Ring, ring, ring. My alarm went off, and it flashed 6:30 am. I had to get out of bed because we were on a tight schedule. I put on warm clothes to face the brisk weather outside. I had an exhilarating morning ahead. My dad, my brother Max, and I piled into the car and left the house. It was a beautiful but chilly morning, and I could see the sun rising. The sky was shades of pink and orange, and it was clear with almost no clouds. We had to be at Hessel Park before 7:00 am. When we arrived at the park, I saw about thirty other people all gathered in a circle near a tree. In the middle of the circle stood Josh Whitman, the University of Illinois Athletic Director and former Illini football player. Mr. Whitman has a tradition of leading a four and a half mile jog every time there is a home football game. We were all there to run. The general course started at the park, then went through the community to campus, and finally looped back to the park. Mr. Whitman started the run at exactly 7 am, and we left the park heading to the quiet University of Illinois campus. It was silent because all the college students were still asleep. We ran on the streets, and the cars did a sudden stop and let our group pass. We kept running towards the Quad and Alma Mater on campus. These two landmarks were our halfway point, which meant we had run about two and a quarter miles. I was starting to feel tired, but I pushed myself to keep going. We were running at about an eight and a half minute mile pace. Max was a very motivational partner, and he cheered me on. I started to remember the sights around me, and before I knew it we were back at Hessel Park. I was breathing hard and sweating, but I was happy that I had accomplished this long run. I was smiling ear to ear when I saw my dad waiting for Max and me. After the entire group finished, Mr. Whitman shared donuts and water, the breakfast of champions, with everyone. I was parched and drank the water bottle quickly. The donuts tasted extra delicious, and it is a tradition for Mr. Whitman to take a picture with everyone who ran. After the picture, we thanked him for doing the run and returned home before 8:00 am. I had plenty of time to go back to bed.
sports
How to Play Kabaddi: Part 2
Hello again! When I left off my last blog post (Kabaddi: Part 1), I had just finished explaining a bit about Kabbadi. Well, I’m back! In this blog we will cover how to score in Kabaddi, and how scoring is kept, as well as how to be a Kabaddi referee. Here we go! We left off with some special terms. Now, the following table shows the different ways to score. Kabaddi is a contact sport, however, you can’t just barge in like a rhino, or try to touch someone in haste, and get out; no, you have to be quick, like a ninja. Just a small touch counts! Toe Touch/Kick: Where you thrust your foot toward the defender and lightly brush him. A kick uses the entire foot, but they are practically the same. Hand Touch: When a raider lunges toward a defender and touches them with their hand. Escaping a Tackle: When the raider just drags the defender and touches the midline without losing their breath. You can make many combinations of these techniques like kicking a defender, using the same kick to get to the bonus line, get someone with a hand touch, and drag someone back to the midline. That would get you 4 points! Now, you will learn how to referee a Kabaddi game. Whenever someone scores, the ref must thrust their hand up in the air with the amount of points scored counted by the fingers. At the same time, they hold their other hand sideways and point it to the side of the team that scored, and then say how many points they scored, and say the team that scored. When the game ends, the ref must point both hands straight ahead and say, “match completed.” There are six officials: 1 Referee, 2 Umpires, 1 Scorer, and 2 Assistant Scorers. Duties of the Referee: -Take the toss. -Supervise the match. -Announces the score of each side before the last 5 minutes of the match. -Takes care of recording the time. -Warns about the time remaining at last 5 minutes of second half of the match. Duties of the two Umpires: -The Umpires conduct the match and give decisions according to the rules of the game. Duties of the Scorer: -Fills in the score sheet. -Announces the score with the permission of the referee at the end of each half. -Complete the score sheet in all respects and get it duly signed by the Umpires and Referee. Duties of the two Assistant Scorers: -Maintains record of the players who are out. -Sees that the players are seated in the order of being out. -Will help referee regarding any player who goes out of boundary. Just like in soccer, Kabaddi also had the warning card system. Here it is: -Green card: It is a warning sign. If a green card is given twice to a player or coach or manager twice, the next card shall be directly a yellow card. -Yellow card: That member is temporarily suspended for 2 minutes. If a yellow card is given twice to a player or coach or manager, the next card shall be directly a red card. -Red card: Suspension from match or debarred from tournament. Each team shall score one point for every opponent out or put out. The side which scores a special term shall score two extra points. The out and revival rule will be applicable. Each team shall score one point for every bonus point awarded. So, that’s it! I have shared with you all that I know about Kabaddi, and anything you would need to stage a Kabaddi game. Leave your thoughts in the comment section, and see you in October.
How to Play Kabaddi: Part 1
Kabaddi is a sport that undoubtedly very few of you must have heard of if any at all. Unlike a lot of sports, Kabaddi does not include a ball as part of the game. The game is like football, wrestling, and tag all at once. Kabaddi originated in the modern Tamil region of the Indian subcontinent, a few thousand years ago, as a pastime that has evolved into the national sport of India, with competitions all over the world and currently, the VIVO Pro Kabaddi Tournament is taking place in India. The game can go by different names like Ha-doo-doo, chu-kit-kit, and hu-tu-tu. Kabaddi is played with 2 teams of 12 players each, 7 starters and 5 reserves, playing for two twenty minute halves. At the end, the team with the higher score wins. The Kabaddi court is 13 meters by 10 meters. The midline divides the court into two halves. Around the middle of one of the halves, is a baulk line. A bit after that, is the bonus line. The rectangles at the sides are known as the lobbies. Whichever team wins the coin toss, they send out a person known as a raider first, which in this case is the blue team. His job is to tag as many defenders, which consists of the entire other team, and make it back to the midline. However, he must cross the baulk line while raiding. The raider gets only 30 seconds to raid and at the same time must chant the word Kabaddi repeatedly, without stopping to pause for breath: that is, he only gets one breath. The defenders jobs, who are the yellow team, are to tackle the raider, and not let him back to the midline, thus preventing a successful raid. But, if the raider touches one of the defenders, and makes it back to the midline, not only does the raiding team get a point for each defender touched, those touched defenders are out. All players who are out must go and sit in the sitting block. The catch is that no one can substitute him back in, until someone from his team gets a point. Then, the team may call a player back in. The lobbies can only be used once the player has touched a defender, so that he gets a bit more space to run to his side. In most Kabaddi matches you will see the defenders holding hands. The reason is because, if a defender steps out of bounds, then he is out, and the raiding can continue.This process repeats for the entire game, switching back and forth between the two teams. Following are some special terms that you should know: How to play Kabaddi – Part 1 All Out/Lona: When all of the players are out. Then, seven of the players get revived, but only seven, because that is the limit for one team on a court. Super Tackle: A super tackle is when three or less defenders are defending a raider, and they make the tackle. Super Raid: When the raider scores 3 or more points in a raid, it is known as a super raid. Do-or-Die Raid: If a raid has been unsuccessful for two consecutive times, then the third raid must be successful, or the raider is out, and the defending team receives a point. In my next blog, I will continue this one by explaining how scoring is kept, and how to score. Leave a thought in the comment section, and see you next month!
