Kabaddi (sometimes transliterated Kabbadi or Kabadi; Hindi: कबड्डी, Urdu: کبڈی, [kəˈbəɖɖi], Kannada: ಕಬಡ್ಡಿ, Tamil: கபடி, Telugu: కబడ్దీ, Malayalam: കബഡി) is a team contact sport that originated in South Asia BCE, as a form of recreational combat training.[1] Two teams occupy opposite halves of a field and take turns sending a “raider” into the other half, in order to win points by tagging or wrestling members of the opposing team; the raider then tries to return to his own half, holding his breath and chanting “kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi” during the whole raid. The name — often chanted during a game — derives from a Tamil word (கை-பிடி) meaning “holding of hand”, which is indeed the crucial aspect of play. It is the national game of Bangladesh, and the state game of Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Andhra
Gameplay
In the international team version of kabaddi, two teams of seven members each occupy opposite halves of a field of 13m × 10m in case of men and 12m X 10m in case of women.[2] Each has three supplementary players held in reserve. The game is played with 20 minute halves and a five minute halftime break during which the teams exchange sides.
Teams take turns sending a “raider” to the opposite team’s half, where the goal is to tag or wrestle (“confine”) members of the opposite team before returning to the home half. Tagged members are “out” and temporarily sent off the field.
Meanwhile, defenders must form a chain, for example, by linking hands; if the chain is broken, a member of the defending team is sent off. The goal of the defenders is to stop the raider from returning to the home side before taking a breath.
The raider is sent off the field if:
* the raider takes a breath before returning or
* the raider crosses boundary line or
* A part of the raider’s body touches the ground outside the boundary (except during a struggle with an opposing team member).
Each time a player is out the opposing team earns a point. A team scores a bonus of two points, called a lona, if the entire opposing team is declared out. At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins.
Matches are categorized based on age and weight. Six officials supervise a match: one referee, two umpires, a scorer and two assistant scorers.
History and development
The game, known as Hu-Tu-Tu in Western India, Ha-Do-Do in Eastern India and Bangladesh, Chedugudu or Sadugudu in Tamil Nadu, Southern India and Kaunbada in Northern India, has changed through the ages. Modem Kabaddi is a synthesis of the game played in various forms under different names.
There are claims by some that Kabaddi is game version of the Chakravyuha an ancient war strategy and defensive formation. Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna enters breaks into the Chakravyuha and is the enemy, the Kauravas
Kabaddi received international exposure during the 1936 Berlin Olympics, demonstrated by Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal, Amaravati, Maharashtra. The game was introduced in the Indian Olympic Games at Calcutta in 1938. In 1950 the All India Kabaddi Federation came into existence and compiled standard rules. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) was founded in 1973. After formation of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, the first men’s nationals were held in Madras (re-named Chennai), while the women’s were in Calcutta in 1955.The AKFI has given new shape to the rules and has the right to modify them. The Asian Kabaddi Federation was founded under the chairmanship of Mr. Janardan Singh Gehlot.
Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation is now headed By Mr. Janardan Singh Gehlot as President and Mr. Muhammad Sarwar as Secretary General and Mr. Mohammad Reza Maghsodlou as Vice President.
Kabaddi was introduced and popularized in Japan in 1979. The Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation sent Prof. Sundar Ram of India to tour Japan for two months to introduce the game.
In 1979, a return test between Bangladesh and India was held at different places of India including Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Punjab. The Asian Kabaddi Championship was arranged in 1980 and India emerged as champion and Bangladesh runner-up. Bangladesh became runner-up again in 1985 in the Asian Kabaddi Championship held in Jaipur, India. The other teams in the tournament were Nepal, Malaysia and Japan. The game was included for the first time in the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990. India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh took part. India won the gold medal and has also won gold at the following six Asian Games in Hiroshima in 1994, Bangkok in 1998, Busan in 2002, Doha in 2006 and Guangzhou in 2010.
Attempts to popularize kabaddi in Great Britain saw British TV network Channel 4 commission a programme dedicated to the sport. The show, Kabaddi, on Channel 4 in the early 1990s, failed to capture viewers despite fixtures such as West Bengal Police versus the Punjab. Kabaddi was axed in 1992, but not before its presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy suffered a collapsed lung while participating in the sport.
In the 1998 Asian games the Indian Kabaddi team defeated Pakistan in a thrilling final match at Bangkok (Thailand). The chief coach of the team was former kabaddi player and coach Flt. Lt. S P Singh.
Iran has turned out to be one of the emerging nations in all three forms of Kabaddi. They stand to be one of the few nations having transperancy in selection of team along with world class infrastructure for development of this sport. Currently they are trained and coached by Ashan Kumar , former Indian National Team coach and Arjuna Awardee. It is estimated that the annual budget given by the Iranian Government for development of this sport is arround 400,000 USD which is the highest among all nations. Prominent Non Resident Indian in Iran and leading businessmen in the gulf, P.S.Chandhok is one of the main intiator for development and has extended a great helping hand for development of various sports in Iran. Currently , the construction of a dedicated World Class Kabaddi Stadium is in progress at Tehran.
During the 16th Asian Games at Guangzhou Iranian Men’s bagged Silver Medal and Women’s bagged Bronze Medal. Amazing performance was showcased by Iranian’s during the semi-final match in women’s category against India.
India has remained world champion since it was included in Asian Games and South Asian Federation games. Kabaddi is now a very popular game and is a regular sport in Asian Games, Asian Indoor Games and Asian Beach Games apart from SAF Games.
Article Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabaddi
