19/08/2018
[ TEAM NOTICE - UNIFORM MEANING ]
The Story Behind the Chief.
If you look carefully the Chief is holding 6 Koru with his hands.
The hands are the 3 fingers either side of the top two Koru
The Koru extend from his mouth piece as he breathes life into them.
Each Koru represent the 6 main South Pacific Islands - Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Cook Is, Aotearoa & Ahitereiria.
They are joined and moulded as one piece to portray one family, our whanau.
The shaded parts in the middle are the mother and father – the mother is on the left, the protected side.
The Chief is erected by the bottom two Koru - this is HIS foundation; the Koru are in perfect formation. The lower part of his feet has two jagged razors.
These are the two operations used to reconnect his spine – his feet remain incomplete to portray no feeling.
The Chief is me. “ TRAINER ”
He holds the Koru very close to his chest as to protect the entire whanau, they in turn protect him.
You can see at the extension of his tongue that his chest is extended wide as his heart is always open for his people. His thighs bear the 3 Half Rings. His stomping ground known as Sir Barry Curtis Park in Auckland New Zealand.
This is where he repays his people and spreads his Kaupapa. Here the mountain is split in two by a path that leads to positive change. This place is where Influence was created.
The two waves above the rings symbolises the oceans that will carry him on his final journey.
This is where the Pacific and Tasman meet Te Moana-a-Rehua.
It also symbolises his love for the ocean.
Draped down towards his thighs are feathers from the Korowai – they fall from the shoulders that will carry many more on their journey. Each feather is interwoven like whakapapa and each person is taught to pay it forward.
Under the Korowai is a kete that holds his weaponry the straps are woven in traditional Samoan design.
These you can see around his shoulders and chest and bear the markings of the traditional Samoan spearhead.
These markings express courage and represent loyalty to the people as he leads them into the battle of LIFE. Two Taiaha are strapped to his back.
The left is his wahine from Ngati Kuhungunu and the right is his homeland Tainui.
On the outside of his shoulders are Tongan symbols originated from tribal design. Commonly seen throughout the pacific as strength bonded by love, passion and devotion where unity thrives. This is where the sunrises over the horizon with each new day brings new life, new beginning and new change.
The Chief is the leader of Nations.
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And again written by one of his followers Kahurangi Ross
Kia ora koutou katoa, Anei he purakau mai ta tatou kaihautu o tenei waka hauora. He korero hohonu mo tenei tohu o nga kakahu.
Kia ora whanau, Here is the story from the chief of our waka and journey we are all on. It has a lovely deep meaning and we can all feel special knowing our Trainer has chosen us to wear his tohu with pride.
To understand the tohu is to understand his journey a little bit.
Trainer as you know sustained an injury that crushed his back and left him unable to walk. He worked on this like the beast he is and began walking again in a series of steps from 10, 20 and eventually up to ‘30 second’ blocks. From this he got his rehabilitation program to walk again up and running. This program was highly successful for him as he found and sourced an inner strength to continue walking eventually up to a marathon distance every day to see his mokopuna in hospital all those kilometres away. Eventually the ‘30 second’ environment moved into Interval training. From the interval training came formation training which is what is used for cadence in a group environment. Doug uses this formation training in his morning sessions to this very day where you are focused on one foot in front of the other, looking at the feet in front of you and the front person a metre in front of them. This is the meaning behind the “30 seconds” on your tops.
Trainer has an amazing supportive whanau. His son thought of the name “Influence Crew”. He was interested in his father enough to ask him what was bothering him on that particular day and Trainer responded that he was after an identity for the crew in the community he was training with and didn’t specifically want them branded with a cheap gym name or bootcamp tag. The korero was his Papa’s kaupapa was so strong that someone can influence anybody at any time in their lives whether Trainer was there or not. I thought: What a stunning young man to be so thoughtful about the life of his father and the crew he was influencing through his training. What an insightful young man to think of that.
The Tohu itself shows a stylised figure. The stylised figure represents the Trainer being the Kaihautu breathing life into the 6 koru with his legs and arms holding them to protect them. The 6 koru are based on a Patiki design symbolising times of favour by his own means to engage his mind and body as one to work together again. Each koru are his mama and papa who helped shape who he is today. They also represent him and his strong foundation to stand up for himself. You will note they are in perfect formation. Trainer loves the formation of them and uses them to his advantage. The koru also represents Aotearoa, Fiji, Rarotonga, Samoa, Australia and Tonga. These are all surrounded by the ocean Trainer loves so much and it is this ocean that will take him to his final resting place at his time to Te Rerenga Wairua and on to Rarohenga where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific oceans meet at Te Moana a Rehua.
The jagged edges on his legs represent the brokeness from his accident. The kaperua design in which they are drawn show the strength and power Trainer needed to get up and walk and eventually run again.
You will see a korowai wrapped around trainer with Pacifica traits influencing the design. The 6 koru include our pacific brothers and sisters from the Islands of the Pacific Ocean. As we know Trainer knows no bounds to the hearts, minds and spirits of the people he touches and the ability for him to be able to carry us all along in this journey into our greater selves. He is all about our people in our entirety. Each of us woven together with whakapapa and meaning. We have opportunities here to make a difference not only for ourselves but also for those of us we are in contact too. Opportunities to pay this journey forward must be a consideration as we move step forward into our futures too. We are all one as we travel together over the next year and beyond. The Samoan spearheads express courage and represent loyalty to his people as we do battle with this thing we call life. Above the spearheads are the Tongan symbol for unity where love, devotion and passion thrive if given a chance. It is where the sunrise meets the sunset and vice versa. Ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea.
On his thighs you will see a Puhoro design pattern meaning speed, swiftness and agility. We all know Trainer has this in spades. The 3 rings on each side of his knees represent a 3 level mountain in Tamaki Makaurau that he calls his ‘Stamping Ground’ - Sir Barry Curtis Park. We all have somewhere we call our home and for Trainer this place holds special meaning for him. It is where Trainer spreads his kaupapa and repays his people for supporting him. Splitting them in two on both sides of him shows the path that affects positive change and where the “Influence Crew” first had its origins.
The two taiaha Trainer carries are him and his wife representing their Ngati Kahungunu and Tainui iwi respectively. Both strong iwi in their own rights.
The small left hand sleeve taiaha indicate a team where we are all bound together by a common goal and with Trainer being our leading man we can be well assured that ‘no one gets left behind’.
The dragon on the right hand sleeve represents power, strength and good luck for the people of China during Empirical reign. It has become symbolic of China and is frequently used in their home ceremonies where depictions of power and strength abound.
Now I’m not sure about you but I love that I can wear this with pride and it has special meaning for him and therefore for us. To be included in this journey to the Great Wall of China will hold its own special meaning to each and every one of us but rest assured we have been hand picked with a purpose in mind.
Nga mihi maioha ki a koe e te kaihautu o tenei waka. He aha te kai o te rangatira? He korero, he korero, he korero. He aha te mea nui o te ao? Maku e kii atu?? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.
It is said that the food of the chiefs is to talk. There is certainly a lot of food for thought in these tohu we will proudly wear on our kakahu. After all, as Trainer knows and acknowledges: The most important thing in this world are the people, the people, the people.
Nga mihi
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