Kabaddi

Got a bunch of people, a big open space and nothing else to do? How about a round of Kabaddi? Kabaddi is a game of speed, strength, strategy and, most importantly, lungpower.

Nothing much is known for certain about the origin of this game. There is, however, concrete evidence that the game is 4,000 year old, developed to help soldiers strength and tactical skills. It is a team sport and combines the characteristics of wrestling and rugby. It was originally meant to develop self-defence, 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 requires neither 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 and increasingly so in China, the US and the UK. The first world Kabaddi championship in the history of the game, was organised in Hamilton when approximately 14,000 people packed Copps Coliseum, to watch stars from India, Pakistan, Canada, England, and the United States compete.

The Kabaddi Federation of India (KFI) was founded in 1950, and it compiled a standard set of rules. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) was founded in 1973. The AKFI has given new shape to the rules, and it has also the rights of modification in the rules.

How To Play
[Terminology]

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 defence 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 as many players on the opposing side as possible, and return to his court in one breath.

Any 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.

The side that wins the toss has the choice of the court or the raid, In the second half, the side is changed and the side that had not sent the raider first sends its raider first. The game in the second half continues with the same number of players as there were at the end of the first half.

Lona

The team scores a lona ( a bonus of two points), if the entire opposition is declared out. The game then continues by putting all the players on both sides. Matches are staged on the basis of age-groups, and weight. Seven officials supervise a match - one referee, two umpires, two linesmen, a time keeper and a scorer.

Variant Forms Of Kabaddi

In India, Kabaddi is recognised in three forms:

• Surjeevani
• Gaminee
• Amar

The 'Surjeevani' form of Kabaddi is the most widely played and is formalised by the Kabaddi Federation of India, 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.

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 form.

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.

In the northern part of India, i.e. Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, this game is played in a circle. This is known as 'Circle Kabaddi' or Amar Kabaddi. If it is played without a court, as in some places, it's called 'Goongi Kabaddi'. The Goongi Kabaddi is nothing but wrestling between two players.

Terminology

• Midline: This is the line that divides the playfield into two halves
• Court: Each half of the playfield divided by the midline is known as the court.
• Cant: The continuous clear sounding recitation aloud of the approved word ' Kabaddi' within the course of one respiration is called cant.
• Raider: The player who enters the court of the opponent with the cant is known as a raider.
• Anti-raider or anti: Every player of the team in whose court the raid is being made, is called an anti-raider or anti.
• Losing the cant: To stop the continuous and clear sounding chant of the word Kabaddi or to take breath during a cant is known losing the cant. A cant must be started and finished within the same respiration.
• Struggle: When the raider touches an anti or an anti touches a raider, the struggle begins. An Unproductive raid is when the raider makes no contact with the other players before running out of breath and returning to his own side. These result in no score by either team, and if a team does three of these in a row, they concede a point to the other side.