Are you are still looking for an exciting sport to keep you motivated to excercise more often? Why not go off the beaten path and pick up one of these exotic sports?
Does
the thought of another soccer match on TV make you groan? Sick and
tired of hearing about football players’ salaries, or who’s been kicked
out of the hockey playoffs? Then boy, do we have the article for you!
Here we present, without further comment, a selection of some of the
weird and wonderful sports that people practice around the world…
Buzkashi
This sport, also known as ‘kupkari’ is a beloved traditional activity in Central Asia (think the ‘-stans’). Though there is a great deal of regional variation, the basic idea is that two opposing teams, mounted on horseback, compete to collect a prize and bring it to their end of the field. The prize happens to be a dead calf or goat, which you typically cram under one leg to keep your hands free. This sport evolved from battle tactics and involves strategy, speed, and a whole lot of guts. For example, under some rules, you are freely allowed to whip both your horse and players from the other team. Serious business indeed. Plus, it’s the national sport of Afghanistan!
Caber Tossing
This sport is an important component of traditional Highland Games, held yearly in Scotland and other countries. To win, the participant must pick up and throw a 6 meter long log (the caber), typically weighing about 80 kilograms. The distance thrown is unimportant, but in order to score well, the caber must flip in midair, and land as vertically as possible. The origins of this sport are rather mysterious. Other related sports from the Highland Games, such as Stone Put (similar to Shot Put), have found a home at the Olympic Games, but Caber Tossing has yet to join. Maybe in another 4 years!
Ferret-Legging
Unfortunately (?), this one is for men only. The object of the English sport of ferret-legging is to put a ferret down your pants – without underwear – and then see how long you can last without releasing it. Despite ferrets’ razor-sharp teeth and general excitability, the current world record is five hours and thirty minutes (side note: this was done for a fundraiser, which collected 1000 pounds, which seems pretty grim for the amount of biting likely involved). Tragically, Wikipedia lists it as a ‘dying sport’.
Jugger
This sport is unique in this article for several reasons. First, it was actually inspired by a movie (‘The Revenge of the Jugger’, released 1989). Second, it is the only one with a thriving league in Berlin (jugger-berlin.de). Jugger consists of two teams, each of which compete to gain control of a ‘skull’, and bring it to the other end of the field. However, this is easier said than done, as all but one player are armed with an arsenal of foam-covered weapons. Getting hit with someone’s staff (or sword, or chain, etc.) causes a sort of time-out, and the more players are immobilized, the more difficult it is to move the skull around and score points.
Cheese Rolling
Once a year, the sleepy town of Cooper’s Hill, UK, comes alive with international athletes, striving to be faster than a wheel of cheese. The format is simple: a 9-lb (4 kg) wheel of double Gloucester cheese is released from the top of a hill, and about 1 second later, dozens of people scramble after it. The first person to catch the wheel gets to keep it (along with the bragging rights). It sounds easy enough, but consider that the cheese can reach top speeds of 112 km/h and the hill is steep and uneven, the race can be a recipe for disaster. In fact, due to growing safety concerns, the real cheese was replaced by a foam version in 2013.
Fierljeppen / Puttstockspringen
For something a little closer to home, consider Fierljeppen, which is practiced in northern Frisian, regions of the Netherlands and Germany. Here, competitors perform a type of pole vaulting using a special 6-13 meter pole with a flattened end. Step one, stick the pole flat-side down in a body of water. Step two, run towards the pole and jump onto it. Step three, climb to the top of the pole. Step four, use your body weight to tip the pole away from the body of water and jump off of it again. Between the sickeningly wobbly poles and uninviting bodies of water, it’s a heady combination. Suffice to say, the YouTube videos are worth a watch.
Wife Carrying
Some people use sports as a way to get to know new people. Others use them as a way to get…closer to the ones that they love. The sport of wife-carrying, originating (and with a rabid fan base) in Finland and the Baltic States. The object in this sport is to carry your wife as quickly as possible through a 253.3 meter track with several obstacles in it. There are lots of other mystifyingly specific rules, such as that the only equipment allowed is a belt and a helmet, the wife must be over 17 years of age, each contestant is responsible for their own health insurance, and so on [7]. The World Championships of Wife Carrying are held yearly in Finland, where the winners receive the wife’s weight in beer as a reward.
