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Unusual sports By Jakub Wudarczyk
Elephant Polo • The sport of elephant polo has been around since the British first went to India and adapted their horseback game to use elephants. The rules are very similar to horse polo, except the pitch is shorter and the riders have a trainer on board as well (called a 'manout') to help control the elephant. Originally a soccer ball was used, but nowadays has been replaced by a standard polo ball.
Bossaball • Bossaball is spectacular new and unusual sport that is a hybrid of volley ball, beach soccer, gymnastics and capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines parts of martial arts, games, music, and dance), played on a specially designed inflatable court with a circular trampoline on each side of a net. It is a ball game between two teams, each consisting of 3 to 5 players. The sport was invented in Belgium.
Swamp football • Swamp football is an un usual form of the game of football (Soccer), which is played in bogs or swamps. Players compete on a wet bog, though for the major tournaments the pitch is simply a dry muddy field which is covered in water, rather than a naturally occurring swamp. The dimensions of the pitch are roughly 60m long and 35 meters wide.
Chess Boxing • The sport alternates between games of boxing and chess after each round - waiting for a checkmate or knockout to decide the match. A Chess Boxing match between two individuals lasts up to eleven rounds, starting with a four minute chess round and followed by two minutes of boxing. There is even a World Chess Boxing Organization, which motto is: “Fighting is done in the ring and wars are waged on the board”.
Toe Wrestling • Toe Wrestling is another childhood game that has made it to the big time adult sporting world. The rules for Toe Wrestling are pretty simple. With shoes off, the competitors face other toe-to-toe across the 'toedium', where they interlock their big toes and try to force each other off the toedium (a lot like arm wrestling).
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!