Kabaddi

Although different forms of this game have different names, the most common name for the original form is kabaddi. It is a popular game played primarily in India, but is now also played in Japan, South-east Asia, and Iran to name a few. It is considered the state game of Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh of India and is the national game of Bangladesh. It has an unusual purpose for the British Army. The servicemen play the game for entertainment, but they also use it as an attempt to recruit new members from the Asian British territories.

 

The game is played in a number of variations, but the original game is played by teams of seven, one team on each side of the playing arena. Each team also has an additional five players to use if necessary. The field is approximately ten by twelve metres in size, and resembles a very large and colourful wrestling mat.  The play goes on for twenty minutes, then a half-time break of five minutes, then the final half of twenty minutes is played.

 

The defending team forms a chain, which should not be broken by the “raider” from the opposing team. The defenders can link their hands together firmly in order that their chain not be broken. Each team takes a turn sending a “raider” to the other side in an attempt to wrestle a member or members of the opposing team until they are tagged, and return to his own side, all this taking place before he takes a breath! If the raider breathes before returning to his own side, he is out and must leave the playing field. He can also be considered out if he goes outside the boundary or he touches the ground with his body parts, unless he is engaged in a wrestle. The defending team earns one point when the opposing player is called out. The team scoring the most points throughout the game is the winner.

 

The teams are chosen for matches according to size and also age. The officials present at official matches number six in total. Two umpires, one referee, one scorekeeper, and two assistant scorekeepers.

 

This game has a rather long history. It is known to have been played in the pre-historic eras, but may have been more of a defence or offence strategy than an actual game. Stories of old tell of situations that occurred when, for example, the heir to the Pandava throne was surrounded by enemies. Other stories are told by Buddhists of Gautama Buddha in a match of kabaddi. 

 

The 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany held a demonstration game of kabaddi for future Olympic Committee consideration as an addition to the Olympic Games schedule. The Amateur Foundation for Kabaddi in India was formed in the year 1973. Both men and women play this game to date, and it appears that it is and has been quite popular since possibly the beginning of time as we know it.

Ice Boating

Ice boats are basically built upon the same concept as their original cousin, the sail boat. Ice boats are especially designed to travel on frozen lakes, instead of water. The boat is similar in design, but has runners, or skis, attached to the bottom. The racing version ice boat is designed for one person, but boats are also made for two if desired. The boats are approximately 15 metres in length.

 

Also known as ice yachting, this sport is commonly practised in North American lake areas where temperatures which are well below freezing for long periods of time are the norm. Therefore, the participants can be almost certain that the likelihood of participating in their hobby each winter is good.

 

Ice boats have been used for nearly 100 years. In the 1800’s the boats were more “chunky” in design and carried several people. They could be used on both the frozen water and on the lake when it was completely liquid. At that time, the boats were used for fishing, ice fishing, and transportation. The 1930’s saw a different breed of ice boat. This newer type boat was redesigned to be faster, smaller, and more efficient. In the 1970’s, another development improved the speed and efficiency when boat builders began to make them from fibreglass. The newer design allows for speeds up to 72 kilometres per hour and the highest speed recorded thus far is 100 kilometres per hour. There is a local folklore story of an unconfirmed speed record achieved in 1930’s that supposedly clocked an older style boat at 230 kilometres per hour. That boat is currently being restored.

 

Ice boats are not readily available for sale by manufacturers. Most of them are hand built by the sailors who wish to participate in the sport and want to build their own boat to their own design specifications. The boats are built individually, but they must meet certain classification specifics when they participate in regattas.

 

The fastest ice boats today are the class known as “E Skeeters”. Some of the Skeeters have mast heights of as much as 9 metres and their cockpits are enclosed. The sails on the “E” boats are approximately 6.7 square metres. Parts of the sails and the wing-mast are not measured in this class.

