Saturday 9 January 2010

UNUSUAL SPORTS









There are plenty of weird and unusual sports in the world, and even some of the mainstream sports may seem a bit unusual to you.











Shin Kicking




Wife carrying


See my top List of Unusual Sports. You probably don't agree - see what do you think?

Extreme Ironing
Get out your iron and ironing board and try out this extreme sport: players go to a remote location and iron clothes! As the Wikipedia article states: Extreme ironing is “the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.

Pooh- Sticks
The unusually named sport of Pooh-Sticks comes from the popular children's stories of Winnie the Pooh. Not only is the name a little unusual, so is the sport. It involves standing on a bridge and dropping your stick in the water, then racing to the other side to see who’s stick goes the fastest. Wow, what excitement. Pooh Sticks started when a lock-keeper noticed walkers throwing their sticks into the river and rushing to the other side of the bridge to see whose stick emerged first. This gave her the idea of creating a fundraising event using this sport, and so the World Pooh Sticks Championships was born






Zorb ball



According to the official website of the Zorb Ball, “Zorb is the sport of rolling down a hill inside a giant inflatable ball and where New Zealand once again leads the world in stupid things to do while you’re on a vacation.” I didn’t know that New Zealand was the leader in stupid things to do while on vacation, but this weird unusual sport looks like it might be fun.Wife -carrying The Finish Wife Carrying Festival is held annually in Finland in early July, and requires a man to negotiate a 253.5 m course while carrying their wife on their back. The course includes various surfaces and getting through dry land and water based obstacles. The prize to the winner is a mobile phone, and more importantly they also win their wife's weight in beer!




Rules It may seem like just a bit of fun, but there are some official rules that have to be followed. the 'wife' must be over 17 years old. the 'wife' must weigh at least 49 kilograms. you do not have to be married to the 'wife', any suitable female will do. dropping and bouncing the 'wife' incurs a 15 second "fine". you must have fun!



Underwater hockey

A sport that actually looks like it might be fun to play, as well as being quite offbeat, is underwater hockey. As the name suggests, it is similar to hockey, with the aim being to whack a 1.5 kilogram lead puck into your opponent's goal using a short, hooked stick. Competitors wear masks, snorkels and fins and a thick glove to protect them from the puck and the pool bottom. Each team has six players in the water and up to four substitutes. The game was developed in the 1950s by the British Navy to keep their divers fit, and has a reasonably loyal following in Australia. Strategy is said to be very important, as is remembering to come to the surface to breathe on a regular basis.








What do you think about that kind of sports?
Have you ever seen any unusual sports like this?

24 comments:

  1. Apart Zorbing, I haven't seen such kind of sports. I think people are still looking for new ways of spending time and kinds of entertainment and that's way there are so many strange sports in the world. Some of them are just a connection of usual sports, ex. underwater hockey, which is a connection of diving and hockey.
    Such sports require appriopiate skills as concentration, ability to do many things in the same time and courage, of course, ex. in extreme ironing. I think such sports are for people who constantly need new sensations and boosts of adrenaline or for ones who want to do something funny, ex. wife carrying.

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  2. I think that people just feel bored with normal sports and that's why they are looking for something extra, which may give new experiances. I don't see anything bad in such way of thinking, but on the other hand few sports like for example zorb ball is really crazy:) I prefer bicycle, jogging or riding horse but if somebody wants to spend free time and money for something different - why not?

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  3. In my opinion such activities as extreme ironing or pooh-sticks can't be regarded as sports. Maybe for someone it is interesting way of spending free time, but it isn't sport. If we assume that every activity in which is an element of competition is sport, for many people even taking exams would be a sport.

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  4. Can these disciplines be called a sport disciplines? I'm not sure but if there is no any suitable name for it, people call them "sports". Definitely they're original and interesting, people who practise them are crazy in positive way ;)
    In Finland there's another interesting "sport" - mobile phone throwing :D But it shouldn't be strange for us - Finland is a motherland of Nokia... ;)

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  5. I never see this sports in real, but I want too. I think that it is very funny for visitors, but I don't want to be a contestant. They could be boring real life and want to raise the level of adrenaline. For me it is too much, I like calmer sport.

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  6. I have never seen this kind of sports but I think that this kind of show could be interesting especialy zorb ball. I agree that peoples invent this strange sports disciplines (but in my opinion some of them couldn't be named as sports) because they are looking for some interesting methods of spend a free time to breake a practice of boring real life.

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  7. For me, all this strange sports are boring and silly. There is a lot of great sport disciplines and I don't see a necessity to create new one, especially if it's something like diving hockey. If someone want more, strong sensation, and rising level of adrenaline he can try extreme sports. It's very impressive and can gives you a lot of fun.

