10 Most Unusual Sports Around the World

In considering the world's most unusual sports an episode of the Brady Bunch came to mind. Marcia Brady was freaking out at the prospect of starting high school. To make herself more popular, she signed up for every club she could including karate, snorkeling and yoga. Well it's a sure bet that none of these sports were on Westdale High School's club list.

WIFE CARRYING
The stuff true love is built on. This Finnish sport represents the perfect way for couples to workout and bond at the same time.

Wife Carrying competitions consist of male and female competitors whereby the male carries a "wife" (she doesn't have to be his wife) while navigating a rigorous obstacle course. According to the International Wife Carrying Rules Committee (yup, there's a committee), the female has to weigh at least 108 pounds. That's a fair minimum since the winning team is awarded the female's weight in beer. In the North American events, the female can elect to carry the male although it's unclear how much he can weigh.

The Guinness Book of World Records even includes a category for the fastest wife carrying race. You can find Wife Carrying events all over the world including some pretty big competitions in Wisconsin, Maine and Michigan.

CHESSBOXING
What could be better than a sport that combines physical stamina with mental acuity?

The sport of Chessboxing started back in 2003 when Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh was inspired by something he saw in a French comic book. The World Chessboxing Organization (WCBO) was formed and shortly after that the first fight took place on November 14th 2003 in Amsterdam. The motto of the WCBO is: "Fighting is done in the ring and wars are waged on the board."

Contestants compete in 11 alternating rounds of 6 four-minute chess matches and 5 two-minute boxing matches. The winner can be determined by a referee's decision, knockout, checkmate or by one competitor exceeding the allotted time.

While this sport is gaining in popularity in the US, Chessboxing has a larger following in Europe.

CHEESE ROLLING
Why cut the cheese when you can roll it down a really big hill?

Cheese Rolling comes to us from the UK near the area of Gloucester, England. The tradition started about 200 years ago and has since become a yearly event at Cooper's Hill on the Spring Bank holiday.

The rules are pretty simple. First you roll a large round of Gloucester cheese down a hill. Participants follow the cheese by running and/or rolling end over end till they reach the finish line. The first person to reach the finish wins the cheese.

HURLING
You might be thinking this is the sport you participate in after really great parties, "special" weekends or on New Year's Eve but you'd be wrong.

Hurling is a fast paced game with Gaelic origins. A game involves two teams each consisting of 15 players or "hurlers." Each player uses a "hurley" which is essentially a long wooden stick with a flat paddle-shaped end. The object of the game is to get the ball (the sliotar) into the opponents net or over their goal.

While the game isn't quite entered the mainstream in the US, it has garnered a following in some states including Washington, Wisconsin and Indiana.

UNDERWATER HOCKEY (OCTOPUSH)
While the sport of Ice Hockey is fairly well known, this game demonstrates what would happen if the water wasn't frozen.

Though there is some question as to when Underwater Hockey or Octopush began, Briton Alan Blake claimed he started the sport in 1954 with 5 friends while sitting around a kitchen table drinking tea in Portsmouth, England. The game was similar to ice hockey in that two teams of 8 players each compete to put the "squid" or puck into the opposing team's goal. Each player wears swimfins, a snorkel and mask and holds a short stick called a "pusher."

Incidentally, a Canadian man has come forward to claim his role in inventing the sport while working in Miami Beach, Florida in 1959. Cam Baird said he started Underwater Hockey as a joke with very little thought toward the ultimate potential of the game.

Today, Underwater Hockey is played in many countries including France, Australia, South Africa and the United States.

POOH STICK RACING
Again, this competition is not what you might think it is.

Pooh Stick Racing was inspired by a game Winnie the Pooh played in the popular children's stories by A.A. Milne. Participants stand on a bridge and drop a stick into a body of water from the upstream side. They then go over to the downstream side to see whose stick emerges first.

No thrills and chills but it's a game just about anyone can play.

RUNNING OF THE NUDES
Not to be confused with the Running of the Bulls, the Running of the Nudes has the catchy slogan: "Out With the Old-In With the Nude!"

Unlike the other contests on the list, this one cropped up not to test the limits of human skill and endurance but to protest bull-running events in Spain. In any case, runners engage in a min-marathon of about half a mile all while wearing nothing but plastic horns, red scarves and the wind in their hair. It's not certain who wins in this race suffice it to say there are probably more spectators who feel like winners after watching the event.

SHIN KICKING
It sounds about as painful as hair pulling, side pinching and foot stomping but the UK sport of Shin Kicking is a real competition that seems to normally take place during local fairs or festivals.

To compete, two contestants lock arms and begin kicking at their opponent's shins. The last person standing is the winner. Luckily, each player is allowed to protect his/her shins by padding them with straw.

BOG SNORKELING
Bog Snorkeling originated in Wales near the tiny town of Llanwrtyd Wells in 1976. In this sport, competitors are required to snorkel their way down two consecutive lengths totaling 120 yards in a water and peat-filled channel.

Of course the fastest time wins the race. Prizes for this accomplishment can range anywhere from gift certificates and T-shirts to cold, hard cash.

TUNA TOSSING
A tradition in Port Lincoln, South Australia, Tuna Tossing involves... get this... tossing tuna. Each year during the Tunarama Festival, a tuna weighing approximately 20 pounds and attached to a rope is thrown for distance in style similar to Olympic hammer throwing.

Now if you've ever been to Seattle, this won't seem so unusual but the folks in Port Lincoln do it for more than just fun. The person who throws the farthest gets a cash prize of about $900 US.

In recent years Tuna Tossing has gone green with the use of an artificial fish. No doubt the change is less messy and less odorous after a day of throwing.

Now, you probably won't win a college scholarship or enough money to move into Tiger Woods' neighborhood by participating in these events but that doesn't matter. After all, one person's idea of just plain weird is another person's chance at shin-kicking, wife-carrying, pooh-sticking glory... right?

Sources:
"Wife Carrying Championship", www.sundayriver.com/Events/Main/Wife_Carrying_Championship.html
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2008/02/080219.aspx
Chess Boxing, http://wcbo.org/content/index_en.html
"Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling", http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/05/coopers_hill_cheeserolling.html
"All About Hurling", http://www.gaa.ie/page/all_about_hurling.html
"How Octopush Was Created", http://octopush.awardspace.com/
"Hockey H2O: South Floridians play the game-underwater", The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/1248748.html
"Shin Kicking", Truebrits.tv, http://jrdaeschner.blogspot.com/
"Bog Snorkeling", http://wapedia.mobi/en/Bog_snorkeling
"Australian tuna tossing festival to use fake fish", http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3318625/Australian-tuna-tossing-festival-to-use-fake-fish.html