5 bizarre sports you may never have heard of

Tom Welling, the actor who is best known for his role as Clark Kent- the alternate identity of Superman, once said, “If I was invincible, maybe I would take up some extreme sports”. Let’s take a look at some of the world’s most bizarre sports. A few of them are extremely menacing.

EXTREME IRONING

After a hard day’s work, Phil Shaw who used to work at a garment factory was in the mood to unwind. But he also had a pile of clothes that needed ironing. The adventure junkie decided to engage in some rock climbing. Just then, the man from Leicester, England had his eureka moment.

He decided to combine two unrelated activities and merge them into one. The result? Extreme ironing – a sport that involves performing the domestic errand of ironing in extreme environments like kayaking, rock climbing, surfing etc. Phil who calls himself, “Steam” decided to promote this sport worldwide after meeting some German tourists in New Zealand who believed in his kick ass idea.

CHESS BOXING

Picture this- Floyd Mayweather vs. Viswanathan Anand. This matchup can only be possible and fair if they play a round of chess boxing.

The hybrid sport involves participants playing alternate rounds of chess and boxing and is a fully developed competitive sport.  The fight consists of eleven rounds, five rounds of boxing and six rounds of chess. This is where Anand could have an upper hand.

The sport was invented by Iepe Rubingh, a performance artist from Netherlands. The first chess boxing competition was held in 2003. Ever since, its popularity has increased manifold. The sport is a hit among the Indians and Indian fighter Shailesh Tripathi lost the light heavyweight title back in 2013, in a closely contested final. 

LIMBO SKATING

This is just like roller skating. But there’s a catch. Participants have to roller skate underneath an obstacle like a car without touching it.  The sport that appears to be beyond the realms of possibility is a rage in India, China and various other countries. The game takes the term – “low centre of gravity” to a whole new level. The current record for the longest distance covered is held by Medvin Deva, a ten year old prodigy from Chennai, Tamil Nadu.  Medvin covered a stupendous distance of seventy-two meters and breezed past the previous record by seventeen meters.  He set the record in 2015.

Here is a video of another record breaker, Gagan Satish, a seven year old sensation from Bangalore plying his trade with relative ease and elegance. But don’t let that fool you. That elegance stems from thousands of hours of rigorous practice.  The boy is now part of limbo folklore. He is known to have roller skated under thirty nine stationery cars.   

HIGHLINING 

An extreme sport that isn’t for the faint hearted. In highlining, athletes walk across a bouncy rope suspended several hundred feet above the ground. The sport was first played in 1984, in California, USA.  The only difference between life and death for these adrenalin enthusiasts is a thin rope that's attached to them, which prevents them from falling.  Yes the sport is physically demanding but what’s more taxing is the strain on the mind.

Participants have to learn to use their mental energy with military precision in order to wash away any fears in their mind and substitute it with focus. 

Below is a beautiful video that captures the essence of the sport in its purest form.  The highliners ply their trade in the mountainous region of the French, Alps.

BUZKASHI 

The national sport of Afghanistan has a peculiar objective. Buzkashi translates to 'goat dragging'. A dead goat or calf (beheaded and disemboweled) is used as the ball of the game.  The sport is like polo but with a headless goat. The goal of the game is to carry the carcass from one end to the other end of the field and place it in the “Circle of Justice” or the scoring circle.  The player who sits atop the horse is called a Chapandaz.

Unlike in other sports like basketball and football where players peak in their twenties, a master Chapandaz is generally in his forties. At times even the horses engage in their own personal rivalries and spontaneously kick each other. The sport is played across various nations like China, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.  During Taliban’s regime, the sport was banned as they considered it to be indecent. The game is now regularly played ever since the Taliban were overthrown.