In a Multimedia Publication made on August 5th 2016, which had been earlier made originally on June 27, 2012, the Asia Society (a great group) declared and listed 10 Asian Sports that would spice up the Olympics through the Asia Society Blog.
Before I give you the ten sports (as she described the sports) the Asia Society said that: Asia Society takes no institutional position on policy issues and has no affiliation with any government.
That: All views expressed on their publications and on their website are the sole responsibility of the author or authors.
To my readers, I am sure we are very aware that Asia is a very large continent housing the countries with the largest population in the world. Such countries like China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, the Koreas etc. So, when there is a society called Asia Society, that society is much more than a MEGA NGO. So when they say something i.e make a statement, it is not a paper weight statement even though it is not from an institutional source.
Afrotradosports will try to summarise the statement as much as possible to disseminate the information further to our readers on afrotradosports worldwide. Here we go:
“Herewith, as a public service, Asia Blog nominates 10 sports from Asia for the IOC’s consideration.
Bo Taoshi
…bo taoshi (literal translation: knocking-pole over) developed as an expression of rebellious energy aimed at toppling the Meiji Oligarchy
…Two teams are split into offensive and defensive groups, and two poles are placed at two ends of a large field. The attackers and defenders then scrum for control of the pole. Victory is attained when the attacking team brings down the pole to 30 degrees (relative to the ground). Shirts optional, no shoes allowed.
Bokh
…Wrestling is the most important of Mongolia’s historic “three manly skills” (the other two being horsemanship and archery). Genghis Khan considered wrestling an important way to stay in good physical shape for combat. There are no weight divisions in Mongolia’s sports festivals, called Naadam, so a small wrestler can be matched up with an opponent twice his weight.
Buzkashi
…Played in Central Asia, Buzkashi features men on horseback tussling over a headless goat carcass. The objective is to drop off the carcass in designated score zones. The horses are trained to bite opponents. Bloodshed and injuries often result from horses falling or biting during the game.
Da Tuoluo
…Tuoluo are wooden tops of unspecified girths ranging anywhere from the size of a small dreidel to the behemoth 220lbs “peg”. Tuoluo are enjoyed by children and adults alike and the main objective is to keep the top spinning for as long as possible. Sometimes teams of people take turns whipping one tuoluo and other times spinners whir their tops at their opponents to try to knock their tops off their axes.
Kabaddi
…Played on a rectangular court with seven players on the ground for each side, kabaddi involves holding your breath, chanting the word kabaddi repeatedly and scoring points by entering the opponents’ court and touching as many defense players as possible without exhaling.
The kabaddi chant varies from place to place. In India and Pakistan it’s kabaddi, in Bangladesh it’s hadudu. In Nepal they call it do-do; in Sri Lanka it’s guddu and in Malaysia it’s chado-guddu.
Mallakhamb
…Ladies, signing up for pole dancing classes at your local gym? You might want to take some pointers from this sport. In mallakhamb or pole gymnastics, a gymnast holds onto a wooden pole or vertical rope and performs acrobatic feats and poses in fluid motion.
…The sport has been embraced by visually impaired people in India. Because it’s about feeling, balance and strength, a blind athlete can perform as well as someone with perfect eyesight.
Onbashira
…Once every six years, 200-year old Japanese fir trees are felled with specially-made axes and adzes. The logs are dragged on ropes down the hill to the four shrines of Suwa Taisha. Loggers slide down exceptionally steep slopes atop the logs, egged on by spectators, despite the potential for injury and death. At the base of the slope, these logs are stood upright as Tate Onbashira (upright pole), with some of the riders still on top.
…Onbashira was featured in the 1998 Nagano Olympics opening ceremony and it attracted 1.78 million people, 4.5 times Nagano’s then-population of about 387,900 people.
Pacu Jawi
…The sport, which means “ox racing” in the Minang language, features two oxen harnessed with a bamboo plow. A jockey stands on the plow, holding onto the animals’ tails and urging the oxen on by biting their tails as they dash through mud fields.
Sepak Bola Api
…Two teams of equal size try to score by shooting the sepak bola, or soccer ball, into the opposing team’s goal. Only, the soccer ball is an old coconut that’s been dried, scored, hollowed out, soaked in kerosene for up a to a week, and of course, lit on fire. Some participants yawn at the prospect of kicking, punting, throwing and heading a flaming coconut; for them, sepak bola api is best played in bare feet.
…Before a big match, players undergo a three-week-long ritual that is said to make them impervious to the pain of fire.
Sepak Takraw
…Teams of three kick a rattan ball across a net using only their feet, chests and heads. These days it’s played all over the world, especially in Southeast Asia. Given the height of the net (4 feet, 11 inches).
…The name, meaning kick ball, is taken from both Malay and Thai and is essentially a compromise between the two powerhouses of the sport, Indonesia and Thailand.”
That is the summary of the descriptions of the ten nominated sports.
COMMENTS:
PART ONE: (a) It is a great assertion and contribution on the part of Asia Society group
(b) The society does not sit-down-look
(c) They gave ten candidates at a go, so that IOC will not have shortage of choices
(d) They have indirectly spoken to the Governments in Asia, what the people want
PART TWO: (a) Let Africa take their example from the Asia Society Group
(b) We have various societies in Africa that can speak out.
(c) Institutional Groups can take the initiative too. It will be more assertive.
(d) NSIAC; you are very capable. I remember attending a program organized by NSIAC in 2007, it was very great.
PART THREE: Afrotradosports is fulfilling one of its goals i.e dissemination of information on Traditional Sports Worldwide. Afrotradosports says: go and read a more comprehensive version or better still, the original text of this on Asia Blog; search for: Multimedia 10 Asian Sports that would spice up the Olympics. The videos and photographs are there too.
Afrotradosports, says we in Africa must begin to search for our own ten candidates as Asia with 3 Olympic Sports (Judo, Karate, Taekwondo, already among approved Olympic Sports, is enlisting another 10 Candidates while Africa that has none has not listed any. In the spirit of 8th All Africa Games; Africa must wake up and welcome the world by producing Olympic Sports in no distance time.
Thank you greatly,
Mallam Elias Yusuf
14/05/2018
N.B: As at today, there are about 33 approved Olympic Sports with over 300 events.
Afrotradosports 