visiting senpais. Seems that there's quite a few...to understate it. One is from Honbu, the head school in New York, though she comes via Japan where she's teaching English. Had a good time talking to her about that and New York, so that was great. Met a couple of girls who, well, I gathered that they're senpais, too, but man, is that intimidating as both looked to be about maybe 18 at the oldest? Eeps.
Dinner was Moroccan, sorta finger-y type foods, which weren't really filling, but all were tasty and easily shared. Chatted nicely, but I had a hard time hearing. It's a problem I usually have when I go out, compounded by trying to decipher accents most of the time. I got some pictures but not many. I feel bad not having gone to the day's workout, and Senpai Vicki still makes me feel like I'm sorta just a guest at the dojo not a student (she asked as I left with Nicole whether I was coming tomorrow--it just makes me sad that I can spend months there and not be 'in' so to speak, even with the Senpai I see most often).
Still, it was good to get out, see people. Starting tomorrow after the seminar, I've got to really get cracking on this paper for film. I haven't done like anything for it yet, just the research for my presentation. I need to do much more than that. I'll have to just use the references I took down then go to the ERC library for the bibliographic info on Monday. If it's anything like the last paper, I'll be working through to Monday day-time on it, and I won't have any trouble getting up early as I won't get any sleep.
Well, at the very least, some Seido ladies think I could maybe grade up before I leave. It's nice there's some confidence in my mad karate skillZ out there.
Hee.
Chee.
Tee!
Okay, so, I went into the New Zealand v. Italy rugby game knowing two things about the game:
1) To score, you have to touch the ball to the ground in the end-zone-type thingy,
and 2) the team with the most points wins.
I have since learned very little else except that I could really get to like this game, rather like AFL. Things I did pick up were as follows: the referees point to the goal that the team is defending to indicate that that team has possession; a ruck is not the same thing as a maul; you can push the ball forwards if enough All Blacks are shoving you from behind. Seriously rugby's a brutal, brutish sport, but man does it look like fun.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: I learned that there is nothing cooler than the New Zealand All Blacks' Haka. A haka is Maori thing, a chant performed by male warriors before battle (greatly oversimplified, but that's essentially it), though there are other types of haka--generally, it's a dance, but, due particularly to the All Blacks' popularity, it's best known for its aggressive outlets. The All Blacks' Haka is really an ancient one that was composed by a warrior chieften before a battle, and the All Blacks always perform it right before starting a match.
Holy God, is the haka scary. These guys are LOUD. These guys are SERIOUS. These guys are BIG (or 'bug' if you're a kiwi). I got a couple of pictures, but mine won't do it justice. Look up 'all blacks haka' on google or something. This is the shit, people. Seeing the haka performed is worth the price of admission all its own. The time I spent in New Zealand conveyed more strongly than anything else about the sport of rugby just how important the haka is. It's a spiritual thing, in one sense, but it just plain scares the crap out of the other team. If ever you see the pictures of the guys performing it, you'll know what I mean. It's fifteen guys shouting hard enough at you that tendons stick out of their thick necks, their faces screwed up and angry, all muscles tensed. Rugby guys are HUGE, and they're yelling in a language you don't speak, gesturing in a faintly obscene manner at times, and they're all synchronized.
*shivers* It reminded me of what my teacher for Indigenous Studies said about the Maoris--when we compared the treatment of Maoris versus Aborigines, the Maoris were nearly equals to the immigrant European-descended kiwis whereas the Aborigines were technically fourth-world poor (meaning they live in third world conditions in a first world nation). A student asked why that was--turns out the Maoris were the only Pacific Islanders to successfully fight the British to a standstill, being warlike and good enough at it to kick the ass of the supposed invaders (took a treaty that was incorrectly translated into Maori in order to dupe and subjugate the Maoris).
If a bunch of Maoris started screaming a haka at me, I'd drop my rifle and turn tail.
Heh.
So, yeah, good day at Rugby World Cup 2003. Also, have determined to marry #12 on the All Blacks. He's all of a month older than me and is cute, clearly athletic, great body...cannot stress enough how nice that body is. Rugby players, the leaner ones mind you, are quite possibly the perfect body type for me--nice arms, tight buns, and they all look older than they are. This might solve my unfortunate problem of being attracted to men twice my age--if an All Black born all of a month before me can look to be my brother or older sister's age, good lord....My only qualms are he must not have 'cauliflower ears' or whatever (which you can avoid in rugby by taping them back), and he mustn't have a thick neck. Otherwise....*drools*
After the game, it was off to a night out with the ladies of Seido. I missed the first day of the Women's Seminar for the Rugby World Cup (despite the cost of the game, I'm totally not sorry I did). Nicole very kindly offered to drive me up and ended up taking me back. We had wine at a wine bar in Fitzroy, where I got to meet some of the visiting senpais. Seems that there's quite a few...to understate it. One is from Honbu, the head school in New York, though she comes via Japan where she's teaching English. Had a good time talking to her about that and New York, so that was great. Met a couple of girls who, well, I gathered that they're senpais, too, but man, is that intimidating as both looked to be about maybe 18 at the oldest? Eeps.
Dinner was Moroccan, sorta finger-y type foods, which weren't really filling, but all were tasty and easily shared. Chatted nicely, but I had a hard time hearing. It's a problem I usually have when I go out, compounded by trying to decipher accents most of the time. I got some pictures but not many. I feel bad not having gone to the day's workout, and Senpai Vicki still makes me feel like I'm sorta just a guest at the dojo not a student (she asked as I left with Nicole whether I was coming tomorrow--it just makes me sad that I can spend months there and not be 'in' so to speak, even with the Senpai I see most often).
Still, it was good to get out, see people. Starting tomorrow after the seminar, I've got to really get cracking on this paper for film. I haven't done like anything for it yet, just the research for my presentation. I need to do much more than that. I'll have to just use the references I took down then go to the ERC library for the bibliographic info on Monday. If it's anything like the last paper, I'll be working through to Monday day-time on it, and I won't have any trouble getting up early as I won't get any sleep.
Well, at the very least, some Seido ladies think I could maybe grade up before I leave. It's nice there's some confidence in my mad karate skillZ out there.
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Date: 2003-10-11 08:16 pm (UTC)TOLD you the Maori kicked ass. I got to hear some awesome stories about the tactics they used to fight the British off--they were *brilliant* about it. And for those who haven't heard my rampant gushing before, the Maori did more damage with flat greenstone clubs than the colonizers did with their muskets. SO COOL.
*revels in New-Zealandy-ness*
S'good. :-)
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