Weird sports from around the world

Sport is an integral part of any community and with the national lockdown in effect, all local sporting events have been cancelled.
Instead, the Vryheid Herald has taken a look at some stranger and more interesting sport codes from around the world.
Who would have thought that kicking someone in the shins could be a sport?
In England, shin kicking dates back to the 17th century.
In this fairly self-explanatory activity, two competitors attack one another’s shins until one of them cries out ‘Sufficient!’.
The sport used to be played with steel-toe boots, but since it has been reduced to only soft-toe shoes and competitors are allowed to stuff straw into their pant legs to soften the blows.
Shin kicking is among the most popular events at the annual Cotswold Olimpick Games, which is now in its 408th year.
Soccer has a whole new meaning in Indonesia, where it involves fireballs.
The synthetic leather and air ball is replaced with a coconut, which is soaked in kerosene and then set on fire.
This game is played by players who welcome the month of Ramadan, by coating themselves in salt and non-flammable spices and literally kicking a ball of fire with their bare feet.
Even though the match itself is the highlight of the day, the pre-game rituals hold just as much importance.
After a month of fasting and prayers, they must train their spirits to make their bodies impermeable to the flames. Did you think rabbits are only cute and adorable pets?
You will have to rethink that, since kaninhopping is a very well known sport in Sweden. Showjumping is normally a sport which involves horses, but get rid of the horses and add a bunch of fuzzy, floppy-eared bunnies to the mix for the most adorable sport ever.
Kaninhopping is translated as ‘rabbit hopping’, and originated in Sweden in the late 1970s.
Rabbits on leashes are guided by their trainers though a series of obstacles, which are similar to those seen in equestrian showjumping competitions.
The rabbit which completes the course with the fewest errors and the shortest time, is the winner.
The competition is pretty fierce between the trainers.
The highest rabbit jump ever recorded was 39 inches and the longest jump was nearly ten feet.
The lack of dominance in the world sporting scene ignited toe wrestling in the 1970s in England.
It was invented at the Ye Olde Royal Oak Inn in Staffordshire, when patrons realised that if they invented their own sport, then they’d have to win.
In this sport, barefoot competitors link their big toes on a specially designed ‘toedium’, and attempt to pin the other’s foot to the ground in a manner similar to arm wrestling.
There is a World Toe Wrestling Championship held in Derbyshire every year.
In the third year of the event, the competition was won by a Canadian, marking the first time a non-English competitor succeeded in the sport.
Unfortunately, this sport was denied inclusion at an Olympic level.

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