Читать книгу Montegue Blister’s Strange Games: and other odd things to do with your time - Alan Down - Страница 14

The Japanese have Judo; the Chinese have Kung Fu; in Gloucestershire they kick shins.

The British Shin Kicking Championships take place annually in Chipping Campden on the first Friday after the second May Bank Holiday as part of the Cotswold Olimpick Games. Dress rules are very simple and elegant: competitors wear long trousers with straw protective padding attached to their shins underneath (otherwise it would be plain crazy). White shepherds’ smocks complete the fighting costume. Each player then holds onto his opponent’s shoulders and the kicking begins.

Rules dictate that no kicks are allowed above knee level, and, whilst kicking, each player must try to wrestle his opponent to the ground. This has to be achieved during the process of kicking, otherwise it is not a valid wrestle down.

The long-since forgotten, but analogous, sport of Clog Shin Kicking was popular in the mining towns around Manchester in the mid-nineteenth century. Then, men were men and kicked shins whilst they were totally naked except for the heavy wooden clogs on their feet. Contests were hard fought and bloody. Some competitors bent the rules by soaping themselves up first, thus making themselves more difficult to grab hold of.

If Shin Kicking appeals but is a little too violent for your liking, you could always try the gentler, modern-day equivalent of Toe Fencing. In this sport players, once again, clasp each other by the shoulders but attempt to stamp on the other’s toes before their own are squashed.