Everyone knows about football, basketball and other popular sports. While those can have some unusual moments from time to time, there are entire sports that are very unusual themselves. Today, we’re taking a look at some of the most unusual and bizarre sports that exist today. It’s very possible that you’ve never even heard of these, not to mention played them. Without further ado, here is a list of top 10 bizarre sports.
Chess boxing is a very interesting combination of two sports – chess and boxing, as you could have guessed. This hybrid sport was invested by a Iepe Rubingh as an art performance, but it quickly became a competitive sport. As the title says, this sport is a combination of chess and boxing, meaning that the candidates fight in alternating rounds of the two sports. The first chess boxing competition took place in Germany in 2003, and the sport has been going strong ever since. Today there are entire chess boxing championships and professional matches are organized regularly. Chess boxing fights consists of 6 chess rounds and 5 boxing rounds. All of them are 3 minutes long with a 60 second break between them. There are six possible ways to win a chess boxing match; knockout, technical knockout, checkmate, exceeding the time limit in chess, disqualification, and finally, making your opponent give up.
9) Buzakashi (Goat Grabbing)
Buzakashi literally means “goat grabbing” in Persian, and it’s a greatly accurate name for the sport. Buzakashi definitely is one of the most bizarre sports that you can come across. The game is played by people who mount their horses and attempt to place a goat carcass in a goal. Apparently the matches get pretty heated so it’s advisable to wear thick clothing and head protection. You know, in case someone accidentally whips you, which is a real possibility in this sport. The games usually last a couple of days, but can also be time limited if a tournament is being played. Currently the best player of Buzakashi is Afghanistan’s Aziz Ahmad, who is sponsored by wealthy people of his country.
8) Kaninhop (Rabbit Show Jumping)
Probably the cutest sport you’ll come across is kaninhop, or rabbit show jumping in English. The whole thing is similar to horse show jumping. You know how horses are trained to jump over fences? Well this is exactly that, but for rabbits. Kaninhop first started in Sweden during the 70s, and has been on the scene ever since. Other than Sweden, the sport is also popular in Germany, Norway, Finland and Denmark. During some kaninhop competitions, several world records were set, such as the highest rabbit jump, which currently belongs to “Super Champion Majesty of Night Aysel”. His Majesty managed to jump exactly 1 meter high.
7) Toe Wrestling
Toe wrestling is exactly what it sounds like. Similar to its brother, thumb wrestling, this game is played by two players who attempt to pin each-others toes. It may sound like some sort of a hoax, but there are legitimate toe wrestling championships. The sport first came to surface in 1974. It was invented by four people sitting in a pub in Wetton, who were complaining how the United Kingdom doesn’t have any world champions. They decided to create a new sport so that they could finally have a world champion. For the first two years, one of the organizers was the world champion, but he was later overthrown by a Canadian tourist. The current world champion is Alan “Nasty” Nash.
6) Wife Carrying
Another widely popular bizarre sport is wife carrying. The creators of these weird sports are all great at naming because so far every name describes the sport spot-on. And wife carrying is no different. The premise is simple. Male competitors must carry a female teammate over an obstacle track. The first duo that makes it are the winners. There are several tactics used by the competitors, such as the piggyback, fireman’s carry or the Estonian-style carrying (pictured above). This sport is popular in Australia, USA, Hong Kong, Estonia and the UK. Wife carrying has some pretty interesting rules due to its unique nature. For example, the wife has to weight at least 49 kg, otherwise she is given a rucksack so that the total weight is 49 kg.
5) Belly Flopping
Have you ever experienced a belly flop? You know, jumping into the water and you land torso first. It can seriously hurt, or even injure you. However, that didn’t stop the people of Norway into turning the whole thing into a competition. Meet belly flopping, or “Dødsing”, in which the only objective is to make a stylish belly flop dive. However, the name is a bit misleading, because in order to prevent injuries, the contestants will curl their bodies a split second before they land. Contestants do various maneuvers, such as walking motions, in order to score points. And look very cool while doing it.
4) Cheese Rolling
The full name of this annual competition is Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake. This bizarre sport is very simple. A roll of cheese is rolled from the top of the hill, and competitors begin chasing it. The first one to cross the finish line at the bottom is the winner. The award? The roll of cheese, of course. Technically the idea is to chase the cheese, but that is pretty much impossible because it can reach the speed of around 70mph (112km/h). Thanks to the nature of the sport, injuries are frequent, as one can imagine.
3) Mountain Unicycling
Our number 3 bizarre sport is mountain biking, but done only on a single wheel. As you can imagine, the sport is pretty extreme, dangerous and takes a lot of skill. However, that doesn’t stop many people from practicing mountain unicycling. There are several events worldwide related to this sport, such as the British Muni Weekend and the California Mountain Unicycle Weekend. Obviously, the unicycles used are specifically design to withstand the conditions of this sport.
2) Quidditch
Remember Harry Potter? Harry was, among other things, a quidditch player. In the universe, quidditch is a sport played while flying on broomsticks. That’s not really possible in real life, but the International Quidditch Association managed to get around it, and make quidditch possible. The rules were adapted for people who aren’t wizards (aka muggles), and the sport first appeared in 2005. Each team has three chasers, two beaters and a single keeper. The goal is to score the most points by throwing a ball through one of the opponent’s hoops or catching the snitch. You surely know the Harry Potter quidditch rules, no need to go in-depth. The sport is great fun and is getting more and more popular each year.
1) Shin Kicking
Shin-kicking, also known as hacking and purring, is a simple sport. It involves two people who kick one another on the shin as hard as they can. Of course, they first stuff their trousers with protective armor, such as…straws. They repeat that until one of them falls down. As you can see, it’s a simple sport for simple people. Shink kicking is mostly popular in the United Kingdom, but there are several players from all over the world.
Do you play any bizarre sports? Have an idea for an unusual sport? Are you a world champion at any of these? Let us know in the comments below.
