Grab a drink and let’s talk about the weirdest sports ever!

Each country in the world is passionate about sports, whether it’s football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, or everything that involves a ball, whether big or small.

And if someone isn’t into sports, they surely love to watch the cheerleaders because they can make a game a little warmer and more enjoyable. Or they prefer the game atmosphere and the way the entire crowd lives and breathes at the same moment, waiting for their favorite team to win.

My husband, for instance, is very passionate about sports and loves to watch games, but the ones that I’ve previously mentioned aren’t the only ones he likes. He sometimes watches different games that I find to be the weirdest ever.

But when I told him what my opinion was, he only said that they are meant to entertain the audience, to give people a lesson and that they’re also part of each country’s identity. He was right, but I still think that he enjoys watching some of the weirdest sports that have ever existed.

You might have no idea about these fascinating and quite bizarre sports that I will talk about, but I have to admit that they seem pretty fun. So, grab a drink, open a can of peanuts, and let’s talk about some of the weirdest sports that people are crazy about!

5. Buzkashi

We start off this list of the weirdest sports by talking about buzkashi, which is very popular in Central Asia, especially in Afghanistan. This is not a game for people who immediately feel dizzy or for those who don’t love adrenaline.

The goal of buzkashi is for the players on horseback to try and toss a decapitated goat carcass into what they call the “circle of justice”. At first, it might seem like a sweet game of polo, given the fact that the members ride horses, but they don’t follow a ball, but a decapitated carcass of a goat or calf that’ll help them score.

While they aim to get the item they follow into the circle of justice, they have to be extremely careful not to be hit by a boot-kick or a stray whip. If you’re wondering how important this game is, let me tell you that it’s the national sport of Afghanistan, and it’s been played for more than 600 years, so it has a pretty long history.

What’s more about buzkashi, which might seem like one of the weirdest sports for some people, is that it is typically played on Friday evenings.

If you want to discover more about these weirdest sports in the world, there are plenty of books that can teach you everything you need to know about them. For instance, this eBook is going to tell you a lot of insights about buzkashi, so check it out here!

4. Chess boxing

Ok, you know what chess is all about; you also know boxing, but have you ever heard about chess boxing? It’s one of the weirdest sports in Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, and India, and it combines brawn and brains, making it a unique game.

Adversaries square off in a couple of alternating rounds of chess and boxing, and the winner is the one who’s first to checkmate or knock out the opponent. If you want to combine the brain and the muscles, this might be the one for you.

I told you that this is one of the weirdest sports in the world, and the idea of how it was created might surprise you. The idea of turning this into a recognizable sport came straight out of a comic book, but over time, chess boxing gained a lot of respect and became a popular sport.

If you want to give this one a try, you could find a club in Los Angeles. It might not be so popular in the US, but there are plenty of clubs in other parts of the world. Chess boxing is indeed popular, and according to the World Chess Boxing Organization, there are almost 1,000 people willing to apply to participate in different championship fights.

Would you try any of these two weirdest sports ever?

3. Pato

Do you know how to make a game extra special? You just add different items from other popular games, and you’ll create one of the weirdest sports ever. At least this is what people from Argentina did: they combined polo and basketball and obtained a brand new sport called pato.

It became so interesting and popular that now it is actually the national sport of the country. There are two teams that participate in this game. The players are on horseback, and they try to throw a leather-handled ball through a hoop.

The name pato actually means duck in Spanish, and many years ago, when the game was still at its beginning, they didn’t use a ball but actually a live duck. Pretty violent for my taste. What do you think?

What’s bizarre about pato, besides being one of the weirdest sports on the planet, is that while it’s considered a national sport, there are less than 6,000 officially registered players in Argentina, and a lot of people there have no idea what a pato match looks like.

2. Caber toss

Scotland is also home to one of the weirdest sports on the planet. Just wait to read what I’m about to tell you. They have a game called caber toss, where athletes have to lift a pole that is approximately 20 feet long and flip it end over end.

Basically, the caber toss is a popular throwing sport, but it’s different from others due to the fact that the distance isn’t important. Athletes have to pick up a 19.5-foot, 175-pound pole and then toss it in such a way that it turns end over end one time after it lands beautifully on its top and then ends up falling away from the player.

If you’re interested in this game, you’ll need a combination of technique and strength so you can master the caber toss. Its popularity kept growing and growing, and now it is a fundamental part of the Highland Games held across Scotland each summer and spring.

1. Kabaddi

We’re not done talking about the weirdest sports on the planet, because there are a couple of them that seem so interesting and funny that they deserve a place on this list. This is exactly kabaddi’s case, which is a popular sport in Iran, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

It’s a combination of wrestling, red rover, and tag and is played by teams that have to take turns sending one raider across the court, but each of them has to be aware of the fact that it shouldn’t be caught on the opposite side of the court.

Each of the teams involved has to send a raider across the court. As long as the player makes it back to his side of the court without getting caught, he will get one point for each member of the other team he tags. However, if the defense team manages to stop the raider before the player comes back to their team, they’re the ones who get a point.

I told you that kabaddi is one of the weirdest sports in the entire world, and I didn’t lie. They don’t count minutes or seconds to know when a round is over because they have a unique way to keep track of time. The raider has to constantly chant “kabaddi” without taking a breath. That seems like a very strict rule, and if the referees see the raider inhale, their turn is immediately over.

Kabaddi is actually a pretty big sport, and there are many professional leagues in Asia. Besides that, since 1990, kabaddi has been a regular at the Asian Games.

We could do part II of this article that’s about the weirdest sports on the planet, so if you’re interested in reading something like this, leave a comment down below and say “part II,” and you’ll have it soon. If you want to read something else from Mind-Bending Facts, here’s an article for you to check out: You Won’t Believe Artificial Intelligence Can Do These 10 Things