Ninh explains, the Top 10 Weirdest Sports in the World
So you’ve probably heard of tennis, basketball or Football (which soccer to you Americans)
– but you’ve probably not come across any of these sports, each one weirder than
the last. And no, I’m not yanking your chain, these sports are real.
1. Sepak Takraw Probably the least weird sport on the list,
Sepak Takraw is sometimes referred to as kick volleyball. It’s essentially volleyball
but you’re only allowed to use your feet and head to hit the ball on your opponents
floor It’s very popular in Southeast Asia and
there’s a ton of unbelievable plays in this game.
And by the way … if you want to find out more about it, I actually made a video about
Sepak Tawkraw right here!
2. Shin Kicking Oh yeah – that’s a sport believe it or
not. If you’re from the south of England, you’ve probably seen this before, but the
idea of the game is to kick your opponent in the shin repeatedly to try and get them
onto the ground. Before the game starts, you have to stuff your trousers full of straw,
wear a lab coat for some reason, and then proceed to grapple your opponent and kick
the crap out of him. I’m not sure what the referee does, but he’s this guy here who’s
holding a big stick … (and also in a lab coat)
3. Caber Tossing Whilst the English are kicking each other
in the shins, the Scottish are throwing around bits of tree. Caber tossing is one of the
original Scottish Highland Games and believe it or not, the object of the sport is NOT
to throw the log the furthest. These logs (or cabers) are 19ft 6 inches long
and weigh 175lbs and the idea is to toss the caber onto its end and for it to land in the
12 o’clock position. This is rarely done perfectly and judges are on hand to make a
decision if there is a close tie. Caber tossing is a true test of strength and explosive
power unlike … well … unlike that.
4. Quidditch Unless you’ve been under a rock for the
last 20 years, you’ve probably heard of Harry Potter and the fictional sport that
they play known as Quidditch. Unfortunately, some bright spark decided that
they would actually play the game and introduce it to all the American colleges and Universities.
So now every Saturday you’ll see grown men and women run around a field with a broom
between their legs. I’m not joking. And no folks, I really won’t be making a video
about the Rules of Quidditch anytime soon.
5. Wife Carrying Our friends in Finland are responsible for
this one. Yes, as you’ve probably guessed by the title – you have to carry your wife
over an obstacle course in the fastest possible time. The only real requirements is that the
wife must weigh at least 49kg and that the course is exactly 253.5m long. The winner
usually wins his wife’s weight in beer, so guys pick up your wife. Pick up somebody
else’s wife, I don’t care … there’s beer to be won!
6. Chess Boxing It’s exactly as it sounds. Chess – the
board game, mixed with boxing – the combat sport.
Players alternate a round of boxing with a round of speed chess. The idea is to punch
your opponent to death, so that he can’t think straight at the chess board. Or to confuse
him with Chess tactics so that they’re not concentrating on boxing. You win this sport
either by knockout, or by checkmate – whichever comes first.
7. Dog Surfing Normal surfing is passe, it’s old hat. I
know, why don’t we put dogs on surfboards instead?! Yes, over in California, they’ve
decided that it’s a good idea to stick their pets on surfboards and make them suffer Poseidon’s
wrath. The winner is whichever dog is adjudged to
ride the longest wave with the most degree of certainty. Although most of these dogs
don’t seem very certain at all ...
8. Unicycle Football American Football is hard enough – but there
are some people who think that it’s just too easy. So those are the ones that decide
to play football on unicycles. It’s pretty much the same game as American Football, you
can tackle, pass or cycle with the ball. And the scoring is the pretty much same. But I
can imagine the injuries from clashing unicycles being horrendous.
Football not your thing? How about unicycle hockey, or unicycle polo? Basically any team
sport you can think of … on a unicycle.
9. Blind Soccer You’d think that playing soccer requires
you to be able to see the ball. But obviously nobody told these guys.
Players are either naturally blind or blindfolded and a bell is inserted into the soccer ball.
They obviously can’t see the ball, so they have to listen for the bell inside the soccer
ball and players have to constantly communicate so that they don’t run into each other.
Yeah, that’s dead easy, right?
10. Cardboard Tube Duelling I’m seriously not making this up. Cardboard
Tube Duelling is as the name implies. It’s fighting with cardboard tubes. Players must
hit each other and break their opponents cardboard tube, without breaking their own. If time
expires, a referee will measure both tubes and the tube that has bent the least wins
the duel. There’s no stabbing or lunging, no hitting in the face and cardboard armour
and shields are optional. There’s even a pro league dedicated to cardboard tube combatants
… … okay?!
Honourable mention goes to the Indonesian sport of Fireball.
It’s pretty much regular football, except that you set the ball ON FIRE before you start
playing! Sounds like great fun?! Got any other obscure or weird sports to share
with the world? Like the video, follow me on Twitter, share
this video and subscribe :) And comment below so that we can all laugh
in unison at some of the sheer crazy that’s out there in the world.
… Especially that!
Ninh Ly, www.ninh.co.uk, @NinhLyUK