Haka championships in New Zealand

This weekend (19-22 February) sees the start of the kapa haka championships - known as Te Matatini - in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. Around 40,000 people will descend on the town of Tauranga to celebrate four days of Maori performing arts Photograph: Aaron Smale/IKON/IKON

The biennial festival, which began in 1972, features 36 teams from all over New Zealand (and two from Australia) competing in dance, chants, action songs ... Photograph: Aaron Smale/IKON

... and the show-stopping, tongue-flicking, eye-rolling Ka Mate haka war dance Photograph: Aaron Smale/IKON

This year's event has been given special significance following last week's ruling by the New Zealand government to assign intellectual property rights to the Ka Mate haka to a North Island tribal group to prevent its commercial exploitation in films and television. The tribe also received NZ$121 million ($63.72 million) and property around the bottom of the North and top of the South Islands Photograph: Aaron Smale/IKON

The haka is not exclusively a war dance (haka simply means to dance) - there are different versions performed to welcome distinguished guests, or to celebrate important occasions Photograph: Aaron Smale/IKON

The Ka Mate haka was made world famous by the New Zealand rugby team who use it to psyche out opponents before a game. The first time it was performed overseas was on the 1888-89 New Zealand Native Teams tour of Britain. Here, the 1967 All Blacks look less than intimidating in Colombes, France Photograph: Universal/TempSport/Corbis

Over the years, the pre-game ritual has grown in intensity. Here, All Blacks captain Richie McCaw performs the haka with his team before a match against Australia at Eden Park in Auckland in 2008 Photograph: Nigel Marple/Pool/Corbis/Reuters

Kees Meeuws flicks out his tongue at the Canada team at the world cup in Melbourne, Australia, in 2003 Photograph: Mark Dadswell/Getty

But opponents are beginning to wage their own psychological warfare. The Wallabies famously turned their back on the haka in 1996, the French went eyeball to eyeball before their quarter-final World Cup match in Cardiff in 2007, and Wales refused to break ranks in Cardiff in 2008. This has led to claims in New Zealand that the haka is being disrespected Photograph: Bogdan Cristel/Reuters/Corbis

In 2006 an Australian television trailer superimposed handbags on players performing the haka, an Italian commercial for Fiat cars had women performing the haka (deemed inappropriate), and there was outrage when New Zealand's bakery of the year awards featured gingerbread men performing the war dance Photograph: YouTube/Public Domain

But there are places, such as Haka World in Rotorua, where men, women and children can learn how to do the haka. 'Become a warrior and perform the World Famous All Black Haka Kamate, Kamate,' says the website Photograph: PR

A statue, set in a stance for a performance of the traditional haka, on Watchman Island in Auckland's Waitemata Harbour Photograph: NZ Herald/Reuters