Think you are familiar with sports? Everyone has heard of soccer, football, rugby, tennis, swimming and racing, but how many are familiar with toe wrestling or chess boxing? It’s a strange world and the ways in which we entertain ourselves to reflect that. Curious AF? Keep reading, because we’ve gathered 10 of the most unusual and hilarious sports from around the world, some of which are truly outlandish!
Chess Boxing
Chess Boxing was started around 1992 and is a game prioritising both brain and brawn. Since then, the game has gone intercontinental with countries like England, Germany, Netherlands, France, and Russia and Japan participating in it.
Players have to be seasoned in both boxing and chess to engage at the highest level. The object of chessboxing is to either strike your opponent in possible rounds of chess or boxing. Matches can be won from either control with the chess coming down to checkmate and the boxing in either a stoppage or points decision. Players go one-on-one in chess boxing and the match starts with a four-minute round of chess. For a three minute round, the players then go into the ring of boxing before again returning to the chess board. The match comprises of eleven rounds in all (six rounds of chess and five rounds of boxing) with one-minute intervals between rounds.
Toe Wrestling
Toe Wrestling is an early year game that has made it to the high time grown-up sporting world. The World Toe Wrestling Championship is not a contemporary competition, with its roots going way back to 1976 when the World Toe Wrestling Competition started in a pub in Wetton, Derbyshire UK. The locals of ‘Ye Olde Royal Oak Inn’ realised it would be an amazing idea to hold a toe wrestling competition, where the participants lock their big toes together and attempt to force their rival’s foot to the ground.
The rules for toe wrestling are pretty simple. With shoes off, the challengers face other toe-to-toe across the ‘toedium’, where they interlock their big toes and try to pressurise each other.
Giant Pumpkin Kayaking
The Windsor Pumpkin Regatta the race began in 1999 by Danny Dill. The bizarre event involves excavating out a giant pumpkin to use as a raft to paddle across a lake in a race against the clock. This yearly aquatic race is conducted in October on Lake Pesaquid in Windsor, Nova Scotia. The race features vibrant coloured giant pumpkins as the main means of creation. There are the following rules:
Pumpkins must weigh 600 – 800 lbs and they should float. The racers must paddle 800 meters to the finish line. No pushing or propelling. Also, Pumpkin kayaking has been voted the world’s weirdest sport.
Underwater Hockey
Underwater Hockey came into being in the United Kingdom by Alan Blake in the 1950s. He was the originator of an Aqua Club, and together with companions, they played the first game in Portsmouth, England. It is an underwater sport which is much similar to hockey. This game is usually played in a swimming pool, where the contestants push a puck along the bottom. This game is also called Octopush (in the UK) and UWH.
The squads have up ten members each, with six playing in the competition. The game consists of two halves, usually ten to fifteen minutes each half. Players wear snorkels and have to come up for air every now and then.
Some of the gears used include swimwear, mask, snorkel, fins, stick, puck, hat glove, and a goal. The sticks are about 30 cm long and the puck is heavier than usual (about 1.3 kg) so that it stays at the bottom.
Hammerfield
Hammerfield is a full exposed sport, which was created by Dave Simson in 2012. After watching the superhit movie The Avengers, Dave got inspired by the performance of Thor, thus began the ideation for hammerfield.
In Hammerfield, you are marked by throwing a hammer at the goal or jumping and hitting the goal. The goal is a bell which hangs three meters above the ground. Each team consists of eight players on the field plus reserves. Of these eight players, there are four hammer bearers and four soldiers. The equipment needed are foam hammer that looks like Thor’s Mjolnir, two bells like objects, the goals, a ball in the size of a tennis ball.
The game starts when the mediator puts the hammer in the centre safe zone1, after which the offence nominates a hammer bearer to start the offence. Meanwhile, the players of both teams stand around the outside of the centre safe zone 2 on their own half. When the hammer bearer touches the hammer the starting signal is blown, the hammer bearer has three seconds to make his move. The moment the hammer leaves the ground the defence can attack and the game begins.
Hantis
Hantis is an easy-peasy game originated by Ben Fatherree, Jason Johns and companions. The sport is alike to table tennis (ping pong), but much more modern. It can be played using the supplies, schools or as clubs have on four tables with one ball. Unlike most other sports, this sport is free of using these existing things. Players are able to perform ploys within their first time playing and the game rotates players on teams, which encourages a more playful competition instead of supremacy.
Bubble Soccer
A quirky avatar of soccer that is played in many different countries of the world like Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Lebanon, Norway, New Zealand, Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden, Spain and Poland is now in India these days. Bubble soccer, a game that will keep you in high spirits in excitement. It’s about hitting into each other, leaping and rolling in the grass, indoors, in inflatable zorb light balls. You will be too busy laughing out loud to keep a count.
All you need are a few bubbles, a lot of excitement and a mood to just go mad. It’s a harmless sport with no room for scars or accidents. So keep bouncing and rolling!
