English Language Project:

Unusual Sports around the world

INTRODUCTION:
This project on ‘Unusual Sports around the world’
has been chosen to build critical thinking and
ensure a common core of knowledge among
students.

In this project, I have chosen three unusual

sports to cover –

1. Underwater hockey

2. Chess boxing

3. Buzkashi

I aim to cover the history, gameplay, equipments and

tournaments of these sports and make them better
known through my project.

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 CONTENTS:

Chapters Page no.

Introduction 1

Contents 2

Conclusion 3

Topic focus 4-8

Bibliography 9

Acknowledgement 10

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CONCLUSION:
The objectives of the project are to explore the
unique sports around the world, to learn about
man’s competitive spirit from ancient times and to
understand how organised sports help team spirit to be
instilled.

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TOPIC FOCUS:
1. Underwater hockey
Introduction-
Underwater hockey or Octopush is a
sport played worldwide. Two teams
dive underwater, holding their breath
and try to push a puck, across the
bottom of the swimming pool, to the
other team’s goalpost, using hockey
sticks. It is a limited contact sport
and offers huge challenges such as
holding one’s breath for a long
period of time.

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 History-
In 1954, Alan Blake, a founder of the Southsea Sub-
Aqua Club invented the game, calling it Octopush. .
CMAS, the world governing body for underwater
hockey, still maintains that it was started by the British
Royal Navy in the 1950s.

Gameplay-

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 Two teams of 10 compete against
each other. Only 6 players from each
team are allowed to play at one time.
At the beginning of the game, the puck is placed
at the centre of the pool. When a buzzer rings, the game
begins. The players are free to swim about throughout
the pool and use their sticks to score points, as they
manoeuvre the puck into the goal.
The games consist of two halves of ten to fifteen
minutes. There is a short half time of three minutes
when the teams change sides.
A typical playing formation is 3-3 (three offensive
players or forwards, and three defensive players
or backs) of which 3-2-1 (three forwards, two mid-
fielders and a back) is a variation. Other options include
2-3-1 (i.e., two forwards, three mid-fielders, and a
back), 1-3-2, or 2-2-2.

Equipments-

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 Swimwear: The players are free to
wear costumes of their choice
however baggy wears are not
recommended.
 Diving masks: A thin, low volume
mask which covers the nose, orbits
the eyes and provides a light head
strap.
 Snorkel: A snorkel enables players to
maintain a position on the surface of
the water, from where they can watch
the game under water, without having
to raise their head to breath. Such
players join the game only when they
are ready for it.
 Fins: They are made of plastic or
rubber and allow a player to swim
faster and more smoothly.
 Stick: The hockey stick is small and is
shaped as per the player’s
convenience. It is coloured either
black or white, indicating the player’s
team.
 Puck: It is short and made of a lead-
based material.
 Caps: These are of similar designs as
a water polo cap.

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 Tournaments-
  World Championships have been
taking place every two years since
1980. 
 There are three levels in underwater
hockey – elite, masters and the three
age groups(U19, U23 and U24).
A world championship is held for all
three levels every two years.

2. Chess boxing
Introduction-
Chess boxing is a hybrid sport that
combines the number one thinking
sport with the number one fighting

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sport. This sport aims to test a player
both mentally and physically.

History-
The concept of this sport was first
introduced in the Kung Fu film, ‘The
Mystery of Chessboxing’. The 1992
comic Froid Équateur—written by French
comic book artist Enki Bilal portrays a
chessboxing world championship. This
inspired performing artist Iepe Rubingh to
create a new sport by fusing the two.

Rules-
 Decision:
o Victory by check-mate in chess.
o Victory by knockout in boxing.
o Victory by opponent’s
disqualification in boxing.
o Victory by opponent’s time-out in
chess.

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  Weight class: Both men and women
are divided into –
o Heayweight
o Lightheavyweight
o Middleweight
o Lightweight

Requirments-
 Elo rating of 1600 and a record of at least
 
50 amateur bouts fought in boxing or
another similar martial art.
 Skill in speed chess.
 Ability to face the quick contrast
between a fighting sport and a
thinking sport.

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3. Buzkashi-
Introduction- Buzakshi, literally
translating to ‘goat pulling’, is a
sport originating in Central Asia
where players race on horseback
and aim to pass the carcas of a
cattle through a goal.

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History- The sport is believed to
have been brought to Afghanistan
by the Turkish invaders who came
from further north and later spread
in China and Mongolia. It was
banned during the Taliman regim
and was resumed after the regim
was over.

Rules and variations- Basic rules

such as a player must not whip off
his fellow player off his horse,
were followed before the sport was

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taken under the Afghan Olympic
Federation.

Clothing- The players put on heavy

clothing such as tough boots and
whips.

Rules- A Chapandaz or player should

be about fourty years of age to be able
to compete.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwater_hoc
key
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzkashi

Images:
https://www.theatlantic.com

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https://www.gq-
magazine.co.uk/article/chessboxing-fight-
scala
https://apps.npr.org

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