Chess Boxing

Chess Boxing

Nowadays, because of the increased need for new, innovative creations, more and more strange extreme sports are being invented. Some of them may seem a bit ridiculous and funny, but every single one of them has something unique, mysterious and unprecedented about it, and these are the reasons they attract so many people from all the age groups. After conducting some research, I'd like to introduce you to one of the most weird, but actually incredibly interesting and difficult, sport in the world! It is called; chess boxing.

Chess boxing is an alternative, hybrid sport that combines chess and boxing. Although it was first  invented in the late 1970s, its big debut hapenned in 2000, when championships started being held too.

 Structure an rules

A full match consists of eleven rounds: six round of chess, each three minutes long, and five rounds of boxing, each three minutes long (sometimes four minutes under amateur rules ). The match begins with a chess match and alternate with boxing until the end of the match. There is also a one-minute break between evry challenge, during which competitors cool out and change gear.

In relevance with the special kit, the competitors wear special boxing costumes and closed-back headphones, while playing chess, in order to focus on the game and avoid hearing comments from the spectators and instructors.

Required skills

In order to participate in an annual championship you must, not only be an experienced boxer, but also be at least Class A strength as chess player ( professional level ).

... So if you are interested in chess boxing, you'd better start working out because it needs countless hours of working out in order to be good at it! Hoever, in my opinion, it'll be worth it, since chess boxing is one of the few sports, that actually combines physical exercise and mental exercise. That's why I highly recommend it to all of you!

This is a video of the first chess boxing championship! I hope you enjoy this!!!

Zorbing

  Have you ever wanted to imitate a hamster? Well, you can experience it by trying zorbing (or the hamster ride, as I call it). Zorbing is an actual sport of rolling downhill inside a giant, lightweight ball made of flexible plastic. Orbing, or Zorbing entered the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in 2001, where it is defined as: "a sport in which a participant is secured inside an inner capsule in a large, transparent ball, which is then rolled along the ground or down hills". Apart from that, zorbing is performed at commercial locations, where the thrill-seekers pay a fee for each ride, or for day's activity.  The first zorbing site was established in Rotorua, New Zealand by Dwane van de Sluis and Andrew Akers, in 1994. Later, the orb (= the plastic ball) manufacturing company was taken over by the two Akers brothers, that is, Andrew and David. 

Here's a video about zorbing in New Zealand!

  It seems really fascinating and hilarious, but once you enter the orb, there is no turning back. The long-haul distance ride takes only a few seconds to finish, as the speed is high, indeed. So, although zorbing is fun if the safety rules are not observed, the effects are extremely serious. Plenty of individuals, who have tried it, have been injured. In order to avoid being hurt, as far as I'm concerned, the sport's rules should change. In spite of these objections, zorbing is fine not only for daredevils, but also for ordinary people.Finally, would you take the risk and try zorbing, or would you like to play it safe?