Ulama Need to win, desperately!
Soccer might be the most popular game in South America, but the ancient Mayans had their own special sport. The game, a lot like volleyball, was played between two teams and the players had to keep the ball in the air throughout the play. The ball could be ‘kicked’ only with the elbows, forearms or hips. If you are imagining a scene with happy players casually bouncing off a light ball, then it’s really far from the truth. For one thing, the ball was made of solid rubber and weighed a whopping nine pounds! Either team could score an instant win if they could somehow manage this superhuman feat – send the ball through a hole (only a little bigger than the ball) in a sideways hoop. Most importantly, winning was literally a matter of life or death – the losing team ended up losing their heads as well!
Papa Holua – surfing volcanic slopes
Hawaii is famous for surfing and you often find people surfing the waves bravely. Ancient Hawaiians loved surfing too, however they found it even more fun to do it on mountain slopes rather than the ocean. They liked a bit of challenge too, which is why players often liked sliding along the sides of a volcano! Specially designed sleds were used for this sport. Around 200 years ago, the sport was banned because it was (surprise, surprise!) dangerous.
Chunkey – Sharp eyes and a sharp spear
It might sound like a fun, light game, but for the ancient Native Americans who played it, it was very serious business, so much so that the spectators and the players gambled everything they owned on the outcome! Unless a player had good eyesight, it was really hopeless playing this sport. You see, it’s about rolling a clay disc, about 3 inches in diameter, in an open area and throwing spears in such a way that the disc stopped close to or on top of the spear. Sounds easy? Try playing a version of this sport with sticks and rings and you’ll know!
Fisherman’s jousting Boat fights
When the ancient Egyptians weren’t too busy hauling stones around to build pyramids or mummifying bodies, they liked to relax and play some sports. Particularly popular was ‘fisherman’s jousting’. Imagine this remarkable sight – two teams in boats rowing slowly towards each other on the Nile… and then all of a sudden they pull their oars out of the water and start hitting each other, turning it into a fierce match as each team tries to hit and knock the opponents into the river!
Venatio Man vs. Wild
Venatio is just a fancy name for a cruel gladiator-type game. Ancient Romans were as obsessed with brutal fighting as we are about cricket. In Venatio, slaves were pitted against different wild beasts, ranging from elephants to lions and cheetahs, in an arena. It’s difficult to predict whether the players or the animals had the worst fate.
Picture Credit : Google