 

There is a possibility that ice boating will be a Winter Olympic sport. There is a rumour that in the year 2014 it will be demonstrated as a potential addition to the future Olympic programme. The regattas held currently are only held in the “ice belt” region of 40 -50 degrees latitude where the ice becomes safe enough year after year to conduct the races. These areas include around the American Great Lakes, the upstate lakes in New York, and several lakes in the Western USA to name a few. The cold temperatures are consistent enough to create a thick layer of ice before the annual snowfalls begin. When snow falls, the racers will usually find a different area to sail, as once it snows, they must wait. After the full melting of the snow the ice freezing process must begin anew. The favourite of ice boaters is called “black ice”. This occurs on occasion when there is no wind to white cap the water as it freezes, and the ice freezes into a perfect smooth state.

Frozen Waterfall Climbing

Most people today are at least familiar with the concept of climbing – rock climbing that is. But not many are familiar with the unusual and unusually demanding sport of ice climbing on frozen waterfalls. This is actually a team sport. One should not or cannot do it alone.

 

The team consists of two climbers. One goes ahead, leading the climb by pulling up with two ice axes, one in each hand. The axes are not built like a common broad bladed axe, but with sharp points that dig into the ice and hold on. Thus the climber can us the axe as if it were a handhold as in rock climbing. The feet are held into the ice by the use of sharp crampons, a type of spiky metal piece that is strapped firmly onto the front of the climber’s boots. Once the climber digs in, those spikes tend to hold their position until the foot is removed to be placed in another position. The lead inserts rope anchors along the way, and is climbing along with the rope, which he/she places into the anchors as he goes along, climbing higher and higher until reaching the desired position.

 

The lead job is risky, as the fall that could be taken is double the distance from placed anchor to placed anchor. In other words, if the lead is placing anchors 8 feet apart, and falls as he or she is placing the next anchor, the fall will be a full 16 feet, at which point a “shock load” will occur on the rope, the anchors, and worst of all, the harness of the falling climber. Many people who participate in climbing activities say that the climbing of a frozen waterfall is the most dangerous climbing of all. As if climbing anything isn’t dangerous to begin with!

 

Ice is less predictable than rock is for climbing. A sharp piece of falling ice can slice through you. The whole waterfall, or the part of it that you happen to be on, can suddenly let go and break off from the main piece and down goes your climbing party, crashing to the bottom. The typical ice climber carries ice axe, ice screws, and has usually twenty-five to thirty very sharp pointed spikes attached at all times. It then becomes essential to keep track of your pointy bits at all times, therefore avoiding a spike through your climbing partner’s arm or worse. Any climber interested in learning this challenging sport should be certain to learn first from a certified professional guide in order to learn proper techniques and skills.

 

Waterfall ice climbing has become popular in areas of the American Pacific Northwest throughout the Cascade Mountains. Very large waterfalls freeze with regularity each winter. It has since gained popularity in other areas such as the mountains of Montana and Canada’s Rockies in Alberta.

 

Ice climbing is no sport for the timid. It’s cold, scary, physically next to impossible, and the rewards are out of this world. There’s nothing like it.

Fireball Football

A good game of football is exciting enough as it is, isn’t it? Not so much, according to some very young and brave players. A new twist on the game of football is to play the game in the traditional manner, using the traditional rules, but with a flaming football. That’s right, folks. Soak the football in kerosene fuel, set the football on fire, then kick it around and try hard not to get burned. One would think it challenging enough not to get kicked in the shins or stepped on. These lads add another dimension of drama to the game.

 

Apparently, this a new take on a very old tradition. In Australia, one can actually purchase a football that is designed to be soaked with kerosene fuel and lit before play. Three hundred of these balls were sold before the government in Western Australia banned them. A young teen boy was playing with a fireball when he was badly burned on his hands by the toy. The South Australia area has now also placed a ban on the fireballs. Government officials from the Fair Trade office actually visited all the retail stores selling this item to ensure that they had been removed and were no longer being made available to the public. If a store was still found to be selling these dangerous fireballs, they could be fined. The only persons allowed to purchase a manufactured fireball football at this point are professional pyrotechnic entertainers and those intending to use it as a theatrical display.

