5 things that make kabaddi the most quintessentially Indian sport

The sport of kabaddi has caught everyone's attention in the past few years, and that is largely due to the tremendous success of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi. The contact sport which has seen India thoroughly dominate every other team had been crying out for attention all these years, and the PKL has finally given it a platform.When we talk about Indian indigenous sports, kabaddi is the only one that comes to our mind due to the long-standing history it shares with the country. Having originated in the sub-continent, kabaddi has been played in India long before it caught the fancy of other countries.Here are 5 reasons which make kabaddi a quintessentially Indian sport:

#1 As pioneers of the sport, India continues to dominate it

The Indian team celebrate after winning the Asian Games in 2010

The sport of kabaddi has its origin in the 7th largest country in the world. India gave birth to kabaddi and has continued to be the most passionate patron of the sport.

As creators of the sport, Indians have never been shy about stamping their authority on the game. Their recent gold medal at the South Asian Games is testament to that; India beat Pakistan in a closely contested final.

Kabaddi was introduced at the Asian Games in 1990 in Beijing. Since then, India has won every single gold medal at the event. They have a whopping seven gold medals to their name, the last one coming in 2014.

It might be a long time before someone comes even close to this mind-boggling record.

#2 The name of the sport itself

A still from the match between U Mumba and Bengal Warriors

Kabaddi is a game that is over 4,000 years old. In fact, it is said that the sport is derived from people who hunted in groups and villages to defend against any attack, in the state of Tamil Nadu.

People started playing kabaddi naturally as a means to learn to attack and defend in numbers when faced with adversity. In Tamil, kabaddi can be broken down into two words - Kai and Pidi - which basically translate to “hold hands”.

Ironically, when the raiders chant 'kabaddi kabaddi' during a game, it’s actually a signal of intent to break the holding of hands, which creates chaos.

#3 Kabaddi is mentioned in the sacrosanct Indian epic, Mahabharata

A picture of Abhimanyu’s battle in the Mahabharata

Abhimanyu, the nephew of Lord Krishna, waged an epic fight in the Mahabharata which has often been likened to kabaddi by historians.

Pitted against the mighty Kauravas, the 16-year-old Abhimanyu had a Herculean task on his hands. On the 13th day of the Kurukshetra war, he entered the deadly seven-tiered Chakravyuha battle formation created by the Kauravas. Although he broke through the watertight defence of the opposition, he eventually perished while fighting a lone battle.

Back then, only the greats like Krishna and Arjuna knew how to penetrate the seven-wall defence. Today, the likes of Rahul Chaudhari, Anup Kumar, Kashiling Adake have mastered that art, showing just how much practice goes into kabaddi.

#4 The connect between yoga and kabaddi

The Bengal Warriors team practising yoga

Yoga and kabaddi have a fundamental quality common between them - both practices involve building your lung capacity. In yoga, the Pranayama is an exercise used for extension of the life force. To put it simply, it means expansion of one’s breath. The purpose of this is to give a thorough workout to your internal organs.

Kabaddi too involves something pretty similar - the “cant”, which is the continuous recitation of the word “kabaddi” during the raid. The only way you can do this with precision is if you have impeccable lung capacity along with presence of mind.

In training ahead of the matches, coaches instruct their players to practice yoga. This connection between these two quintessentially Indian practices is another reason behind India's dominance in the sport.

#5 Gautam Buddha and kabaddi

Buddhist literature talks about Gautam Buddha and his affinity for the contact sport. It is said that the Enlightened One used to play the sport as a leisure activity.

The sage, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded, is said to have lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Various reports suggest that he indulged in the sport of kabaddi quite often during his travels.

Buddhist monks around Japan are credited for bringing Gautam Buddha's favourite sport to the country decades ago, while Tibetan monks are known to play the sport regularly. They consider the sport to be an important tool for meditation.