Kabaddi World Cup

Kabaddi

Article by: © Michael J. Rosen 2012

"A Player Shall Not Attempt to Stifle a Raider's Cant* by Shutting His Mouth or Throttling."

- International Kabaddi Federation

Curiously, some of childhood's greatest games revolve around the potential of having a collapsed lung: Taking a clothesline to the sternum from a pair of prematurely pubescent fifth-grade titans during a game of red rover; doubling over, completed winded, as you officially prove yourself the slowest kid at tag; or succumbing to your big sister's challenge of "bet I can hold my breath longer than you" before discovering that her puffed cheeks were only distracting you from the fact that she was breathing through her nostrils. Kabaddi combines the joys of all three bronchiole-busting competitions!

Hindi for "holding of breath," kabaddi is a combative seven-versus-seven competition. Teams score by having a single player from one team "raid" the anti-raiders (simply called "antis") of the defending team, who form a chain by holding hands. (Picture a vise grip, not a walking-in-the-rain-with-someone-you-love grip.) The raider's goal is to tag as many opposing players as possible without getting caught-all in the span of one breath, one slowly exhaled breath that chants the game's name, "kabaddi."

If a raider tags an anti, the team of antis attempts to tackle or block the raider so that he'll take a breath and lose his cant. Tagged antis, along with raiders who lose their cant, are eliminated from the game, awarding a point to the opposition. When one team eliminates every opposing player, all players on both teams return to the game. After forty minutes, the team with the most points is declared winner and breathes a deep, deep, not-particularly-yogic sigh of relief; the losing team attempts to hold its collective temper.

Played on an area similar in size to that of half-court basketball, kabaddi is not a frenetic game. Rather, cat-and-mouse-like strategies dominate as raiders slowly line up an attack while chains of antis circle. The action is quick and decisive: A raider quickly accelerates. He thrusts a hand to an opponent's chest. He kicks at an anti's legs. Anti chains immediately surround the raider. There's a point! There's another! Raiders are even talking of extra points for defeating a group of Nazi antis en route to the lost Ark!

The national sport of Bangladesh, this South Asian game is said to have been played by Siddhārtha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, as early as 5th century BC and apparently sprung from a method of warding off group attacks.

In the modern era, the 1936 Berlin Olympics presented a demonstration of the game. Although Hitler's opinion of kabaddi was not recorded, we can almost guarantee that it was more favorable than his legendary snubbing of Jesse Owens.

The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India was founded in 1972 and the sport debuted at the 1990 Asian Games. Today, the Kabaddi World Cup features teams from India, Pakistan, England, Canada, and the United States. Ironically, the round-bellied Buddha himself would now be disqualified: Players must weigh less than 80 kilograms (176 pounds).

Haven't felt like holding your breath until you turn blue since you were six? Vanquish your inner tantrum at: www.kabaddiikf.com.

* A cant, which, according to some experts, is a corruption of the English word "chant," is the continuous repeating of the word "kabaddi" in one exhalation. Kabaddi raiders develop greater lung capacity through this form of pranayama, or breath control.

No Dribbling the Squid

More Kabaddi World Cup