 

Here’s the idea of the game. Two teams of a few players each attempt to put the ball into the opposing team’s goal. Each goal scores one point. The team with the most points at the end of the game, or when the game is called due to excessively burned flesh, wins. There is a goal at each end of the street, empty dirt lot, or grass field. One player from each team guards his/her goal from being breached or the goal net burnt by the flaming football. The other players on each team coax, kick, push, shove, or bounce the football toward the other team’s goal with the hopes of scoring a point. The other traditional rules of the game would apply, but there are a few exceptions. If the fire on the flaming football goes out, the game must be stopped in order to repair or replace the highly specialised equipment. This would involve one or more of the players re-soaking the ball in kerosene fuel and then lighting the fuel. The game can now be resumed.

 

Some young people seem to be so enthralled with the idea of using a ball on fire that they are finding ways to create their own versions of this new and exciting piece of sporting equipment, since they can no longer buy one at their local sporting goods store. I’m not so sure their parents and neighbours are equally thrilled. Government officials certainly aren’t.

Dog sledding

A very popular form of transportation in the very cold and snowy parts of the world is by dog sled team. A team of dogs pulls the riders on a sled, going very quickly over the ice and snow covered territories, no roads necessary. The idea has been turned into a challenging sport participated in by many.

 

The dog sled has been used as far back in history as the tenth century. Peoples living in all frozen areas of the world have used them. The Scandinavians used a sled called a pulka. They used the dog to pull the sled carrying supplies, and the skier was pulled behind the sled. Norwegians used sleds pulled by a dog team at the South Pole. The Inuit tribes in Canada used a sled called a komatik to carry a racer or a man hunting for food. The rider on those sleds was carried lying down.

 

The sleds of today are somewhat different. A sled with a raised basket is used in racing.  Freight carrying sleds are stockier but have the same configuration as a racing basket sled. These types of sled can carry the driver, known as the musher, behind in a standing position. The musher stands on the rear rails of the sled.  Today’s sleds have built-in braking mechanisms.

 

The racing team of dogs is very carefully chosen and a great deal of training is necessary. There are several dogs on a team and they exist as a true pack, each having his/her own order in the pack and job to do.  There are leaders, point dogs, powerful wheel dogs, and swing dogs. The wheel dogs must possess great power and strength, as they are used to pull the sled when it is stuck in snow. The swing dogs are used for simply pulling behind the lead dogs, and the rest of dogs are known as the team dogs. The point dogs are positioned behind the leads.

 

The lead dog is the most important dog to the team’s performance. Usually, the drivers will keep the lead dog inside the house with the family, while the others are kept in outdoor accommodations. A good lead dog is so essential to guide the team that it is often considered a great treasure to the sledding family.

 

Perhaps the most famous of all sled dog races is the Iditarod held in Alaska, USA. In 1973 the race was begun as a competition among local mushers. It has become a very large and televised event, covering 1868 kilometres from the town of Willow to the town of Nome. The racers are on the course for eight days to fifteen days straight. A man named Martin Buser did the course in a record eight days in 2002. The temperatures are usually well below freezing with wind chill temps of as much as -75 degrees Celsius. 

 

The Iditarod Trail, along which the race is run, was used for hundreds of years by the Inupiaq and Athabaskan tribes. Dogsleds in those areas were used to deliver firewood, mail, gold found in the Alaskan Gold Rush, mining supplies, food, priests, and furs. With the advent of snowmobiles, the dog sled has become an historic sport practised by only a select few.

Disc Golf

The relatively new sport of disc golf, otherwise known as Frisbee Golf, is just what it sounds like. It is golf played with a flying disc. Instead of hitting a tiny ball around a large course, with a great deal of walking about required (or a cart, if you choose), one uses a flying disc and flings it in the appropriate direction toward the next “hole” or in disc golf, basket. Then again, there is a great deal of walking about as the player must go to the spot where the disc landed, pick it up, and keep flinging it until it ends up in the correct basket. Just like golf, with occasional variation, the scoring is done according to how many times the player must manoeuvre the disc to the target.  The object is to get as few points as possible.

