Have you ever been to an ostrich race or a Fierljeppen or Yukigassen? If not, you are missing out on some great & weird sports in life.
In ancient times, sports were not only a source of entertainment but the training of young men for the battlefield. Wrestling, archery, boxing, and other such sports taught physical and mental prowess to young men.
Although physical and mental fortitude is still part of the sport, sports now serve one purpose: entertainment. With fun and competition being the prime motive, several unique, thrilling, and so-called weird sports have taken over. From Buzkashi of central Asia to Picigin of Croatia, people have developed unusual means of playing sports.
There are several popular sports, but weird sports have their own charm. They are present from around each region of the world. There are also those super popular and fun but very weird kinds of sports.
They come in forms of entertainment and also from professional leagues depending on the kind of extension. These sports have massive popularity, even confined within a particular region.
Some areas of the world do not even celebrate some popular and conventional sports. But they are pretty glorious with some rather strange ones. For instance, North Americans do not even know about cricket, while people of South America have no clue what hockey is.
Weird Sports That Are Truly Strange
Humans have a very wild and weird side to them- a reckless, adventurous, and mysterious side. This weird obsession with adventure and thrill often leads them to weird sports.
Some of the dangerous sports, rejecting all boundaries of games and play, are as follows:
1. Ferret-legging
Have you ever heard of Ferret Legging? Also affectionately known as “put ‘em down” and “ferret-down-trousers,” this quirky and controversial sport hails from the rural heartlands of England. Competitors brave enough to try it put two live ferrets inside their trousers, then tie the ankles and waist securely to make sure the little critters don’t escape. The goal? To outlast the others and endure the madness for as long as possible – and just so you know, the current record is over five hours! Can you imagine?
Get this: the competitors have to stand still inside a sealed enclosure. Now, if you know anything about ferrets, you’ll understand why this gets interesting. These furry guys are curious by nature and, well, pretty squirmy. Let’s just say, the ferrets don’t take kindly to being cooped up inside someone’s pants, and they make sure the competitors feel every bit of their energy!
This wild endurance test wasn’t just invented for laughs, though. Back in the day, miners used ferret legging as a way to pass the time and prove just how tough they were. Tough or a bit crazy – you decide! Animal rights groups, understandably, have raised some eyebrows (and concerns) about it, but despite the controversy, ferret legging still pops up at a few folk festivals. It’s mostly celebrated for its sheer weirdness, drawing curious onlookers and participants alike.
Although the sport has been around for quite a while, it really picked up steam in the 1970s. Believe it or not, it even made a comeback with a competition held in the town of Richard between 2003 and 2009.
So, next time you think you’ve heard of everything, just remember – there’s a sport where people voluntarily put ferrets in their pants!
2. The Ultimate Test between Man and Horse
It is indeed a strange kind of sport that tests your stamina. You will learn how to be aggressive while competing against a horse. The Man v Horse race originated in the Wales town of Llanwrtyd Wells. has been held annually in Wales since 1980. This sport has all to do with strength; you need great agility and strength to partake in this. Marathon human contestants are tested against those mounted on horses. This is how marathon testing takes place!
3. Dog Surfing
You might have heard about weird animals, but have you ever thought of them playing weird sports? Well, some are, like dog surfing. It is exactly what you thought: cute dogs surfing around the crazy waves.
The sport originated in California and Hawaii in the 1920s. The World Dog Surfing Championship takes place every year in the San Francisco Bay Area. Participating dogs may go solo surfing or with their human partner.
These adorable surfers are judged as per their balance, ride length, and wave size. And the best dog wins!
These pups may not even know they are the stars of the competition. Several have even appeared in newspapers and TV shows for their athletic prowess.
4. A Different Kind of Swim:
This is a really interesting kind of swimming but pretty gross as you would have to go snorkeling in a marshy bog. The water-filled trench is cut through a peat bog. Participants must wear snorkels as well as flippers in order to wade through the peat bog.
Traditional swimming techniques are not welcome however but only through the use of snorkeling strokes and processes can one perform here. The sport has held an annual world championship in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, since 1985.
5. Toe Sport
This is yet another weird sport that welcomes you to use your toes. This is quite the same kind of sport that you used to play as a child which involved toe wrestling. This has now been turned into a major sport that even has a World Toe Wrestling Competition. It first originated in a pub in Derbyshire.
The locals took this sport with great enjoyment and then made this so popular that it soon had its own championship. The individuals who participate have only got to use their feet in locks but then this is tougher than it may sound.
