Ancient Sports
Buzkashi
The national sport of Afghanistan,
this game involves a number of mounted players fighting over the carcass of a
headless goat after which each player tries to pitch it across a goal line.
Seepak Takraw
Sepaktakraw (Malay: "sepaktakraw" or "sepak raga";
Jawi: سيڤق تكراو or سيڤق راڬا; Thai: ตะกร้อ, RTGS: takro,
pronounced [tā.krɔ̂ː];Khmer: "សីដក់" "Sei Dak"; Lao: ກະຕໍ້"ka-taw";
Filipino: "sipa"; Vietnamese: "cầu mây"),or kick
volleyball, is a sport native to the Malay-Thai Peninsula.Sepaktakraw differs from
the similar sport of volleyball in its use of a rattan ball and only allowing
players to use their feet, knee, chest and head to touch the ball. It is a
popular sport in Southeast Asia.
Ulama 
Ulama [uˈlama] is a ball game played
in a few communities in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Descended from the Aztec
version of the Mesoamerican ballgame, the game is one of the oldest
continuously-played sports in the world, and is also notable for the fact that
it is the oldest known game utilizing a rubber ball.
The word ulama comes from the
Nahuatl word ōllamaliztli [oːlːamaˈlistɬi] a combination of ōllama [ˈoːlːama]
(playing of a game with a ball) and ōlli [ˈoːlːi] (rubber). Ōllamaliztli was
the Aztec name for the Mesoamerican ballgame, whose roots extended back to at
least the 2nd millennium BC and evidence of which has been found in nearly all
Mesoamerican cultures in an area extending from modern-day Mexico to El
Salvador, and possibly in modern-day Arizona and New Mexico.Archaeologists have
uncovered rubber balls dated to at least 1600 BC, ballplayer figurines from at
least 1200 BC, and nearly 1500 ancient ball courts.
However, due to its religious and
ritual aspects, Spanish Catholics suppressed the game soon after the Spanish
conquest, leaving it to survive in areas such as Sinaloa, where Spanish
influence was less pervasive.
Pankration
Pankration (/pæn.ˈkreɪti.ɒn/ or
/pæŋˈkreɪʃən/) was a combat sport introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in
648 BC and founded as a blend of boxing and wrestling but with scarcely any
rules. The only things not acceptable were biting and gouging of the opponent's
eyes. The term comes from the Greek παγκράτιον [paŋkrátion], literally meaning
"all might" from πᾶν (pan-) "all" + κράτος (kratos)
"strength, might and power".
In Greek mythology, it was said that
the heroes Heracles and Theseus invented pankration as a result of using both
wrestling and boxing in their confrontations with opponents. Theseus was said
to have utilized his extraordinary pankration skills to defeat the dreaded
Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Heracles was said to have subdued the Nemean lion
using pankration, and was often depicted in ancient artwork doing that. In this
context, it should be noted that pankration was also referred to as pammachon
or pammachion (πάμμαχον or παμμάχιον), meaning "total combat", from
πᾶν-, pān-, "all-" or "total", and μάχη, machē,
"combat". The term pammachon was older, and would later become used
less than the term pankration.
Pato
Pato, also called juego Del pato
(Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxweɣo ðel ˈpato], literally "duck game"),
is a game played on horseback that combines elements from polo and basketball.
It is the national sport of Argentina since 1953.
Pato is Spanish for
"duck", as early games used a live duck inside a basket instead of a
ball. Accounts of early versions of pato have been written since 1610.The
playing field would often stretch the distance between neighboring estancias
(ranches). The first team to reach its own casco (ranch house) with the duck
would be declared the winner
Venatio
Venatio (Latin "hunt,"
plural venationes) was a form of entertainment in Roman amphitheaters involving
the hunting and slaying of wild animals.
Exotic wild beasts from the far
reaches of the Roman Empire were brought to Rome and hunts were held in the
morning prior to the afternoon main event of gladiatorial duels. The hunts were
held in the Roman Forum, the Saepta, and in the Circus Maximus, though none of
these venues offered protection to the crowd from the wild animals on display.
Special precautions were taken to prevent the animals from escaping these
venues, such as the erection of barriers and the digging of ditches. Very few
animals survived these hunts though they did sometimes defeat the
"bestiarius", or hunters of wild beast. Thousands of wild animals
would be slaughtered in one day. During the inauguration of the Colosseum over
9,000 animals were killed.
Nguni Stick Fighting
One of the few sports on this list
that is actually still practiced today, the name of this game just about sums
things up. The Zulus would essentially beat the crap out of each other with
sticks. Although people seldom died, the participants would often walk away
with numerous scars that they would wear like badges of honor.
Nguni stick fighting (also known as
donga, or dlala 'nduku, which literally translates as playing sticks) is a
martial art traditionally practiced by teenage Nguni herd boys in South Africa.
Each combatant is armed with two long sticks, one of which is used for defense
and the other for offense. Little armor is used.
The object is for two opposing
warriors to fight each other to establish which of them is the strongest or the
"Bull" (Inkunzi). In modern times this usually occurs as part of the
wedding ceremony where warriors from the bridegroom's household and area
welcome warriors from the bride's household and area to meet to "get to
know each other", other groups of warriors may also be welcome to join in.
Warriors do this by engaging in combat with one another. An "induna"
or War Captain / Referee from each group of warriors keeps his crew in check
and keeps order between fighters.