 

The flying discs used in disc golf have evolved from the traditional flying discs to a smaller, sleeker disc that can be thrown with a great deal more accuracy. There are different sizes allowed in a typical game of disc golf. The putter type disc, for short and accurate throws are the larger, flatter ones used in the typical game of Frisbee catch. They fly at a slower rate, allowing the golfer to have better control over the destination. The discs used for mid-range situations are smaller and have sharp edges. The driver is the most difficult to throw. It takes more practice to accurately and consistently throw a driver. The edges are the sharpest of all discs, and it takes a great deal of time to learn the path that a driver will take depending upon the angles at which it is thrown, etc. Like golf clubs, the discs are numerous in design and construction, and one can spend much time in perfecting the game. The frustrations are, I would imagine, also similar.

 

The scoring for disc golf is similar to ball golf, but there are some variations available. Stroke scoring is most usual. Other popular scoring methods are captain’s choice, speed golf, skins, or match play.  Although there are different types of scoring, the object remains the same. The one or team with the fewest strokes is the winner.

 

This game may have begun in the early 1900’s. The game was formalized in the 1960’s though, with parks setting up actual courses with signs, target baskets, and directions in which to throw. Many college campuses were the first to have formal courses. In most cases, the disc golf course must share space with other park amenities and activities. Therefore, there can usually be non-participants walking through the course. On occasion, some may decide to lay out a picnic luncheon right on the green! For safety’s sake the rules are often clear that right-of-way should be granted to non-players.

 

This sport has evolved into an actual sport now played even by professionals. The annual United States Disc Golf Championships are held at Winthrop University. There is even a Masters Cup held annually in Santa Cruz, California for both amateur and professional disc golf athletes.

Couple’s Exercise

A relatively new sport idea is on the rise. It makes perfect sense, too, for our modern lifestyles. If we are far too busy with work, kids, and all those little chores life throws at us, why not do some of those necessary but time-consuming exercises together – as a couple? Instead of using “I’m too busy to exercise” as an excuse, some couples are now finding that if they combine their together time with their exercise programs they can actually kill two birds with one stone.

 

Many workout gymnasiums and personal trainers are advocating this new means to an end and creating a stronger bond between couples as well. There are many advantages to working out with your significant other. For example, if you had a workout buddy down the street or at work, it might be difficult for you to coordinate your workout times, as his/her life is as busy as your own and there’s the ever-difficult task of trying to fit the time into a hectic schedule. If you were to workout with the partner of your life, living in the same home and with the same priorities as yours, the same schedules, etc. it just might be simpler to coordinate your efforts.

 

If you are into weight training, it’s also much more acceptable to lift your wife as you do push ups than to lift your buddy down the street. That might be a bit disconcerting. But your wife, now that could even be fun. Stretching together is something else that the two of you can do as a pair.  Or how about walking or running?

 

A most amazing program consists of several exercises that a couple participates in together, using each other’s bodies in isometric, stretching, and strength building routines. Try doing lunges whilst facing each other and holding hands. When one lunges forward, the other goes to the reverse lunge moving backward, then alternate. The old standby squats can be done facing each other and moving slowly, slowly, down, then slowly back to the standing position. These are just a few of many exercises you can perform together. Be creative.

 

The couples exercise programs advocate the use of common goals and commitment to motivate your partner and for him/her to motivate you. There is no one that could possibly be more concerned with your progress and your safety than your own life partner. The time that is spent by the couples involved in these programs is time very well spent. You do not need to set goals that take you away from home and your loved one in order to get in your day’s workout. You will both be heading for your fitness goals, but doing it together. Perhaps the best end product of this new concept is the bond that is strengthened between partners. In recent studies, the happiness and general overall libido increased in partners that participated in regular exercise, and their sex lives were reportedly a great deal more satisfying and more frequent.

 

Now that’s efficient!

Cheese Rolling

One of the most unusual – and definitely must-see – sports in the world today is known as cheese rolling. There is a cheese rolling event held annually in several places throughout the world today. The most famous event of this type takes place on Cooper’s Hill in the Cotswolds, a region of England known for its dairy farms.