by Constance Holman, PhD Student AG Schmitz
this article originally appeared June 2016 in Volume 09 Issue 2 "The Sporty Brain"
 |
| Peretz Partensky via Wikimedia Commons |
This sport, also known as ‘kupkari’ is a beloved traditional activity in Central Asia (think the ‘-stans’). Though there is a great deal of regional variation, the basic idea is that two opposing teams, mounted on horseback, compete to collect a prize and bring it to their end of the field. The prize happens to be a dead calf or goat, which you typically cram under one leg to keep your hands free. This sport evolved from battle tactics and involves strategy, speed, and a whole lot of guts. For example, under some rules, you are freely allowed to whip both your horse and players from the other team. Serious business indeed. Plus, it’s the national sport of Afghanistan!
 |
| Martyn Gorman via Wikimedia Commons |
This sport is an important component of traditional Highland Games, held yearly in Scotland and other countries. To win, the participant must pick up and throw a 6 meter long log (the caber), typically weighing about 80 kilograms. The distance thrown is unimportant, but in order to score well, the caber must flip in midair, and land as vertically as possible. The origins of this sport are rather mysterious. Other related sports from the Highland Games, such as Stone Put (similar to Shot Put), have found a home at the Olympic Games, but Caber Tossing has yet to join. Maybe in another 4 years!
 |
| Erlendaakre via Wikimedia Commons |
Unfortunately (?), this one is for men only. The object of the English sport of ferret-legging is to put a ferret down your pants – without underwear – and then see how long you can last without releasing it. Despite ferrets’ razor-sharp teeth and general excitability, the current world record is five hours and thirty minutes (side note: this was done for a fundraiser, which collected 1000 pounds, which seems pretty grim for the amount of biting likely involved). Tragically, Wikipedia lists it as a ‘dying sport’.
 |
| Ruben Wickenhäuser via Wikimedia Commons |
This sport is unique in this article for several reasons. First, it was actually inspired by a movie (‘The Revenge of the Jugger’, released 1989). Second, it is the only one with a thriving league in Berlin (jugger-berlin.de). Jugger consists of two teams, each of which compete to gain control of a ‘skull’, and bring it to the other end of the field. However, this is easier said than done, as all but one player are armed with an arsenal of foam-covered weapons. Getting hit with someone’s staff (or sword, or chain, etc.) causes a sort of time-out, and the more players are immobilized, the more difficult it is to move the skull around and score points.
 |
| michael warren via Flickr
|
Once a year, the sleepy town of Cooper’s Hill, UK, comes alive with international athletes, striving to be faster than a wheel of cheese. The format is simple: a 9-lb (4 kg) wheel of double Gloucester cheese is released from the top of a hill, and about 1 second later, dozens of people scramble after it. The first person to catch the wheel gets to keep it (along with the bragging rights). It sounds easy enough, but consider that the cheese can reach top speeds of 112 km/h and the hill is steep and uneven, the race can be a recipe for disaster. In fact, due to growing safety concerns, the real cheese was replaced by a foam version in 2013.
 |
| Peter Werkmann via Flickr |
For something a little closer to home, consider Fierljeppen, which is practiced in northern Frisian, regions of the Netherlands and Germany. Here, competitors perform a type of pole vaulting using a special 6-13 meter pole with a flattened end. Step one, stick the pole flat-side down in a body of water. Step two, run towards the pole and jump onto it. Step three, climb to the top of the pole. Step four, use your body weight to tip the pole away from the body of water and jump off of it again. Between the sickeningly wobbly poles and uninviting bodies of water, it’s a heady combination. Suffice to say, the YouTube videos are worth a watch.
 |
| Cortney Paxton via Wikimedia Commons |
Some people use sports as a way to get to know new people. Others use them as a way to get…closer to the ones that they love. The sport of wife-carrying, originating (and with a rabid fan base) in Finland and the Baltic States. The object in this sport is to carry your wife as quickly as possible through a 253.3 meter track with several obstacles in it. There are lots of other mystifyingly specific rules, such as that the only equipment allowed is a belt and a helmet, the wife must be over 17 years of age, each contestant is responsible for their own health insurance, and so on [7]. The World Championships of Wife Carrying are held yearly in Finland, where the winners receive the wife’s weight in beer as a reward.
by Constance Holman, PhD Student AG Schmitz
this article originally appeared June 2016 in Volume 09 Issue 2 "The Sporty Brain"
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