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  8. Wow!I wanna to meet people which are founding fathers of this sports. What a crazy guys! I think that Shin Kicking is the most crazy sport I have ever seen! Can somone say me what is a Wife carrying? It is some kind of madness! Respect for this frantic people.

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  9. In my life, when I had about 12-14 years old, I went on the sports camps, but not normal sports: rather extreme sports! There were the activities such zorbing ball, playing paintball, diving or bungee jumping. It's georgious feeling when you do something like that, but only, when you was a child. When you are a bit old, you can imagine what will be when something goes wrong - it's strange, it's dangerous!

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  10. I like unusual sports..because i like creative people. I didn't see many of unusual sports..maybe apart of zorbing. Off course some of there are just stupidy, like this ironing, but mostly there are ok. It's good that people like to try many different and sometimes danger things

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  11. I don't like unusual sports, sorry. The most of theme is dangerous or... a bit stupid. I think sports are interesting, but in "tradional" way.

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  12. Although some of those unusual sports are silly or dangerous I like the idea of spending time in a different and creative way. I can't agree they are only for children or adrenalin seekers. I wouldn't mind trying zorbing just for fun and I'm a person who appreciates traditional sports. It's good to do something positively crazy once in a while.

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  13. I belive that this form of sport is fun and can be attractive.I think it's good that people are still searching for new forms of entertainment. The more wild ideas that attract more volunteers and the curious.Of course, some ideas are crazy and dangerous and certainly are not good for children. But if people are looking for a new sports for the fun of it is fine.

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  15. I think, that people like watching unusual sports, because such type of competition is always really spectacular. Of course, there are fans of 'traditional' hockey, but if it is played underwater, it can be more attractive also for someone, who isn't keen on this discipline of sport.
    About the ompetitors - I think, that they're of course very brave, hungry of new experiences, but also a bit careless. However... who of people, who are concerned with sport, isn't? They are crazy about it and in my oppinion it's OK, because they're happy with their activities.

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  16. I must admit that about majority of those unusual sports I have heard first time. The most strange is for me extreme ironing, I think that only Americans can think up something like that. I don’t know what is the message of this kind of sport and if it is more stupid or more unnecessary.
    But some of those sports are interesting for me, like for example underwater hockey, but I’m curious how to watch live that game. Can fans get into the pool or they only have permission to watch from stand or watch the transmissions on TV?;).

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  17. When I was a child I played very often in pooh-sticks :) I can sound a bit boring but I ensure you that when you're about 6 year old it's a great fun when you wait which stick will be first. From these sports I'd like to take part in Wife Carrying Festival because it sounds like fun and the prize is fine. :)

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  18. The Shin kicking rocks! In my opinion it is the best sport invented by any who any where. The shin kickers, those gladiators of British meadows, those true man with hay in their pants, magnificent modern warriors in white outfits. They have become my idols, I adore them.

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  19. I love all of them! Always when I have occasion to try new sport I just do it. Especially when it is ridicoulus and viewers think that players are idiots. But there is one thing I will never try and in my opinion pure stupidness. Have you ever heard about Ironman Triathlon. It's a typical triathlon, so swimming, running and cycling but distance is extremly long. When those ''sportamnts'' reach the final line they are unable to walk, they are crwaling. It is so unbelieve how man can destroy his body.

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  20. I think that these sports are very interesting. I would like to try a zorb ball because it's the most crazy sport that I've heard about. Only madman could invented such method of spending free time. It must be very exciting to roll down a hill inside a giant inflatable ball and race with others.
    On the other hand I think that Pooh- Sticks is unusual sport but not very exciting. I would say it's rather boring sport.
    I like wathing channel "extreme sports" and find out like crazy people come true with their passion.

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  21. Wow! Some people have incredible imagination, I must say :). Underwater hockey looks just amazing!
    I don't think I can say something about these sports - I've never tried any of them. (Mhm... maybe sometimes I play a very poor version of "Extreme Ironing". xD.) I've heard about Zorb Ball - it must be an enormous experience. I wish I tried it someday.

    Pooh Sticks seem to be very boring, just sitting, waiting, watching... I don't think I would call it "sport".

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  22. Well, I can't express my opinion here because I have never tried any one of them. I think that underwater hockey is kind of interesting and wife carrying looks funny. I think that kind of sports is much more exciting than usual ones.

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  23. I always wanted to try some extreme sports but never had enough courage, time ... and money. Several years ago, extreme achievement was a parachute jump and Bunge today is something normal. People looking for strong sensations, for example, decide on the extreme ironing or zorba ball, they don't know what fear and dread. I admire them for that courage

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  24. I have seen some unusual sports and for me they are funny sensational or even extraordinary. It is ok that people want to try something new. I wish I tried Zorb Ball one day. Than I will write about my experience.

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