KABADDI, KABADDI, KABADDI, KABAD....
May 24 Saturday 2008

Summer is on the way and it's beginning to get a little warmer here in Hong Kong. And so before it gets unbearably hot and sticky, Kayi and I have been spending some time at the beach, enjoying the sun, sea and relatively fresh air away from the crowds and the city.

Last week, a group of us revived one of our all-time favourite beach games called "Kabaddi".

Kabaddi is a pre-historic Indian game where two teams of seven players occupy opposite sides of a small court. The teams take turns sending a "raider" across to the opposite team's half, where the goal is to tag as many opposition players before returning to the home half.

Meanwhile, the goal of the "defenders" is to stop the raider from returning to the home side before taking a breath (which is why the raider must keep saying "kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi..."). They can stop the raider by either wrestling him/her to the ground, or pushing them out of the court. If the raider returns home safely, any defenders that he or she tagged are out. Check the game out here on wikipedia.