There’s no shortage of unusual sports to be found around the world, so here’s another. There’s even a subcontinental element to this one.
Slap Kabaddi, also known as Thappad Kabbadi, is a sport that involves two huge guys dressed in traditional attire slapping the ever loving shit out of each other.
If your initial thought is, “How can he slap?!,” then I applaud your sense of humour. But, returning to the topic at hand, this sport does exist, and it is reportedly watched by throngs of people.
The strange thing is that no one seemed to really comprehend the regulations. It usually entails males repeatedly slapping each other on the chest and face until one of them has had enough.
Objective
The basic goal of this game is to score points by raiding into the opponent’s court and touching as many opponents as possible without taking a breath. Each player enters the opponent’s court while yelling “Kabaddi! Kabaddi!” and tries to touch the defence players closest to him, while the opponents make tactical coordinated efforts to catch that person.
Types of Kabaddi
Kabaddi is an old Indian game that can be seen in various parts of the country. Its origins may be traced back to Indian mythology, with Abhimanyu inventing it during the Mahabharata fight. Different varieties of this game arose in different parts of India, and modern Kabaddi is essentially a combination of these various games. Sanjeevni Kabaddi, Gaminee Kabaddi, and Amar Kabaddi are the four types of Kabaddi that are still played in India.
Amar
Amar is a Sanskrit word that means “invincible.” This is a type of Kabaddi that is played on the basis of both teams scoring points. The play field has no specific dimensions, and each team consists of nine to eleven players. There is no out and resurrection system or lona in this type of Kabaddi, hence time is the deciding issue. The main advantage of this style of play is that the players stay on the court for the duration of the game, allowing them to offer their best effort.
Gemini
This version of Kabaddi is played with nine players on each side on an undefined playing field. The key feature of this version of Kabaddi is that if a player is put out, he must stay out until his entire team is put out. A point is awarded to the team that successfully eliminates all of the opposing team’s players. This is similar to the current ‘lona’ system. After all of the players have been removed from the game, the team is resurrected and the game resumes. The game will go on until five or seven lona have been obtained. There is no set time limit for the game. The main disadvantage of this form of Kabaddi is that the player is not in position to give his best performance since he is likely to remain out for the better part of the match until a loan is secured.
Sanjeevani
This version of Kabaddi is the most similar to the current game. Players are put out and revived in this version of Kabaddi, which lasts 45 minutes with a 5-minute rest in between. On each side, nine players make up the team. A lona is awarded to the team that puts out all of the players on the opposing team’s sides. The team that scores the most points at the end of the time limit is declared the winner. In this version of Kabaddi, the playing field is larger, and the cant varies by region. Modern Kabaddi has a lot in common with this type of Kabaddi, especially in terms of the out & revival system and lona. The present form of Kabaddi is a synthesis of all these forms of Kabaddi with a good number of changes in the rules and regulations.
