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Week 7 [21.11-27.11] Most Unusual Sports

Sport is a perfect way to stay in shape, exercise, move and generally speaking take care of our health, both physical and psychological. Sport has a positive impact on people’s lives because it enables them to let the daily pressure out, sweat it out and work out, so they feel more relaxed and fresh afterwards. People enjoy sports and exercising because they feel glad, happy and satisfied afterwards. They get such feeling thanks to endorphins, which are also known as ‘’happiness hormones’’. It has been proven many times before  that working out not only helps people control their body weight and condition, but  also influences their minds and mindset afterwards. This is the reason for many people to do sports – not only because they like adrenaline or competition, but also because they like the feelings they get in the meantime or sometime after.

We have known many various sports: football, volleyball, handball, tennis, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, horse riding, running and other athletics… I could count many more… However, the limits of human mind, and therefore, ideas for new types of sports basically do not exist. Therefore I would like to present you a couple of unusual sports which I have heard about and I would like to ask you what you think the reasons to play them are what do people feel playing  them?

The first unusual sport I would like to mention is Bossaball. 


Bossaball originally comes from Spain and is basically for the athletes who enjoy adrenaline while jumping on a trampoline. The rules are based on volleyball, but it involves acrobatic moves: players jump to hit or kick the ball on the trampoline onto the opponent’s area. There are from 3 to 5 players in each team and one of them scores when the ball touches the ground on the opponent’s side of the trampoline. This sport seems to be very funny, but it also requires a huge amount of power and stamina in order to stay active during the whole game.
Here you can take a look at such a game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFB_RCewa3s

Another unusual sport I would like to show you is Underwater Hockey. It is an underwater competitive sport for divers which has its foundation in hockey, but you swim in a pool. It has actually become very popular in many countries, but it has its origin in Southsea, the United Kingdom and  the first competitions among the clubs were held in 1945-55. The players call this sport Octopush because at first there had to be 8 players in two teams. Nowadays there are 6 players in each team. The idea is to use a stick to hit a puck or a ball into the opponent’s goal, just like in an ice hockey game.



Take a look at such a game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAukrpTEvZA

The last one I would like you to take a look at is Wife Carrying and it has its origin in Finland. This discipline is to prove that a man can carry his wife through a difficult path of insane obstacles in a short period of time. The funny fact is the prize which the man gets when he finishes the race – he gets as much beer as his wife weighs.




What do you think about these sports?
Why do you think people enjoy them?
Do you know any other unusual sports you would like to talk about?
What kind of sports do you prefer?

Links:
Bossaball
Underwater Hockey
Wife Carrying

Comments

Sylwia Pechcin said…
I'm personally keen on sport, so I love all if it, especially Wife Carrying mainly because if I would do it, I would be a wife ;). Bossaball seems really funny, but like you said players have to be very physically fit.
I think people enjoy any kind of sport that it's a little bit different and new. How many times we can play volleyball? It becomes boring after some time and nobody want to play it anymore.
Personally I love team sports, because it not only keeps us in a good condition, but also provides entertainment and a lot of fun.
Michał Pycek said…
Thanks for sharing your opinion with us. :-)
Do you also think that team sports make people competitive and this is also another reason for them to take part in them?
Unknown said…
I think that if people are playing those sport, they must enjoy it :)
I would love to try bossball, seems really exciting. I myself like swimming, so its pretty boring. Have you ever heard of combination of boxing and chess? This seems really challenging.
It's great that people keep inventing new sports. I'd love to see drones racing or any other unusual sports one day on my TV set. I love trying something new. I've read recenty an article about vertical football and moutain soccer. It looks fun! If you are interested : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk9evgiqnKg
Unknown said…
I like wife carying. First time I saw it I couldn't believe it. I haven't heard about underwater hockey, but I saw an under-ice hockey. They play in diving suits (I think it is supposed to prevent freezing), but without any other equipment.
Michał Pycek said…
I actually have read about it while preparing this article, I think it is crazy! :-)
Michał Pycek said…
Thank you for sharing the video, it looks like a funny game. I have also watched drone races a couple of times, I must say it looks like an expensive and intensive sport, really nice to watch.
Michał Pycek said…
Yes, the wife carrying is quite unusual but also seems like the couples can bond with each other and then enjoy the beer together after finishing the race.
Unknown said…
To be honest I have never heard about those sports. Few months ago I heard about very specific sport - Faceball. The only equipment required for the game are two chairs and a small exercise ball or a beach ball. Here is how the game goes. Two players, both sit on a chair facing each other, 10 feet apart. One player starts by throwing the ball at the opponents face. A throw can be delivered by any means, a toss and strike like a volleyball serve is also accepted. The opponent has to stay still and cannot finch. The thrower can continue to throw at the opponent as long as it keeps hitting the opponents head. Each hit is awarded one point. If the thrower misses it time for the opponent to throw.

