Ha'a fan participation

[Optimus]

I have a feeling they will bust it out this week. They did it while training at Schofield. I was thinking they would have done it in Australia, but Michigan might have been too much.

[Markazulu]

From hawaii news now
"Having performed the traditional Maori war dance known as the haka in previous years, the Rainbow Warriors have instead spent the past six weeks learning a new version of the dance's Hawaiian counterpart, known as the ha'a. The new dance was written and choreographed this summer specially for the 'Bows by Thomas Kaulukukui, Kyle Nakanelua and Ke'eaumoku Kapu.

Though the team is keeping most of the dance under wraps until game time, Kaulukukui says the third and final verse is one where fans can -- and are encouraged to -- participate.

"The third part of the ha'a involves an invocation of manly responsibility," says Kaulukukui. "The leaders of the ha'a will call out the names of certain forms of Ku, and they will then be answered by the players, 'E Ku, E Ku.'"

For example, he says, the leaders of the ha'a will say "E Ku Mehe Ku," and then the rest of the team will shout "E Ku! E Ku!"

"The reason they are calling out those names is to inspire themselves and call up the spirit of responsibility," Kaulukukui says. "It would be terrific if they also inspired the stands, so that the fans might join in on the "E Ku, E Ku," and the more fans that join in might inspire the players."

Kaulukukui says as more fans shout "E Ku, E Ku," the message of the ha'a will become more powerful. "

[uhwarriors]

"E Ku! E Ku!"

[My3Cats]

E Ku! E Ku!!!

[Haynr8dr]

Lose the hska, the ha'a, all the pregame dancing.

Considering our record in recent years, it's embarrassing.

[st808]

e ku is going to be a hard sell for audience participation. the ha'a is done early in the pre-game, maybe after a few more home games with a clued-in crowd there might be more than just me yelling out e ku in my section. hope so.

[Neighbor]

I have a feeling they will bust it out this week. They did it while training at Schofield. I was thinking they would have done it in Australia, but Michigan might have been too much.

I think they did the old Haka, actually

e ku is going to be a hard sell for audience participation. the ha'a is done early in the pre-game, maybe after a few more home games with a clued-in crowd there might be more than just me yelling out e ku in my section. hope so.

Yeah, doesn't help with the lack of fans, but that's one thing I liked when Chow first got here. He would have the players walkout for the entrance, do the Haka, then run to the sidelines. I do like the running out of the helmet with Hawaii Five-O playing, but doing the Ha'a right before kickoff would be such a prime time to do it.