Handball 

(also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball)[2] is a team

sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball
using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the goal of the other team. A standard match
consists of two periods of 30 minutes, and the team that scores more goals wins.
Modern handball is played on a court of 40 by 20 metres (131 by 66 ft), with a goal in the middle of
each end. The goals are surrounded by a 6-meter (20 ft) zone where only the defending goalkeeper
is allowed; goals must be scored by throwing the ball from outside the zone or while "diving" into it.
The sport is usually played indoors, but outdoor variants exist in the forms of field
handball and Czech handball (which were more common in the past) and beach handball. The game
is fast and high-scoring: professional teams now typically score between 20 and 35 goals each,
though lower scores were not uncommon until a few decades ago. Body contact is permitted, the
defenders trying to stop the attackers from approaching the goal. No protective equipment is
mandated, but players may wear soft protective bands, pads and mouth guards.[3]
The game was codified at the end of the 19th century in Denmark. The modern set of rules was
published in 1917 in Germany, and had several revisions since. The first international games were
played under these rules for men in 1925 and for women in 1930. Men's handball was first played at
the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin as outdoors, and the next time at the 1972 Summer
Olympics in Munich as indoors, and has been an Olympic sport since. Women's team handball was
added at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
The International Handball Federation was formed in 1946 and, as of 2016, has 197 member
federations.[4] The sport is most popular in the countries of continental Europe, which have won all
medals but one in the men's world championships since 1938. In the women's world championships,
only two non-European countries have won the title: South Korea and Brazil. The game also enjoys
popularity in the Far East, North Africa and parts of South America.
Hockey is a sport in which two teams play against each other by trying to manoeuvre a ball or
a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick. There are many types of hockey such
as bandy, field hockey and ice hockey.
In most of the world, hockey refers to field hockey[citation needed], while in Canada, the United
States, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, hockey usually refers to ice
hockey
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. Players use the head of
the lacrosse stick to carry, pass, catch, and shoot the ball into the goal.
The sport has four versions that have different sticks, fields, rules and equipment: field
lacrosse, women's lacrosse, box lacrosse and intercrosse. The men's games, field lacrosse
(outdoor) and box lacrosse (indoor), are contact sports and all players wear protective
gear: helmet, gloves, shoulder pads, and elbow pads. The women's game is played outdoors and
does not allow body contact but does allow stick to stick contact. The only protective gear required
for women players is eyegear, while goalies wear helmets and protective pads. Intercrosse is a
mixed-gender non-contact sport played indoors that uses an all-plastic stick and a softer ball.
The sport is governed by the Federation of International Lacrosse.
Polo is a horseback mounted team sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports.[3]
Although the exact origins of the game are unknown it most likely began as a simple game played by
mounted nomads of Iranian and Turkic origin in Central Asia, from where it spread to Persia and
beyond. It is now popular around the world, with well over 100 member countries in the Federation of
International Polo. It is played professionally in 16 countries. It was an Olympic sport from 1900 to
1936.
It is known as the sport of kings.[4] It has become a spectator sport for equestrians and society,
often supported by sponsorship.
The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring goals by hitting a small hard
ball with a long-handled wooden mallet, and through the opposing team's goal. Each team has four
mounted riders, and the game usually lasts one to two hours, divided into periods called chukkas (or
"chukkers").
Arena polo has similar rules, and is played with three players per team. The playing area is smaller,
enclosed, and usually of compacted sand or fine aggregate, often indoors. Arena polo has more
maneuvering due to space limitations, and uses an air inflated ball, slightly larger than the hard field
polo ball. Standard mallets are used, though slightly larger head arena mallets are an option
Water polo is a competitive team sport played in the water between two teams. The game consists
of four quarters in which the two teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing
team's goal. The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins the match. Each team is
made up of six field players and one goalkeeper. Except for the goalkeeper, players participate in
both offensive and defensive roles. Water polo is typically played in an all-deep pool meaning that
players cannot touch the bottom.
A game of water polo consists of the players swimming to move about the pool, treading water (often
using the eggbeater kicktechnique), passing the ball and shooting at goal. Teamwork, tactical
thinking and game awareness are also highly important aspects in a game of water polo. Water polo
is a highly physical and demanding sport and has frequently been cited as one of the toughest
sports to play.[1][2][3]
Special equipment for water polo includes a water polo ball, a ball which floats on the water;
numbered and coloured caps; and two goals, which either float in the water or are attached to the
side of the pool.
The game is thought to have originated in Scotland in the late 19th century as a sort of "water
rugby". William Wilson is thought to have developed the game during a similar period. The game
thus developed with the formation of the London Water Polo League and has since expanded,
becoming widely popular in various places around the world, including Europe, the United States,
Brazil, China, Canada and Australia.
Quidditch /ˈkwɪdɪtʃ/ is a fictional sport invented by author J. K. Rowling for her fantasy book
series Harry Potter. It is a dangerous but popular semi-contact sport played by witches and wizards
riding flying broomsticks.
Matches are played on a large oval pitch with three ring-shaped goals of different heights on each
side, between two opposing teams of seven players each: three Chasers, two Beaters, the Keeper,
and the Seeker. There are three different balls: the Quaffle, the two Bludgers, and the Golden
Snitch. The Chasers and the Keeper respectively score with and defend the goals against the
Quaffle; the two Beaters bat the Bludgers away from their teammates and towards their opponents;
and the Seeker locates and catches the Golden Snitch, whose capture simultaneously wins the
Seeker's team 150 points and ends the game. The team with the most points at the end wins.
Harry Potter plays as Seeker for his house team at Hogwarts. Regional and international Quidditch
competitions are mentioned throughout the series. Aspects of the sport's history are revealed
in Quidditch Through the Ages, published by Rowling in 2001 to benefit Comic Relief.
A real-life version of the game has become popular, in which the players still use brooms, but run
instead of flying.
Aggressive skating (referred to by participants as rollerblading, blading, skating or rolling) is a
sub discipline of inline skating primarily focused on the execution of tricks in the action sports canon.
Aggressive inline skates are specially modified to accommodate grinds and jumps. Aggressive
skating can take place on found street obstacles or at skate parks.
Since 1994, the sport has been chronicled in various skating films and "edits.
Artistic roller skating is a sport similar to figure skating but where competitors wear roller
skates instead of ice skates. Within artistic roller skating, there are several disciplines:

