How to play Kabaddi (Introduction )
Kabaddi is often seen as one of the ancient wrestling sport. Actually, it can be called a wrestling sport, but along with it plenty of other things are also involved. The word Kabaddi has come from a Tamil word, Kai-pidi which means “holding hands”. Kabaddi is popular not only in India but it is a National Game of Bangladesh as well. Most of the Indian states do play this game, but it is far more popular in the villages of Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Many of these states even call Kabaddi as ‘Hu Tu Tu’.
Kabaddi is an ancient Indian sport and it has been very popular almost everywhere in India. On the day when this low-key sport is getting popular, we are giving our readers a brief introduction to Kabaddi!
Kabaddi Rules (Information)
To understand the game of Kabaddi is very simple. It is a seven a side game where one player from one side chants “kabaddi…kabaddi..kabaddi..” and enter’s the opposition’s half and tries to touch at least one player of the opposition so that he can go back to his own half safely. On the other hand, all of the seven players tries to stop that opposition player to go back to his half safely by trying to grab him and keep him under their control till he loses his breath. If a player touches the opposition player and returns to his half safely then not only the player whom he has touched is out but he can make a player alive from his own side who had been out before him, just in case.
Two teams are on opposite halves of a small field. They take turns sending a “raider” into the other half. This is to win points by tackling members of the opposing team. Then the raider tries to return to his own half. He holds his breath and chants the word “Kabaddi” during the whole raid. The raider must not cross the lobby unless he touches any of his opponents. If he does not touch anyone then he will be “out”. There is also a bonus line. If the raider touches it and returns to his side of the field, he will get extra points.
In the international team version of kabaddi there are two teams of seven members. Each are on opposite halves of a field of 10 m × 13 m in case of men and 8 m × 12 m in case of women.[1] Each has three extra players held in reserve. The game is played with 20-minute halves. There is a five-minute half-time break when the teams change sides.
Teams take turns sending a “raider” to the opposite team’s half. The goal is to tag or wrestle (“confine”) members of the opposite team. Tagged members are “out” and temporarily sent off the field.
International Competitions
- Kabaddi World Cup: There have been two different kinds of Kabaddi world cups held by two different organizers and in both of them India has come out winners.
- World Kabaddi League: It is based on Formula 1 and it will be played between August and December 2014 where teams will travel across four continents. The Bollywood actors have purchased few of the WKL teams.
- Apart from these two, a Pro-Kabaddi competition or league is also starting in India in which players from various countries are involved.
Kabaddi Federations around the World
- The Asian Kabaddi Federation – AKF
- The Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation – AAKF
- The Kabaddi Federation of India – KFI
- Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India – AKFI
- Pakistan Kabaddi Federation – PKF
- The Bangladesh Amateur Kabaddi Federation –BAKF
- The Iran’s Amateur Kabaddi Federation – IAKF
- The England Kabaddi Federation UK – EKF
Other Nations in which Kabaddi is popular: Chinese Taipei, Nepal, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, New Zealand and Canada.
