Watch: Powerful Maori haka spreads support for veteran's mental health
The haka is always a powerful show of Maōri culture and identity, but you can really feel the force in this one.
Tuesday marked ANZAC Day, a day to commemorate Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in armed conflicts around the world. In recent years, it's also been a day to recognise the impact that war has on the mental health of veterans.
It's culminated in the Haka For Life, a show of support for men's mental health.
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200 men, women and children performed the traditional war cry at Kings Park in Perth, Australia, according to The West Australian. And boy, it's quite the show of passion.
Some of the haka's participants had never done the war cry before.
"It's a full body expression of communication, I mean you use every part of your body — your voice, your muscles, your arms, your legs, everything to express yourself," Leon Ruri, who coordinated the event, told ABC News.
The aim of the event was to encourage men to speak more openly about mental health, with the help of a Maōri cultural expression that's been passed down from generation to generation.
"We need to come together, show our kids and all others who want to join us, take them back to our culture," Kereama Chalmers told the news outlet.
"The more that people talk about issues and things, the better it becomes, they've gotta release, they hold it in, it's no good."
And speaking of ANZAC Day, there's never been a better time re-watch the formidable QAMR haka, performed by Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles (a cavalry regiment of the New Zealand army) back in 2014.
Just, woah.
