If you like capture the flag, take a look at this extreme Japanese sport called Bo-Taoshi, the pole-toppling game. Go ahead, open YouTube, and prepare to search for this game. Bo-Taoshi is played on an outdoor field with a pole stuck in the ground, and two teams combat each other…
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Obscure Sports Weekly: Bocce Ball
Bocce ball, after soccer and golf, is the third-most played sport in the world. However, it has only recently become popular in the United States. While popular culture imagines it as a game for the elderly, it was originally meant to be played by everyone. Bocce can be traced as…
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Obscure Sports Weekly: Curling
The sport of curling, sometimes referred to as “the Roaring Game,” is made up of two teams of four people each and takes place on a rectangular ice rink called a “sheet.” Considered to be one of the world’s oldest team sports, it originated in 16th century Scotland, where it was…
Read MoreObscure Sports Weekly: Cheese Rolling
At the end of a long and frustrating day, some people want a chunk of cheese. Others want to go for a nice run. Others, still, choose both. The sport of cheese rolling is pretty much exactly what its title suggests. A roll of Double Gloucester cheese, weighing around 10…
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Obscure Sports Weekly: Caber Toss
While Americans have football, soccer, basketball and baseball, the people of Scotland gather, cheering fans and all, to watch their strongest participants compete in the Caber Toss. What is the Caber Toss, you may ask? With its name coming from the Gaelic word “cabar” or “kaber”, meaning beam, the sport…
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Obscure Sports Weekly: Sepak Takraw
Created in Malaysia about 500 years ago, Sepak Takraw is similar to soccer, tennis and volleyball. It is played competitively around the world, but is most well-known in Asia. The words ‘sepak takraw’ have roots in both Malay and Thai. The word ‘sepak’ means ‘kick’ in Malay, and ‘takraw’ means…
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Obscure Sports Weekly: Slalom Skiing
Slalom skiing is a form alpine skiing in which the skier must pass between poles or gates. Alpine skiing encompasses all forms of skiing that are downhill on fixed-heeled skies and is typically divided into five categories: downhill, super combined, super-G, giant slalom and slalom. In competitions, the skier participates…
Read MoreObscure Sports Weekly: SlamBall
Most sports require a mixture of speed and strength to achieve success. Mason Gordon went above and beyond these requirements when he created SlamBall, a form of basketball that incorporates aspects of football and gymnastics. Gordon wanted to take the unrealistic abilities of athletes in video games, such as extreme…
Read MoreObscure Sports Weekly: Chess Boxing
If you think boxing and chess do not go hand-in-hand, think again. The sport of chess boxing is indeed an actual thing. The sport combines playing chess and boxing, although the two are not done simultaneously. The sport tests both the brains and brawn of athletes. The sport originates from…
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