You might be familiar with mainstream sports like football, cricket, and baseball etc, but have you ever come across sports/games that sound not only bizarre but entertaining too? Yes, there are plenty of sports games that will make your jaw drop. Bringing fiction to reality, these unusual sports are too hard to ignore. It’s time to say goodbye to logic and jump into a pool of weirdly fascinating experience that is bound to unleash your happy hormones. Here are 10 of the weird sports in the world that are worth trying in life at least once (although you’ll be tempted to try them again and again).
Quidditch
If you think you can pick a groom and fly high in the sky to catch that tiny enchanted golden ball in this game (just like it happens in Harry Potter), you are mistaken. Though the sport have been well-described in J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series, the real world ‘Quidditch’ is more like a land version played on a hockey field. Adopting the elements from Rugby, Dodgeball and Tag, Quidditch is a bewitching game where a team of seven athlete plays with a broom between their legs at all times. Want to experience the madness? Head to the US or Australia and feel the rush.
Toe Wrestling
The United Kingdom is a hub of weird sports. One of the most peculiar ones is toe wrestling where two people lock feet and fight with their toes to pin each other’s foot down. If this makes you laugh out loud, imaging witnessing it or even better, participating in it. The world toe wrestling championship is organized every year in Derbyshire showcasing the finest athletes in the sport. Here players play the best of three rounds and try to best each other by bringing each other’s foot down. What is more fascinating is that women too have got a separate match of their own. After all, why should boys have all the fun, right?
Caber Toss
Dubbed as one of the most bizarre sports in the world, Caber toss will remind you of the iconic hand pump pulling scene from ‘Gadar- Ek Prem Katha’ where our hero ‘Sunny Deol’ pull the pump hard and throw it on his enemies. The only difference in that scene and Caber Toss is that you don’t really have to toss a pump here, simply replace it with large wooden poles and all you have to do is throw them all at over a certain distance. But that’s the only thing to know about this unusual sport. The catch is that you have to vertically flip it so that the log lands as flat on the top end as possible (make a 12 o’clock position). The game is a traditional Scottish game where athletes dress up in traditional Scottish skirt and lift the logs with the strength of Captain America.
Sepak Takraw
Resembling Volleyball, Sepak Takraw is one of the weirdest sports in the world where the players must use their feet to get the ball over the net. They can use any part of their body to keep the ball (made of dried palm leaves) in the air leaving their arms or hands. The sport is played enthusiastically in Southeast Asia particularly in Thailand and Malaysia and has been around since 15th century. Interestingly, Sepak Takraw has earned its place in the Asian games and Southeast Asian games and is played regularly. Want to try your skills? Plan a trip to Thailand or Malaysia and enjoy this odd yet likable sport.
Cheese Rolling
We are talking about usual sports that exist in the world and how can cheese rolling be spared from this list? This is yet another amazingly odd game given by England where a large cheese wheel (nine-pound wheel of Double Gloucester cheese!) is rolled down a steep hill and participants run after it. The first one to make it down the hill not only wins the race but wins the cheese as well (not to forget a few scars here and there too). Although the game doesn’t really fall into extreme sports category but it certainly is challenging as people often end up breaking their bone as they tumble down the rolling hill. Sounds ridiculous? Go to England and check out for yourself.
Ostrich Racing
Don’t feel too shocked to see Ostrich racing in this list of strange sports in the world. Originated in Africa, in this game, people sit on ostriches and race them around the track. Surprisingly, ostriches can run around 19 km per hour and can stride almost 16 feet distance at a time. This makes the race exciting and adds a flavor of fun mixed with danger. If you are a daredevil who loves challenging himself/herself then perhaps you might be interested in trying out this extreme yet outlandish sport.
Extreme Ironing
Once again UK tops the list when it comes to the country with most freakish sports ever invented. Extreme ironing is both an extreme sport and performance art where people take ironing boards to extreme locations and then iron their clothes. Now, this might again sound absurd, but the sports combine the excitement of outdoor activity and the satisfaction you get when you get well-pressed clothes.
Buzkashi
Just in case you happen to be a bollywood buff, you’d get an idea of what Buzkashi really is. Remember the movie ‘Khuda Gawah’ where Amitabh Bacchan (portraying an Afghani Pathan) tries to get the goat carcass from the opponent’s side and drop in it a goal thereby impressing Sridevi (playing Benazir)? Buzkashi is similar to Polo, but instead of a ball, here a headless goat carcass is used by players who try to drag the carcass through obstacles only to finally throw it into a circle at the other end of the playing surface. Earlier the game was banned by the Taliban but it has been resumed now with more and more people participating in this ruthless game.
Bo-Taoshi
Bo Taoshi is a chaotic and bizarre sport that acted as a military training exercise for the Japanese military. The sport involves one goal i.e. to capture the flag which is not only hidden but a big pole surrounded by 75 ruthless defenders who defends the flag from 75 attackers. The attacking team must bring down the pole by 30 degrees and the defending team must stop them from tilting the pole. As the attacker team cracks through the barrier, scrum disablers eliminate offensive tactics of spring boarding and ninja sits on top of the pole and leans to the opposite side to counter the tilting of the pole. Today, the sport is played on school sports days in Japan and defense training programs.
Wife Carrying
If you think we are kidding, we aren’t. Wife carrying is a sport that really exists. Originated in Finland, wife carrying is an unconventional sport where a man has to carry a woman (need not to be his wife but can be his partner) on his back, run through the obstacles along the way and win the race. However, if the man drops his partner in mid-race, five seconds are added to their time. The team who finishes the course in the shortest time wins the game. The winner receives a prize in the form of beer weighing equal to that of his partner’s weight.
Don’t you think these sports should be involved in the Olympics too? After all, it would be a complete dose of entertainment for all of us. Do let us know your thoughts on these unusual sports in the world.
