5 Unusual SportsYou Have Probably Never Heard Of

You must have heard, watched and played mainstream sports, like football, tennis, rugby, basketball, baseball and cricket. These games attract the most people. However, to say that sports is limited to just hitting a ball, in that case you are mistaken. There are a number of unusual games played worldwide which you may not have even heard about before. Below is a list of top 5 most unusual sports played.

Chess Boxing

Boxing and chess together as a sport is something which most people would have never imagined about before. The name itself is unlikely as its combination: chess boxing. But, it is a singular game, played as one, which requires hundred percent potential of your brain and your physical strength.

Popular in the United Kingdom and Germany, this sport is played with alternative rounds of boxing and chess. Competitors can win by either winning the chess game or by knocking the opponent in the boxing round. There is also a judge’s decision which can determine the winner.

Extreme Ironing

Extreme ironing is a performance art and an extreme game. If you are thinking that this is something related to taking yourself to the limits and ironing clothes at the same time, then you are not far off.

According to the official website of extreme ironing, this is “the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.”

Participants of this unusual game go to remote locations and get a thrill by taking their unplugged iron along with some wrinkly clothes and their ironing board to some of the most extreme places. These people, who call themselves ‘ironists’, photograph themselves while playing this sport in places, like underwater, on top of a vehicle, extreme altitude, and hanging from a cliff.

Wife Carrying Competition

As the name implies, this sport involves carrying a female teammate and racing across an obstacle course competing against other male contestants.

The original name of this game is Eukonkanto which is of Finnish origin. The literal meaning of this name, Eukonkanto, is ‘wife carrying’.

At the Wife Carrying World Championship, it is not the glory which matters. It is the honor which the winning team takes after winning the championship. This honor includes winning beer equal to wife’s weight.

Bossaball

This sport was invented in Spain by a man named FilipEyckmans who developed the concept of it in 2004. The concept sounded spectacular and new to the ear, and when it was shaped into its true form, it looked exciting and a bit unusual.

Bossaball looks similar to volleyball, but also incorporates elements of capoeira, football and gymnastics. This sport involves a ball between two teams, each consisting of 3 to 5 players, and a specially designed inflatable court with trampoline on each side of the net.

Volcano Boarding

Ever imagined about sliding down an active volcano at speeds of 50 miles per hour?

This is considered as the coolest and most thrilling game by sport fanatics. This strange and extreme game involves racing down an active 2,380 feet volcano at speeds of 50 miles per hour with no protection except a board.

Every year thousands of these sport fanatics head to the foothills of Nicaragua’s Cerro Negro Mountain to participate in this craziness. Surfers, with their specially constructed plywood boards, race down the mountain at speeds of around 80 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour).

This sport was created in 2005 and since then, approximately 10,000 people have participated in it.