When both players are done with their turn it's the end of one round. A game is played for a fixed number of rounds that is accepted between the two players. The player with the most hits at the end is the winner.

I am sure I won't try it out. When it comes to me and sports, I prefer more dynamic activities for example squash. It involves all your muscles.
Unknown said…
Wife Carrying is quite funny and interesting sport :D Provided that a wife is not so heavy ;) I know one couple in which a man is "little boy" and a woman is very strong. They always joke about this connection, that's why I thought about them immediately. When I imagine them practicing this sport... could be hard :) I'll tell them about "Wife Carrying" :D

To be honest, I would like to try Bossaball. It might be funny for me :) and also very hard to play.

Despite that, I prefer practicing 'normal' sports such as squash, swimming, horse riding :)

Unknown said…
I'm not a big fan of sports and rivalization in general. I'm almost disabled when it comes to sports requiring catching, bouncing or throwing something (my skill in all kinds of games involving balls is minus one). I enjoy shooting firearms and motorsports (like car racing, go-karts, jetski, snowdoo, quads, motorboats) but mostly for the sheer fun of it. I used to like air-soft-guns as well. I enjoy long distance walking and some biking but mostly for the freedom feeling it gives me and contact with nature. From all sports in most classical way I enjoy skiing and I'm pretty good at it.
Another interesting sport is dwarf throwing, I would love to see an event like that one day. I think it can be a really interesting experience, a one during which you question your own morals and you are not quite sure what is real and what isn't anymore.

When it comes to the sports you chose to describe, Underwater Hockey seems really interesting. I feel like I'm a decent enough swimmer and I generally like hockey, so I would really like to try it. Unfortunately I don't think there are any opportunities to do it in Warsaw.
Unknown said…
I didn't know these sports presented in the presentation but I would like them to try anyway I do sport for 7 years and I can't imagine life without sports.
Dajana Kubica said…
The first two mentioned discipline sounds interesting. I would happily played in Bossaball. People diversifing a traditional sport by transferring it into the water or on the big trampoline. As for the last sport I think it's the result of tradition. I heard about Cheese-Rolling, which is also derived from the traditions of the villages in England. This sport is a dangerous. People lose with gravity and end their participation in the hospital.
Hahaha, Wife Carrying sounds like a lot fun even though I was expecting different kind of reward after finishing the race, but beer is not so bad after all. I am also really impressed with Bossaball, because I love to play volleyball. Can't wait to try it one day.
In our European community shows a specific trend, if something is more away from a norm then people are more fascinated about it, i dont think its good, but topic is about sport so it’s acceptable for me. I Heard about one unusual sport it was about throwing Nokia 3310, it’s funny what can survive a old phone like this. My favorite sport is swimming, im often going to a swimpool, i love water, if i’d have more time i will spend like hours In a bathroom.
Andrzej Gulak said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Andrzej Gulak said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Heh, those sports remind me of the cheese chasing done in England. No idea why this is not on olympics yet. Same with wife carrying. A perfect team effort.
Moode said…
Thank you for sharing this with us. The wife carrying is really funny. I wonder what was the origin of this sport. Maybe one day we can see it on the Olympic games. In my opinion people would be interested in watching this. In Scotland that make big invents for caber tossing. The idea is to throw a large tapered pole (they call this one a “caber”) made from a tree. This cabers can be almost 6 m long! Imagine how strong the contestants must be!
Kacper Zaremba said…
Bossaball looks really fun and interesting for me. That could be a very interesting sport. Although wife carrying and underwater hockey looks more like a 'fun fact' than a real sport.