Episkyros
Although modern soccer has plenty of shin kicking and ankle twisting, its
ancient Greek predecessor was just downright brutal. In fact, sources indicate
that even spectators would often emerge with broken bones and injuries.
Episkyros (Greek: ἐπίσκυρος) was an ancient Greek
ball game also called έφηβική ephebike, "adolescence", and ἐπίκοινοςepikoinos,
"commonball"). The game was played between two teams of usually 12 to
14 players each, with one ball and the rules of the game allowed using hands.
Although it was a ball game, it was violent, at least at Sparta.The teams would
try to throw the ball over the heads of the other team. There was a white line
between the teams and another white line behind each team. Teams would change
the ball often until one of the team is forced behind the line at their end. In
Sparta a form of episkyros was played during an annual city festival that
included five teams of 14 players. It was played primarily by men but women
also practiced it.
Naumachia
The first known naumachia was given by Julius Caesar
in Rome in 46 BC on occasion of his quadruple triumph. After having a basin dug
near the Tiber, capable of holding actual biremes, triremes and quinqueremes,
he made 2000 combatants and 4000 rowers, all prisoners of war, fight. In 2 BC
on the occasion of the inauguration of the Temple of Mars Ultor ("Mars the
Avenger"), Augustus gave a naumachia based on Caesar's model. As cited in
Res Gestæ (§ 23), he created a basin on the right bank of the Tiber where 3000
men, not counting rowers, fought in 30 vessels with rams and a number of
smaller boats.
Claudius gave a naumachia in 52 AD on a natural body
of water, Fucine Lake, to celebrate the completion of drainage work and
tunneling on the site. The combatants were prisoners who had been condemned to
death. Suetonius' account, written many years after the event, has them salute
the emperor with the phrase "morituri Te salutant" ("those who
are about to die salute you"). There is no evidence that this form of
address was used on any occasion other than this single naumachia.
Chunkey
Chunkey (also known as chunky,
chenco, tchung-kee or the hoop and stick game) is a game of Native American
origin. It was played by rolling disc-shaped stones across the ground and
throwing spears at them in an attempt to place the spear as close to the
stopped stone as possible. It originated around 600 CE in the Cahokia region of
what is now the United States (near modern St. Louis, Missouri). Chunkey was
played in huge arenas as large as 47 acres [Irish National Botanic Gardens] (19
ha) that housed great audiences designed to bring people of the region together
(i.e. Cahokians, farmers, immigrants, and even visitors). It continued to be
played after the fall of the Mississippian culture around 1500 CE. Variations
were played throughout North America. Early ethnographer James Adair translated
the name to mean "running hard labor". Gambling was frequently
connected with the game, with some players wagering everything they owned on
the outcome of the game. Losers were even known to commit suicide.
Jousting
Jousting emerged in the High Middle Ages based on
the military use of the lance by heavy cavalry. It transformed into a specialized
sport during the Late Middle Ages, and remained popular with the nobility both
in England and Germany throughout the whole of the 16th century (while in
France, it was discontinued after the death of king Henry II in an accident in
1559).In England, jousting was the highlight of the Accession Day tilts of
Elizabeth I and James I, and also was part of the festivities at the marriage
of Charles I.
Pelota
Purepecha
What
was essentially field hockey for pyromananiacs, this ancient mesoamerican game
used a flaming puck. Recenlty, it has actually started making a comeback as the
Mexican government is pushing to revive its ancient past times.
The
background to the game of ball purépecha to the origins of the first
inhabitants of what is now dating Michoacán, centuries before it was common. It
tells a legend in Mexico, when reborn Mars, the fifth star, and natural
disasters unleashed against the Earth, Purepecha people invented the game ball
as a remedy to level the cosmos. This practice goes by many names according to
the mode and the area where it is practiced. The most popular method is the rag
ball game, known as uárhukua or Pasiri to kuri. The felling of forests has
changed the materials with which the balls were constructed. However, the
Purepecha ball game refuses to disappear. It is known according to the
community in which it is practiced, as Uárhukua, Uárhukukua, Papandu akukua or
Pasiri to kuri. It is the most widespread method in the Purepecha region.
According to data from the Mexican Federation of Sports and Games Indigenous
and Traditional, 1 vestiges of this game, which is currently implemented by
some 800 people across Mexico, dating from about 3500 to den.
Basque
Pelota
The
term pelota probably comes from the Vulgar Latin term pilotta (ball game). It
is a diminutive form of the word pila which may relate to a hard linen or
leather ball filled with pilus (fur or hair) or to the Latin words for strike
or spade and is related to the English word
pellet
Yak racing
Yak racing (Chinese: 赛牦牛)is a spectator sport held at many traditional festivals of
Tibet, Northern Pakistan and Mongolia, and can be one of the most entertaining
parts of a Tibetan horse festival, in gatherings which integrate popular dances
and songs with traditional physical games. For Tibetans in particular it is
very special festive occasion
Yak racing (Chinese: 赛牦牛)is a spectator sport held at many traditional festivals of
Tibet, Northern Pakistan and Mongolia, and can be one of the most entertaining
parts of a Tibetan horse festival, in gatherings which integrate popular dances
and songs with traditional physical games. For Tibetans in particular it is
very special festive occasion
Horseball
Horseball is a game played on
horseback where a ball is handled and points are scored by shooting it through
a high net (approximately 1.5m×1.5m). The sport is like a combination of polo,
rugby, and basketball. It is one of the ten disciplines officially recognized
by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.
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