Kabaddi
A South Asian team contact sport. During a raid the raider repeats the word kabaddi, touches opponents and returns, while a seven-player defence tries to hold him.
Quick Facts
IndiaCharacter & Origin
Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
About Kabaddi
Kabaddi is a South Asian team sport which the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India describes as essentially a combat sport and a contest of one against seven. Britannica gives an account according to which the game originates in prehistoric times, when reflexes were important for self-defence and hunting. A learning module of India's University Grants Commission says that in its early days the game was played to develop self-defence and quick reactions to an attack. We have not found a founder or a year of origin, and according to the federation the first known framework of rules arose in 1921 in Maharashtra.
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Two teams play, with seven players each on the court. The raider enters the opponents' half and, under the rules of the International Kabaddi Federation, clearly repeats the word kabaddi while doing so. The raider tries to touch defenders and return to their own half within thirty seconds. The defenders try to hold the raider, but they must not deliberately hold him above the shoulders or by clothes and hair. Men play two twenty-minute halves with a five-minute break. According to the Olympic Council of Asia, kabaddi was a demonstration sport at the Asian Games in New Delhi in 1982 and has been on their programme since 1990, for women since 2010 according to Olympics.com. The International Kabaddi Federation was founded during the first world championship in Mumbai in 2004. In Bangladesh, according to Banglapedia, ha-du-du was renamed kabadi in 1972 and gained the status of national game.
History
Britannica reports an account according to which kabaddi dates to prehistory, when human reflexes were vital for self-defence and hunting, and compares the game to the raid of Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, on an enemy camp in the Mahabharata. A learning module of India's University Grants Commission reports an account that Arjuna had a unique talent for kabaddi and that, according to Buddhist literature, Gautama Buddha played kabaddi for amusement.
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According to the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, the first known set of rules for kabaddi as an original Indian game was created in 1921 in Maharashtra, by combining the Sanjeevani and Gemini forms. In 1923 a committee revised it and used it at an all-India tournament. Britannica writes that the basic rules were published in 1923. According to Britannica, kabaddi was demonstrated at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin by a sports organisation from Amravati. Olympics.com specifies that this was a delegation of thirty-five members of the Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal association and a demonstration just before the Games. In 1938, according to the University Grants Commission module, kabaddi reached the Indian Olympic Games in Kolkata. According to the federation, the all-India federation was founded in 1950, and the national senior championship has been played since 1952. According to Britannica, the Asian federation was founded in 1978, according to Banglapedia at a conference of delegates from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.
How it differs
Britannica writes that international competitions are played with seven players per team on a rectangular court, whereas styles such as circle kabaddi remain popular in India and elsewhere. India's University Grants Commission module calls the circle style a village game of Punjab. The same source lists further forms: Sanjeevani, which it says is closest to today's game, Gemini with nine players on each side, and Amar. According to Banglapedia, the Bangladeshi form is played with twelve players, seven of whom are on the court, on an area of 12.50 by 10 metres. The cant is also called dak there, and eliminating all the opponent's players earns two bonus points. Britannica also gives other names of the game: hu-tu-tu in western India, ha-do-do in eastern India and in Bangladesh, chedu-gudu in southern India and gudu in Sri Lanka.
Technique
A learning module of India's University Grants Commission lists raids, dodging, formations, safe raids, hand touches and breath holding among the key skills. According to it, the game requires skill, endurance, presence of mind and courage, both in catching an opponent and in breaking free from his grip. The same module writes that kabaddi combines qualities of rugby and wrestling. According to the Olympic Council of Asia, defenders form a chain with linked arms. When the chain breaks, the defender is out, and the raider must return on the same breath.
Competition
According to the rules of the International Kabaddi Federation, a team has ten to twelve players and seven of them are on the court at a time. The court measures 13 by 10 metres for men and juniors, 12 by 8 metres for women and female juniors. Men and juniors play forty minutes in two halves of twenty minutes with a five-minute break, women, female juniors and younger categories twice fifteen minutes. Under the rules, the repeated and clear pronouncing of the approved word kabaddi during a raid is called cant. A raid ends when the raider returns to his own half with the cant, within thirty seconds. The bonus line applies when at least six defenders are in the half, and the raider gets one point for crossing it. Nobody may intentionally hold a raider or a defender above the shoulders, and holding a raider by clothing or hair is a foul. According to the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, the defenders concerned are out.
Today
According to its own website, the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India belongs to the International Kabaddi Federation, the Asian Kabaddi Federation and the Indian Olympic Association and is recognised by India's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. According to the Olympic Council of Asia, kabaddi was a demonstration sport at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi and has been on their programme since Beijing 1990. According to Olympics.com, a women's competition was added in 2010. According to Britannica, the first world championship was played in Mumbai in 2004 with teams from Asia, Europe and North America. According to the Indian federation, the first Asian women's championship was held in Hyderabad in 2005, and men and women played at the 2008 Asian Beach Games in Bali. According to the federation, mats, shoes, new techniques and rule changes have changed the game, which is no longer just one of strength. According to its own website, the professional Pro Kabaddi League has run since 2014.
Did you know
According to both Banglapedia and Britannica, in Bangladesh in 1972 ha-du-du was renamed kabadi and received the status of a national game. According to the Indian federation, at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha a separate hall with playing areas of folding mats was built for kabaddi for the first time. Britannica states that in Thailand the game is called theechub.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the raider in kabaddi repeat the word kabaddi?
The rules of the International Kabaddi Federation require the approved word kabaddi, called the cant, to be pronounced repeatedly and clearly during a raid. Britannica writes that the raider thereby shows that he has not taken a breath.
Is kabaddi at the Asian Games?
Yes. According to the Olympic Council of Asia, kabaddi has been on the Asian Games programme since Beijing 1990, having been a demonstration sport in New Delhi 1982. Women have played since 2010 according to Olympics.com.
How long does a kabaddi match last?
According to the rules of the International Kabaddi Federation, men and juniors play two twenty-minute halves with a five-minute break. Women, junior women and younger categories play two fifteen-minute halves.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.