TRADITIONAL GAMES- KABADDI

 

 

Kabaddi is a hugely popular game played by youngsters in almost all the bylanes and gullies of India. A game that combines concentration, breath control

and quick reflexes, it is called as Chedugudu in South India and Hadudu in East India. In the north, it is known as Kabaddi. Very few games combine Yoga or breath control, and therefore apart from being just a game it improves the player’s general physique too. Players have to acquire both defensive and offensive skills to excel in the game. 

 

The origins of Kabaddi can be traced to mythology. Young men had to be battle ready to face the threat of both men and animals and games such as these ensured that they could build on their self-defence skills and quick response to attacks. According to popular folklore, Arjuna was supposed to have excelled in the art of playing Kabaddi, which was then known as Chakravyuh.  He had the ability to pierce into enemy territory, attack, destroy and return unscathed. Abhimanyu, his son, unfortunately, knew how to enter the chakravyuh but not how to come out and in the process was killed by the Kaurava army in the Mahabharata war. Only three people, Krishna, Arjuna and Pradyumna, knew how to enter and exit the chakravyuh. The seven players in a kabaddi team are believed to represent the seven rings of the Chakravyuh formation. There is an image of the Chakravyuh in stone, adorning the walls of Hoysaleswara Temple.

 

Buddhist literature praises the kabaddi skills of the Buddha when he was still Prince Siddhartha. Kabaddi was quite a popular game played in ancient India and it is little wonder it was given the national status in the year 1918. Maharashtra popularized it further and brought it to the national platform. The game was also introduced for the first time in the Olympic Games held in Kolkatta in 1938 thus giving it an international stature. Now we have teams for both men and women, and tournaments are held at all levels starting at the school itself.