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Boxing

The History of Boxing Boxing is likely  of Boxingely one of the oldest sports in the world. As a means of survival, our ancient ancestors likely openly fought one another, just as animals today fight tooth and nail for food and for mates. While it might not have been the same standardized type of boxing that we see in rings today, surely, they must have come to fisticuffs (fistfights) more than once in pursuit of a full stomach or a mate.  It did, however, quickly become a sport. Fighting as a sport is as old as civilization itself, with very real records of boxing matches in writings from both Egypt and Mesopotamia (two of the world’s oldest civilizations). One notable reference to early boxing is in the Iliad. During Patroklus’s funeral games, two characters reportedly have a “prizefight.” In Ancient Greece, boxing (like most things), was probably more ceremonial than it was a true sport like we think of today and did not have the same kinds of...
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Tennis

The History Of Tennis When researching the history of some sports it can be hard to get hard facts as there are conflicting stories, so we’re going pure by research here. One thing we do know for sure is that tennis derived from a game called Real Tennis or Royal Tennis. Real Tennis Most historians and opinions suggest that tennis originated in northern France in the 12th century (not England as many people presume), making it one of  the oldest sports  Back then the ball was then struck with the palm of the hand and it was not until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called tennis. The rules and scoring are similar to tennis but the courts and equipment are very different. The balls are made from cork and the racquets are smaller and wooden, it was also played indoors on a different sized court. According to Wikipedia, there are only 48 active real tennis courts in the world, located in the United Kingdom...

Soccer

Soccer The History Of Football (soccer) Football (or soccer as the game is called in some parts of the world) has a long history. Football in its current form arose in England in the middle of the 19th century. But alternative versions of the game existed much earlier and are a part of  the football history. Early history and the precursors of football The first known examples of a team game involving a ball, which was made out of a rock, occurred in old Mesoamerican cultures for over 3,000 years ago. According to the sources, the ball would symbolize the sun and the captain of the losing team would be sacrificed to the gods. The First Football Clubs Some historians suggest that it was the Foot-Ball Club formed 1824 in Edinburgh. Earlier clubs were often formed by former school students and the first of this kind was formed in Sheffield in 1855. The oldest among professional football clubs in the English club  Notts County  was formed in 186...

Kabbadi

History Of Kabbadi Kabaddi is basically a combative sport, with seven players on each side; played for a period of 40 minutes with a 5 minutes break (20-5-20). The core idea of the game is to score points by raiding into the opponent’s court and touching as many defense players as possible without getting caught on a single breath. One player, chanting Kabaddi!!! Kabaddi!!!! Kabaddi!!!! Charges into the opponent court and try to touch the opponent closest to him, while the seven opponents make maneuvers to catch the attacker. This is Kabaddi, the match of one against seven, known as the game of struggle. The players on the defensive side are called “Antis” while the player of the offense is called the “Raider”. The attack in Kabaddi is known as a ‘Raid’. The antis touched by the raider during the attack are declared ‘out’ if they do not succeed in catching the raider before he returns to the home court. These players can resume play only when their side scores points a...

Basketball

The Brief History Of Basketball Basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts. The year was 1891, and as the story goes, Naismith was asked to come up with an indoor game that offered fewer injuries than classic American gridiron football. He came up with a 9-on-9 game that involved shooting a ball into a peach basket. Under those first rules, a single point was scored for a made basket. The first game would have a final score of 1-0. The game of basketball grew very rapidly, with college teams forming leagues within the first decade of the game’s invention. Naismith himself would become a college coach for the game, joining the University of Kansas in 1898. He would amass a win/loss record of 55-60. This means James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, is also the only coach in Kansas history to have a losing record. How Basketball Was Able to Storm the World Basketball was introduced to the rest of the world due to efforts from the US Army an...

Cricket

History of Cricket Early Cricket (Pre 1799) Cricket On The Artillery Ground There is a consensus of expert opinion that cricket may have been invented during Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weald, an area of dense woodlands and clearings in south-east England. The first reference to cricket being played as an adult sport was in 1611, and in the same year, a dictionary defined cricket as a boys' game. There is also the thought that cricket may have derived from bowls, by the intervention of a batsman trying to stop the ball from reaching its target by hitting it away. Village cricket had developed by the middle of the 17th century and the first English “county teams” were formed in the second half of the century, as “local experts” from village cricket were employed as the earliest professionals. The first known game in which the teams use county names is in 1709.  Early village cricket In the first half of the 18th Century cricket estab...