6. Fistball
Though Fistball is quite a popular sport among those who practice it fistball is really not known worldwide. It is a lot like tennis (however unlike tennis scoring) and volleyball and definitely one has to have really strong fists in order to be a part of this game. One can pass the net and then have the ball contracted as best.
The bouncing is allowed only 3 times at a go. There have to be 5 players coming from each team. This sport has become really big with its league formation. Now it is featured in World Games as well.
7. Octopush or Underwater Hockey
This is a non-contact underwater sport that has two teams participating in it. The teams maneuver a puck right across the bottom of the swimming pool which is supposedly the goal area. It is played quite like hockey but just under the water.
Underwater Hockey has become steadily famous in countries like the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. There are large Octopush sessions all across these major countries which regularly arrange competitions in this game.
8. Adult Kickball
Reinvent this childhood game with the new venture into adult kickball. The adult kickball league is quite fun and wild. This game has now become a very important popular sport that brings lots of creativity and fun for adults.
The World Adult Kickball Association has been developing really wonderfully with greater participation and involvement from different countries in this grand sport. There are now greater avenues for this once popular childhood game to be carried out into the world of greater weird sports.
9. Chess Boxing
This is a combination of chess and boxing techniques involved in one single game that brings the power of the brain as well as brawn into the same board. Sports boxing and chess are alternated with every round in this rather strange game.
This is a great combination that invites you to check not only the physical strength but also the mental dexterity of the players at the same level. The points are thus divided according to both evaluations.
10. Competition between You and Cheese
Do you love cheese? who doesn’t? There is a strange kind of competition that goes with finding out who is faster, you or a ball of cheese rolling down a hill. This incredible sport has been rolled down the hill. Moreover, competitors chase after it. The first person who gets to be downhill in the perfect toeing of the cheese ball and gets to finish first will be the winner.
This is how the person at the bottom wins. Competitors chase after the cheese but usually, this cheese ball rolls pretty fast making it quite a challenging task.
Hand-Picked Content: How Does Cheese Get Distributed?
11. Beard and Moustache Competition:
The World Beard and mustache competition is a biennial competition that challenges males with high testosterone levels to have a go at their beard and mustache-growing capabilities. This includes large mustaches, goatees, and full beard styles.
There are different sections to this competition which even includes a category called the Dali mustache.
12. Kaiju Big Battel
This is a humorous sport originating from the Japanese anime Kaiju Big Battel. This brings maniacal villains and ominous alien beasts all together in a tough competition. But this is more like a show match than anything else. The monsters have been dressed and matched in their own way in big dresses.
13. Cardboard Tube Dueling
This is yet another dueling competition that brings about members of cardboard dueling with league-fighting talents. This works in a great way for competitors with their fancy costumes and even cardboard tubes to fight with.
14. The Mud Pit Belly Flop
This is a kind of game where even the spectators get splashed in the mud. But, in fact, that is quite fun. The very annual Summer Redneck Games in East Dublin brings about this game and brings about some of the greatest hubcap discus throws with it. This is also a great sport to show the strength and dexterity of your feet.
15. Bossaball
This is another sport that includes soccer, gymnastics as well as capoeira, all integrated within a trampoline that would allow players and high bounders to do great spiking of the ball. Bossaball is a great sport to be enjoyed and brings a variety of work into one single sport itself.
16. Snow Polo
Though it was popular among Turkish emperors of long-gone days, this sport has come back again in a new but quite weird avatar. With the modified version of polo taking place across the snow, this makes through shoddy terrains with horse-riding players playing a dense shot of polo there.
17. Wife-carrying
Wife-carrying is also one of the weird sports in the world. The world championships of this game are held around the world throughout the year.
This happens between the number of couples in which male candidates have to carry their female partners on their backs. They have to go through different obstacles over time. In some leagues, there is also a weight restriction or limit.
It would become more difficult to reach the endpoint with weight on the back. During this event, many funny and dangerous things happened. And some deadly injuries also take place.
18. Lawn Mower Racing
Lawnmower racing fools you with the comical name but doesn’t let it happen to you. The sport itself is equally intense as funny as the concept is.
Go-karting is similar to this. The one major difference between lawnmower racing and go-karting is the type of vehicle itself. A lawnmower must maintain its engine and chassis (frame), unlike a go-kart. This mini-sized racing is organized in the UK. The idea of this new sport came up when a group of friends became fed up with the unavoidable cash vacuum and huge startup costs of auto-racing. Whether the event takes place on a flat track or off-road, lawnmower racing is a hit.