Underwater hockey must be one of the most boring sports too spectate ;)
I have heard about wife carrying but not about the other ones. They look pretty fun. Underwater hockey must be difficult to spectate though unless they have monitors that display what is actually going on. Another unusual sport is scottish caber toss where you throw logs so that they turn end over end, falling away from the tosser. It's is pretty impressive because the caber is around 6 meters tall and weighs 80kg.
Unknown said…
Oh! Wife carrying sounds like a lot of fun, but I think it's hard to name it a sport. On the other hand, Bossaball seems to have a lot of fans. At least, it looks like that. Everyone loves jumping on trampolines why not to add the ball to it? I would like to try this game, hope one day I will.
Once, my friend told me his father was playing the grass hockey. What? Hockey on the grass? It sounded so weird and unusual for me. That is why the Underwater hockey didn't amazed me as much as Bossaball, for example.
What do I think about those sports ? I think many of them were created on company integration parties with lot of alcohol arranged in it.
Bossball - just try to put a trampoline few meters away from the net and you will see how this game was created.
Wife carying - another integration party special, especially fun when you try to carry two girls from marketing (about 50kg) at the same time to be a winner - you just have to imagine how it ends up :)

For me the most unusual of the list will be underwater hockey - it's hard ever to cheer any team because you can't see nothing from the top. And while playing it you cannot scream "watch out on the left" or "pass to me" because you're underwater and that won't work. And there won't be any speed of involved in real hockey there - water will slow down everything. Strange sport, don't know why people are playing it.

I usually like traditional Soccer or Volleyball. You don't how to explain everyone what the rules are (everyone usually knows) and that way you can start playing ad-hoc - no time wasted.
Bartosz Łyżwa said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bartosz Łyżwa said…
It's really funny to read about wife carying because the first thing in my mind was: "When you haven't won this race, how to say to your wife that it's not because your not so strong but only her weight. It's impossible.". Okay, but seriously it's a great idea to do sports in any way you like. Every unusual sport is better than sitting between four walls and watching TV.
Unknown said…
Sports plays a great role in our life. It affects how much energy do we have to our work. It builds our character and the way we face life challenges. The funniest sport for me is that football in balls. You should wear kind of big ball on your body and you can run and hit your opponents without harming them. It looks fun and safe to bounce and to feel that you’re a ball.
Adam Nowak said…
The most 'unusual' sport that i've heard of is wingsuiting. It's about gliding through the air in a 'wingsuit' - a suit that resembles a flying squirrel. You can achieve speed over 200km/h while using it, and it is insane, especially when you are several dozens meters above the ground. I always wonder why people are willing to do that, for me it is a stupid way to commit a suicide.
Wojtek Kania said…
I think sport it is one of most important thing in our life. When we do activities
we live longer and healthier. So I think people should do activities, even most weird, it it good.
Every now and then you heard about some kind of unusual sports so I did knew about all of those frim article. It's hard for me to imagine how do they come up with those ideas but it's interesting. Everyone can be good at theirs field. The reason people enjoy them is for sure that they have fun doing them. And that is very important. Me, personaly, prefer usual sports like football or basketball. But I would like to play football in those giant bubble balls. I think it would be so much fun. Here you have a video presenting that sport:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7tHkeVR1Ms

Enjoy! Even looking at it makes me laugh.

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