Football is the most popular sport in the world, but there are other games that do not receive such focus or attention of the world, and only a few people practice them.
Daily News Egypt sheds the light on three unpopular sports below.
Aikido
The Japanese self-defence game known as aikido is one of the most unpopular sports in the world, practiced by only a small number of people.
The word “aikido” is formed of three syllables: “ai” means unifying, “ki” means spirit and, “do” means path. Therefore, the closest literal interpretation of the word aikido is the “way of combining forces”, in that the term aiki refers to the martial arts principle or tactic of blending with an attacker’s movements for the purpose of controlling their actions with minimal effort. Traditional aikido is non-competitive and advancing in the sport does not come through besting an opponent, but through demonstrating understanding of basic exercises and techniques, which become more demanding or difficult as ranks increase.
It was founded by Morihei Ueshiba, referred to by some aikido practitioners as Ōsensei (great teacher), early in the twentieth century following his own extensive study of various armed and unarmed martial systems.
Aikido spread as a combat game in the last twenty years after the success of Steven Segal’s movies, who is one of the best players of this defence game.
Chess boxing
Only a few people in Arab countries may know chess boxing, despite its wide reputation in the world. It combines two traditional pastimes: chess, a cerebral board game, and boxing, a physical sport. The game is organised by the World Chess Boxing Organisation (WCBO) and was invented by Dutch performance artist Iepe Rubingh in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 2003.
The game consists of 11 rounds where the competitors fight in alternating rounds of chess and boxing.
Chess and boxing rounds alternate, beginning and ending with a round of chess. Each round lasts three minutes, for both chess and boxing. The total amount of chess playing time is 18 minutes, making it nine minutes for each player. After each chess round, the exact setup is digitally recorded and then repositioned before the following chess round.
The breaks between chess and boxing rounds usually last for one minute. The duration of the rounds and overall fight time in amateur chess boxing fights can change to some degree, as in, for example, youth tournaments and exhibition fights.
Liquid mountaineering
Another strange game is liquid mountaineering or walking on water. The idea of the game is that a competitor should run as many steps as they can on a surface of water before falling. The players use waterproof shoes.
This game was discovered coincidentally as two Portuguese youth tried to run on water without outside help. It was said that the first people who practiced this game were the Greeks.
A young team filmed a clip, and uploaded it to YouTube, of a young man walking more than 14 steps on water using Hi-Tec brand shoes, before he fell.
