Cotswold Shin Kicking
An English folk discipline from the Cotswold Olimpick Games, founded in 1612. Opponents hold each other's shoulders, only the shin may be kicked, and the only padding is straw.
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About Cotswold Shin Kicking
Shin-kicking is an English folk discipline and one of the events of the Cotswold Olimpick Games, founded in 1612 by the lawyer Robert Dover on the hill above Chipping Campden. The rules are short and peculiar precisely in what they forbid. The opponents hold each other by the shoulders with straight arms and may not release that grip for the whole bout. Kicks go to the shin alone; a strike higher or lower means disqualification. A point counts only when a competitor throws the other while genuinely connecting with the shin — a throw without shin contact is credited to the opponent instead. The winner is whoever achieves the most throws over three rounds. The only permitted padding is straw, handed out by the organisers and stuffed into the trouser legs; metal-reinforced footwear is banned. The bout is started, finished and judged by an official called the Stickler. Up to sixteen people usually enter on the day, and the winner becomes world shin-kicking champion. The Games lapsed in the nineteenth century and were revived in the twentieth; they are now held annually. The Games were stopped in 1852 after disorder and were revived only in 1963; they have been held regularly since.
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