International OT - Tattoo question

[TNBT]

I know this is off topic, but I figured that this would be the most likely place to find Kiwi's on these forums, who I am hoping can help me out. I've been looking at getting a tribal sleeve tattoo for years now, and am planning to get one done at the end of this year or start of next year when I have bulked up some more. What is the point, you ask? I have never been able to find a design quite like what I picture in my head, but the design that The Biggest Loser trainer Shannan Ponton has is virtually exactly what I want. Therefore, my question to anyone who may know is is his tattoo representative of any particular nationality (such as a Maori design or whatever), and if so, does it have any particular meaning (I know that some tribal styles actually tell a story)?

I'm planning on getting something close to that, but I want to know first what the style means and what story it tells, if anything.

 

[oz1235]

I know this is off topic, but I figured that this would be the most likely place to find Kiwi's on these forums,

I switched off at the first sentence.

 

[Northern_Union]

The general answer is yes it's tribal but it looks generic. I'm no expert though. Have you tried searching for NZ Maori tattoo artists on the web to get an idea of what your looking for?

 

[SammyFish25]

Just curious, are you a Kiwi TNBT?

Because based on what I've heard, don't Kiwi's predominatly get tibal tattoo's to symbolise their family and heritage ect.?

Not having a go at you or anything, but I think getting a tribal tattoo based only on how it looks is silly. (Only say this because a friend of a friend got one done and when a Kiwi mutual friend asked about it, he couldn't answer the question as to why he had the particular design)

 

[TNBT]

Just curious, are you a Kiwi TNBT?

Because based on what I've heard, don't Kiwi's predominatly get tibal tattoo's to symbolise their family and heritage ect.?

Not having a go at you or anything, but I think getting a tribal tattoo based only on how it looks is silly. (Only say this because a friend of a friend got one done and when a Kiwi mutual friend asked about it, he couldn't answer the question as to why he had the particular design)

I know exactly what you are talking about. The issue of tribal tattoos seems to split the tattoo world into two groups. There is the "if you're not Maori or Samoan then you look stupid" group and the "tattoos are art, and there's no law that tattoos have to have some deep meaning... you can just get a tattoo because you like how it looks" group. Personally, I'm in the second group. To answer your question, no I'm not a Kiwi, and that is why I started this thread, because I do like the look of tribal tattoos, but I want to do what I can to try and make sure that I don't get a tattoo that carries some meaning which doesn't apply to me.

On that topic, does anyone know what (if any) meaning Sonny Bill Williams sleeve has? I had never really considered a Samoan design before, but his looks great. If it, like Shannan Ponton's Maori-looking design, has no meaning, then I think I'd have to consider that as well.

 

[storm fan]

Getting a tattoo that done that has no meaning is one of my pet hates.