Sepak Takraw

Article by: © Michael J. Rosen 2012

"A Bicycle Kick in Soccer...[Is] a Really Rare Occasion...But in Sepak Takraw, You See it Almost Every Volley."

- Daniel Angerhausen, secretary-general of Germany's sepak takraw association

"Volleysoccernastic footbag" has a certain ring to it, but it didn't win out as the final name of this sport. "Sepak takraw" did; sepak is Malaysian for "kick," and takraw is Thai for "woven ball." Originally played as a cooperative circle game similar to hacky sack, the sport dates back to the 1400s, although it wasn't until 1965, at a debate at the Southeast Asian Peninsula Games, that "sepak takraw" emerged as the sport's accepted name. Prior to that, it was called "takraw" in Thailand; "sipa" in the Philippines; "ching loong" in Myanmar; "rago" in Indonesia; "kator" in Laos; and in still other places, "foot volleyball." Today the game is simply "takraw" in the USA, which is shorter than vollerysoccernastic footbag but not a whole lot more pleasant rolling off the tongue.

Wildly popular in Southeast Asia, the game combines key elements of three games: Volleyball's goal of landing a ball over a net onto the opponent's side, soccer's no-hands policy, and gymnastics' somersaulting and acrobatics. Some say that martial arts would be the game's fourth element. Net footbag could be considered the sport's fifth element, but then it would sound like that Bruce Willis movie.

In a takraw game, two three-person teams, or regu, face off kicking, heading, and kneeing a hollow, woven, synthetic-fiber ball that's slightly larger but just lighter (and definitely softer) than a softball, over a five-foot-high net. Teams try to get the ball to land on the ground of the opponent's side and to prevent it from hitting the ground on their own side, but each team may touch the ball only three times before putting it over the net. While it is legal for one player to take all three touches, just as one may hog all the meatballs on the family-style platter of spaghetti at Buca di Beppo, it's not the best policy, as all the best takraw players understand (although, they make the analogy using a platter of gai pad khing, Thai ginger chicken).

To begin a point, one player tosses the ball in the air to the tekong, or server, who kicks it to the other side. The tekong stays in back, while the two others work the frontcourt. One is the "passer," who sets up the "killer" for an acrobatic mid-back flip or a mid-somersault spike that sends the ball traveling up to 80 miles per hour-or, if you're Thai superstar Suebsak Phunsueb, nearly 100 miles per hour. The game's "telegenic oomph," as Time puts it, comes from the long rallies, athletic spikes, and dramatic in-flight showdowns as a spiker and defender soar above the net to challenge each other on almost every play.

Despite Phunsueb's skill and celebrity, Thailand's world dominance is always challenged by Malaysia, which makes for epic matchups at the Asian Games and King's Cup World Championships. Along with nearly every Southeast and East Asian nation interested in besting "Thai" in the world rankings, serious competition has been building in several European countries, Brazil, Iran, Canada, and the United States, which hosts its annual U.S. Open in Minnesota. Can you even get gai pad khing in St. Paul?

Looking for a sport where you can still be a real player? Join Takraw USA's "15 to 20 members who are serious and dedicated" to the sport at www.takrawusa.com.

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