Over summer time, a wierd phenomenon performs out alongside New Zealand’s waterholes. Bridges, wharfs, cliffs and swimming swimming pools throng with folks readying to leap. Jumpers launch into the air, twist themselves right into a v-shape – bums down, limbs akimbo – till they hit the floor, forcing water upwards in an almighty splash.
The larger the splash and the extra creative the bounce, the louder the cheers.
These are the “manu” jumpers – individuals who get a thrill and generally compete – within the sport of manu, a singular New Zealand diving approach just like a bomb, developed by Māori and Pasifika communities, and which has now turn out to be a nationwide pastime.
“It’s like an unstated cultural rule in New Zealand – everytime you’re round water and there’s something to leap off, you pop a manu,” says Nikita Hauraki, 26, who has been popping manus since she was a toddler.
“Everybody is aware of what a manu is, what it entails, how a lot hype is round it, despite the fact that not everybody has tried it out,” she says.
Manu jumper Pone Kahotea, 34, has been doing the game in Tauranga, on the North Island’s east coast, since he was a child.
“Irrespective of the place there are folks swimming, there are folks doing manus,” he says. Now, his 12-year-old, Bayley, is perfecting his approach.
“Children will go laborious all day,” Kahotea says. “These younger youngsters have made up their very own types and redefined it – they’re loopy and significantly better than we have been.”
The purpose of a manu is to create the very best splash and whereas the v-shape is the most typical approach, different types together with the coffin (toes first, straight physique), the gorilla (head and shoulders first), and the staple (arms and toes first) recurrently function.
“If somebody’s accomplished a extremely good manu, the place the splash is nearly in a form of a tree trunk, and it goes straight up … and clearly excessive, it’s thought-about a extremely good [one],” says Elisha Rolleston, 32, whose means has earned him the title “Manu King” in his house area of Tauranga.
“These days, we’re beginning to see totally different types of the manu … just like the tailwhip – you bounce out and swing your legs to the facet, it appears like a breakdancing transfer within the air.”
Nobody is completely positive the place, or how, the manu advanced. Some consider it emerged within the Nineties on the out of doors Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa swimming pools within the South Auckland suburb Māngere, whereas different areas declare it advanced at their native bridges a long time earlier. The title manu – which means chicken within the Māori language – additionally has a murky historical past. Some assume it references the act of flying into the water, others consider it’s a shortened model of Māngere.
What is definite, is the artwork of the manu emerged inside Māori and Pasifika communities – one thing Rolleston believes is linked to those communities’ sturdy reference to water. “There’s an actual sense of neighborhood – folks swimming, having a very good time,” he says.
Visiting native waterholes was additionally a less expensive choice for these on decrease incomes, he says. Throughout his years residing in Tauranga and the neighbouring inland area Waikato, Rolleston mentioned European New Zealanders tended to keep away from native rivers and waterholes, in favour for the seaside.
“However at wharfs and bridges, Māori are the bulk – it was in all probability extra possible choice to take [families] there for a swim all day,” Rolleston says.
The pastime – which has at all times had a aggressive edge – now has a proper annual championship: the Manu World Champs. Opponents attend heats across the nation over summer time, within the hopes of diving on the grand ultimate held on Auckland’s waterfront in March.
The skilled competitors could also be boosting the profile of manu leaping, Rolleston says, however it would at all times stay a curious, enjoyable and free sport.
“Doing the manu is one thing inside our DNA as New Zealanders – it’s actually distinctive to us and we’re pleased with it.”
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