10 Extremely Unusual Sports You've Probably Never Heard of Chess Boxing Even with NBA players still on strike, with fall officially here, there's no shortage of sports starting up, from pee-wee leagues all the way up to the pros. But there are also other athietic forms of competition that gain little notice every year despite a dedicated following. Here we explore some sports that you've likely never heard of (and should probably never attemp. We begin with chess and boxing, together at last ina sport whose name is as unlikely as the combination itself: chess boxing. So the name may not be original, but chess boxing is a singular sport that demands brains and brawn like no other athletic competition. Popular in Germany and the United Kingdom, the game is, played with alternating rounds of chess and boxing. Competitors can win by winning the chess game, by knocking out an opponent or by judges' decision at the end Seepak Takraw From the looks of this photo, you might think sepak takraw, a sport native to Southeast Asia, is almost a kind of karate > volleyball, And you wouldn't be far off. Played with a ball made of dried palm leaves, sepak takraw is popular in Asia and even started to make inroads in North America in the late-1980s and 1990s. Sepak takraw even has a lot in common with similar team sports more familiar to Western audiences, Like soccer, players pass around a ball using anything but their arms. The game is played on a court about the same size as a badminton court. Two teams of three players gather on each side of a net, trying to keep the ball in play. The rules for scoring are similar to that of volleyball Underwater Hockey Given the hard hits and frequent fights so. common in ice hockey, it's difficult to believe that anyone could imagine a more potentially hazardous version of the sport But with the added element of a potential drowning, underwater hockey makes frozen-water hockey look like child's play.‘The rules of liquid-water hockey are similar to that of it solid-state counterpart. The difference: Players use wooden or plastic sticks about the size of a banana to push around a metal puck around the floor of a poo. ‘The action is especially exciting for spectators, whe ccan only really see ripples on the surface from the action below. Dog Dancing Dog dancing may be more art than sport, But however you classify what could be one of the surest signs yet of the apocalypse, dog dancing, also known as canine freestyle, combines coaching, discipline and danee, Although it may seem like an amateur pastime, dog dancing is actually a competitive sport with contests held in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and other countries with pet owners who have too much time on their hands. Street Luge Street luge is a sport that combines the safety concerns of the luge (oanounte can) with the genileness of pavement, Participants lie on what is essentially an enlarged skateboard designed to hold the human frame, Gravity does the rest of the work. Quidditch The pastime of the wizarding world of the "Harry Potter” series, quidditch combines magic, athleticism, and a touch of violence. Given the sheer impossibility of the sport, you'd think there wouldn't be a real-life equivalent and you'd be wrong. There are enthusiastic fans of the series who just wouldn't let reality or the laws of physies stand in their way. And so, these ambitious muggles created their own version of quidditch that might not have all the magic of the dramatic version but certainly isn’t lacking for passion. Founded at Middlebury College in Vermont, the International Quidditch Association has grown in just a few short years to include hundreds of teams with a presence on nearly every continent, The game has the same rules and scoring system as the quidditeh from the series, with one big difference: no flying.Redneck Games You sure won't finda chess board - or anything resembling a board game - at the annual Summer 4 Redneck Games in East Dublin, Ga. Instead, you'll find the y kinds of athletic events that could only come out of Dixie, including toilet seat tossing (MbrTse yHuTas08), Seed spitting (nesanne cemewex), and mud belly flops (pictured here. Competitors at the Summer Redneck Games may not get all the attention or the money or the endorsement deals with Nike. As a matter of fact, many’ of them probably don't even have shoes. But theres no doubt it takes a special kind of y athlete to take home glory at the Summer Redneck Games. Wife Carrying Eukonkanto, a sport of Finnish origin, is a simpler than its name implies, Its English translation -- "wife carrying" is right on the money, however. Male competitors race across an obstacle course while carrying a female teammate, who grabs onto her partners neck and back while hanging upside-down, Glory isn't the only prize, For those fortunate enough to take home top honors at the Wife Carrying World Championships in Sonkajarvi, Finland, the winning team earns the wife's weight in beer Wood Chopping Chopping wood may seem like a tireless chore. But at the now retired Great Outdoor Games, there’s a lot more to the timber events than that. From log rolling to tree topping to the hot saw and more, the Great Outdoor Games turned Jumberjacks ( secopyGon) into competitive athletes, Each of the timber events was either a race, as was the case with the team relay (kowananas aetarpera) or speed climbing, oF an endurance event, like logrolling. Buzkashi Played on horseback, the traditional Central Asian sport known as buzkashi may appear to be an eastern variant on polo, But there is one critical difference: Instead of playing with wooden ‘mallets (epenstineifi wosor, konotyuika) and a ball, participants use the carcass of a cow or goatEach team consists of 10 players, five of which are in play at an given time, Players score by dragging a carcass across the opposing team’s goal line, Given the fact that the game is played with dead animals, it should come as no surprise that the Participants can play rough when competing against one another. Glossary: pee-wee league brawn [brotn] ~ Myexyaast; mycxysnsnan cua; rui0r ripples — soarist, BerueckH Jog rolling — nepexarka Gpenen tree topping — o6peaka nepxyuiicn aepena “hot saw — nivta ans ropayeli peskn endurance [In'djuar(2)ns | — sbiHocHBocTs, enocoGHoeTs nepeHociTs 410-70 carcass [kaikas] ‘ia (AMBOTHOFO)