Everyone has their own ways of relaxing in this difficult world, and lots of people turn to sports. But what about the sports that aren’t given as much attention? How weird and strange can they get? From brawling in the streets in the name of sport to chasing cheese wheels, here are three sports around the world that will blow your mind.
Calcio Storico
Calcio Storico is an aggressive mix of soccer and professional wrestling. This Renaissance Era game played exclusively in Florence has teams fighting to get a ball to the opposite end of the pitch and throw it in the opposing team’s net. They look to score by any means necessary and regularly get bloody and filled with injuries. Calcio Storico was so violent that it fell out of tradition in the 1600s, and was brought back centuries later in 1930 by Benito Mussolini. They have taken measures to make the game safer, updating the Renaissance era rulebook to include no head clashes, only fighting one person at a time, and no convicted criminals in 2007 after a massive 50 person brawl started. This game is the most aggressive on the list, but the strange games do not end here.
Bo Taoshi
Bo Taoshi is a game in Japan best described as pole toppling. Started by Japanese military cadets in the 1940s, two teams are split into attack and defense and each try to knock the enemy pole over or protect their own. However, teams are made of 140 people total, and the poles are ten feet tall. Attackers push and shove and oftentimes jump off other attackers as they try to push the enemy pole down. The only thing in their way? The ninja perched on top of the pole. The ninja is tasked with kicking players from getting higher on the pole, as the rest of the defenders form a massive human wall around the pole. This game can get intense and is always fast paced, as teams race to knock over the enemy pole before their pole is toppled. This Japanese classic is known as one of the most technical yet wacky sports in the world, with high-flying action and energetic team work. But it’s not even the weirdest in the list.
Cheese-Rolling
The king of all wacky sports comes in the form of chasing a cheese wheel down a hill in England. Held near Brockworth, England, the Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is one of the most dangerous sports known to man. Despite its lighthearted appearance, competitors tumble uncontrollably down the hill, chasing the seven pound wheel. 23-time winner Chris Anderson said in a CBC article that “it’s not really realistically possible to catch the cheese,” as the wheel can reach speeds of 130 kilometres an hour. The cheese wheel waits at the bottom of the hill, and the first person down the hill is crowned winner. Anderson’s wildest win comes after knocking his head and blacking out. “I still won, I literally came across the line unconscious,” he recalled in the same article.
The tradition started in 1826 and got officially cancelled in 2008, however, locals have kept the race going ever since. “It’s one of those crazy British traditions,” Anderson explained.. There will never be another sport like the cheese wheel chase. It’s weird yet intense chase is fast paced and interesting, yet keeping the simplicity of the sport untarnished for 200 years.
Despite their hazardous nature and threatening to be cancelled constantly due to injury concerns, these sports will forever be known as some of the weirdest games ever played. As dangerous as they are, their wild rulesets mixed with passion and love for the sports let these sports live on in the minds of their nations.