19. Pillow Fighting:
The Pillow Fight League is a bona fide sport and this isn’t a game that is played at home between children or couples. Therefore, we can thank the Canadian entrepreneurs who managed to turn this slumber party pastime into a competitive challenge.
This fighting game apparently gets pretty intense. And have resulted in lost teeth and even more bad concussions. This makes a lot more sense upon examining the rules. That allows punching and submission hold. This sport may be intense, but is this still not the most Canadian thing ever?
20. Extreme Ironing
Iron a shirt, but make it thrilling, fun, and weird! Extreme ironing is one of the weird sports ever played. As per the Extreme Ironing Bureau,
Extreme ironing is the latest dangerous sport that combines the thrills of extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt
Born in Britain, this sport is now played in several countries, including Germany, Australia, and Japan. The first Extreme Ironing Championship was held in 2002.
Since then, people have managed to find the most bizarre locations to press their shirts. Mountains, caves, frozen lakes, cars, and the top of strange buildings. You name it, and extreme ironing players have ironed their clothes there!
21. Buzkashi
Buzkashi- literally, ‘goat dragging’- tops the list of the weirdest sports ever played. It is practiced in several countries of Central Asia, including Afghanistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
A group of men roams around the field- three times bigger than a football ground- on a horse. The aim is to throw a goat carcass (not your average ball!) at the opponent’s goal. Add in a whip to get things more nasty and brutal!
22. Ostrich Racing
You might have heard of horse racing, but in this sport, the horse is switched by ostriches. They can run at the speed of 43 mph. Therefore, they are categorized as the fastest-running birds in the world.
It may sound strange, but it is amusing, enjoyable, and funny. You will always find someone falling off of the back of an ostrich because these are not as symmetrical as a horse or any other animal. Plus, ostriches sometimes don’t like humans riding them.
Rather than considering it a hard-core competitive game, many consider it a funny sport because it is hilarious when ostriches wiggle their necks, throw off people, and smash their heads into walls.
However, many safety measures are observed while riding these birds as they cannot carry weight above 86 kg.
23. Thumb Wrestling
Thumb wrestling is something we all have played in childhood with our siblings. But, it is also a real and funny sport people play in many parts of the world. You might be amazed by the fact that it also has dedicated championships and rules. Players use strategies and hacks to win the thumb wrestling match like any other game.
The idea is to interlock fingers and aim to pin the opponent’s thumb as fast as possible to win the match. It even has specialized rules and penalties to ensure fairness in the “not-so-serious” match.
People have creatively designed its hilarious variations as well, like using alternate arms or playing with a large group. Its name is thumb war, but it will surely give you belly-aching laughter even if you lose.
24. Egg-and-Spoon Race
An egg-and-spoon race is a delightful event that many schoolchildren across different countries have participated in. In this race, participants run while balancing an egg on a spoon. This type of race began in the late 19th century in the UK.
Egg-and-spoon races can vary in distance depending on the organizing body, with the 50m and 100m distances being the most common.
The goal is straightforward: carry the egg on the spoon and reach the finish line as quickly as possible. Each racer is given a spoon and an egg. At the starting line, everyone positions their eggs on their spoons and waits for the signal to start.
Once the signal sounds, racers sprint while holding the spoon with one hand. Using two hands to hold the spoon or touching the egg with one hand is prohibited. If an egg falls, the racer must pick it up, place it back on the spoon, and balance it before continuing.
Although eggs are the traditional choice, some races use alternatives like potatoes, tomatoes, lemons, or even synthetic eggs. Occasionally, a boiled egg is used instead.
25. Three-Sided Football
Three-sided football is a variation of soccer where three teams compete instead of just two. Danish artist Asger Jorn created this sport in the 1960s, using it to illustrate his idea of triolectics, an offshoot of the Marxian concept of dialectics, while also baffling us with complex ideas.
This game is played on a hexagonal field. Instead of fierce competition, the teams cooperate, deciding among themselves what’s allowed. There’s no referee, meaning no strict rules. Unlike regular football, the winner is the team that concedes the fewest goals, not the one that scores the most.
The game continues until everyone agrees to stop, again, no strict rules. It’s more of a fun, recreational activity rather than a competitive one.
The inaugural game was held by the London Psychogeographical Association at the Glasgow Anarchist Summer School in 1993, and a few other matches have occurred since then.
Ending Thoughts!
Humans have time and time again proved that they are the most mysterious creatures alive. And these sports are one perfect example of it. Some of the above strange sports are played internationally, while some are confined to particular regions. However, they all have a cult following that does whatever it takes to win the game!