 

Imagine yourself a contestant in a cheese-rolling competition.  You stand near the top of an impossibly steep slope. Looking down, you gather your courage and think through your strategy. You must maintain your composure, however, as it would be all too easy to slip, fall, and not stop there, but continue to tumble hopelessly toward the seemingly distant flat spot at the bottom. Perhaps with a bit of luck (or mercy), there will be a catcher positioned there to break your fall. And the object of all of this consternation and concern? The cheese! You must, besides negotiating the slippery slope, keep track of the cheese round, which could be travelling so fast downhill that it can barely be seen by the human eye.

 

The weeks before the event is held are busy ones for the preparations team. They must walk the slope to clear it of any brush, nettles, trash, rocks, and other items that could present a danger to the participants – and, of course, the cheese. Fences are put up along both sides of the slope to delineate the playing field, and to keep the spectators relatively safe. An area must be prepared to accommodate the communications crews and the judges. This is accomplished by stacking hay or straw bales as “walls of protection” for the expensive communications equipment. When the preparations work is completed, there is usually a large spread of good food provided in the form of a BBQ party.

 

Now for the event itself. Usually held on a Monday bank holiday, people visit from around the world, though it began as a local affair. From the flat at the top of the slope someone, usually a local dignitary or person of status in the local community, begins the cheese wheel rolling.  The athletes then run, fall, tumble, slide downhill hoping to be the first to cross the line at the bottom and win the cheese. The original idea was to ultimately catch the cheese before it reached the bottom, but it rolls at approximately 112 kilometers per hour. That makes actually catching up to it nearly an impossibility. The first person across the finish wins the coveted first place prize – the cheese! Second place receives ten pounds, and third wins five pounds. The competition in these events tends to be fierce and, though the prizes are not huge, the participants each definitely want to win.

 

The game, possibly dating back over 200 years, is quite entertaining and is not cost-prohibitive to observe. Last year’s event cost five pounds per carload. The most expensive part of this sport could actually be your trip to hospital in the ambulance if you are brave enough to participate.

Crazy Golf

If you wish to annoy someone who plays golf seriously, there are some ludicrous balls that are available in the market to perform the trick. This set contains four balls and each of the balls does something silly when it is hit. For example, the ball blows up into a white dust or wobbles all over instead of going straight. So, buy these balls and invite your friend to play golf. Play the prank and see the startled look on their face. These things will make you laugh hysterically. These crazy golf balls will make your relatives or friends feel like the most terrible golfers.

 

There is also a game called lighting crazy golf that has become quite popular among the younger age groups. Here, you can test your putting and potting skills. The expansive level, which contains multiple objectives, is bound to get you addicted to the game. Initially, each level is quite simple. Shoot the white coloured ball into the white coloured hole. Thereafter, the objective gets tougher and you will be racing against time. So, pot the ball, collect the coins, search the secret room, and complete the objectives before time moves out.

 

For those of you who are not golfers but wish to play golf for fun, it would be interesting to try out crazy golf. There are mini golf courses where you will be able to play 18 easy holes.

The kit for playing crazy golf consists of nine holes, which contains thirteen funky obstructions, four balls, a large holder, a scorecard, and steel clubs. The silly obstacles that come with this kit include the bridge, loop and many other things. Play this game as long as you please.  

 

This kit, which is brightly coloured, is fit for both outdoors as well as indoor use. Crazy golf provides the same entertainment that a game of mini golf offers. You have the choice of playing four different characters. So, be ready to play crazy golf in a diverse environment. Whether you play the game for the first time or whether you are a professional golfer, you will definitely enjoy it. 

 

The atmosphere and style inside is designed with 3-D effects. The surroundings are made very bright and the characters of the game look lively. The game is easy and can be quickly mastered. The rules of crazy golf are different from those of traditional golf. The aim of playing crazy golf is to try to play the last hole.

 

Another crazy golf game that has been recently introduced is the ball launcher game. This new concept makes golf easily accessible for everybody. A hand pump is used to recharge launchers safely and conveniently. It is ideal for those having mobility difficulties or for people who have discontinued playing due to age. It will provide fun for all, including youngsters. This launcher eradicates slow play. One will be able to play the game well even without proper practice. It is safe and gives more control when compared to the club version.