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| Though
kabaddi is primarily an Indian game, not much is known
about the origin of this game. There is, however, concrete
evidence, that the game is 4,000 year old. It is a team
sport, which requires both skill and power, and combines
the characteristics of wrestling and rugby. |
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| It
was originally meant to develop self-defense, in addition
to responses to attack and reflexes of counter attack
by individuals and by groups or teams. It is a rather
simple and inexpensive game, and neither requires a massive
playing area, nor any expensive equipment. This explains
the popularity of the game in rural India. Kabaddi is
played all over Asia with minor variations. |
| Kabaddi
is known by various names viz. Chedugudu or Hu-Tu-Tu in
southern parts of India, Hadudu (Men) and Chu - Kit-Kit
(women) in eastern India, and Kabaddi in northern India.
The sport is also popular in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,
Japan and Pakistan. |
|
The
Game |
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| In
Kabaddi, two teams compete with each other for higher
scores, by touching or capturing the players of the opponent
team. Each team consists of 12 players, of which seven
are on court at a time, and five in reserve. The two teams
fight for higher scores, alternating defense and offense.
The court is as large as that for a dodge ball game. The
game consists of two 20-minute halves, with a break of
five minutes for change of sides. The kabaddi playing
area is 12.50m x 10m, divided by a line into two halves.
The side winning the toss sends a 'raider', who enters
the opponents' court chanting, 'kabaddi-kabaddi'. The
raider's aim is to touch any or all players on the opposing
side, and return to his court in one breath. The person,
whom the raider touches, will then be out. The aim of
the opposing team will be to hold the raider, and stop
him from returning to his own court, until he takes another
breath. If the raider cannot return to his court in the
same breath while chanting 'kabaddi', he will be declared
out. Each team alternates in sending a player into the
opponents' court. If a player goes out of the boundary
line during the course of the play, or if any part of
his body touches the ground outside the boundary, he will
be out, except during a struggle. |
| In
India, Kabaddi is recognized in three forms: |
| 1.
Surjeevani |
2.
Gaminee |
3.
Amar - This form of Kabaddi is played in CANADA |
- Surjeevain
-
The
'Surjeevani' form of Kabaddi is played under the Kabaddi
Federation of India, and is governed by its rules
and regulations. In the 'Surjeevani' form of Kabaddi,
one player is revived against one player of the opposite
team who is out. i.e., one out, one in. The duration
of the game, the number of players, the dimensions
of the court, etc. have been fixed by the Kabaddi
Federation of India.
- Gaminee
- In
the 'Gaminee' type of Kabaddi, there is no revival.
When all the players of team are out, the game ends.
So there is no time limit in this category.
- Amar
- In the 'Amar' form of
Kabaddi, whenever any player is touched (out), he
does not go out of the court, but stays inside, and
one point is awarded to the team that touched him.
This game is also played on a time basis, i .e the
time is fixed. This form of
kabaddi is played in Punjab, Canada, England, USA,
Scotland, Pakistan and Australia. In the Amar
form of Kabaddi, each team consists of 5-6 stoppers
and 4-5 raiders. At one time, only 4 stoppers are
allowed to play on the field. Every time a stopper
stops the raider from going back to his starting point,
that stoppers team gets 1 point. on the other hand,
every time the raider tags one of the stoppers and
returns to his starting point, his team gets one point.
At one time, only one of the stoppers can try to stop
the raider. If more than one touch the raider, an
automatic point is awarded to the raider's team. If
the stopper is pushed out by the raider or vice versa,
then the team whose member is still in the field gets
a point. If both the raider and the stopper go out,
the result is a common point, where nobody gets a
point. There is a 30 second time limit for the raider
from the moment he leaves until he returns to his
starting point. This rule was only recently introduced
(1994) after controversy with some raiders abusing
the old system where they were able to struggle through
a point until they ran out of breath from repeating
the word kabaddi.
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The
first World Kabaddi Championship in the history of the
game, was organized in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, when
more than 14,000 people packed the Copps Coliseum, to
watch the top players from India, Pakistan, Canada, England,
and the United States compete.
In kabaddi dominated countries such as India and Canada,
it is played on a professional basis with top players
earning $25,000 and more for a 2 month season. The player
who has made most out of the game is Balwinder Phiddu,
who started playing in 1975 and only recently retired
after the 1997 World Cup. |
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