 Figures (similar to compulsory or "school" figures on ice)

 Freestyle (individuals performing jumps and spins)
 Pairs (a subset of freestyle with two people performing jumps, spins, and lifts)
 Dance (couple)
 Solo dance
 Precision (team skating, similar to synchronized skating on ice)
 Show teams
 Creative Solo/Freedance
Artistic roller skaters use either quad or inline skates, though quad skates are more traditional and
significantly more common. Generally quad and inline skaters compete in separate events and not
against each other. Inline figure skating has been included in the world championships since 2002
in Wuppertal, Germany.[1]
The sport looks very similar to its counterpart on ice, and although there are some differences, many
ice skaters started in roller skating or vice versa. Famous champion ice skaters who once competed
in roller skating include Brian Boitano, Tara Lipinski, and Marina Kielmann. Roller figure skating is
often considered to be more difficult because the ice allows the skater to draw a deep, solid edge to
push off from when performing jumps such as a lutz or an axel. Also, roller skates are generally
heavier than their ice equivalents, making jumping harder; and do not leave behind tracings.
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, duos, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It
was the first winter sport included in the Olympics, in 1908.[1] The four Olympic disciplines are men's
singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Non-Olympic disciplines include synchronized
skating, Theater on Ice, and four skating. From juvenile through senior-level competition, skaters
generally perform two programs (short and free skating) which, depending on the discipline, may
include spins, jumps, moves in the field, lifts, throw jumps, death spirals, and other elements or
moves.
The blade has a groove on the bottom creating two distinct edges: inside and outside. Judges prefer
that skaters glide on one edge of the blade and not on both at the same time, which is referred to as
a flat edge. During a spin, skaters use the "sweet spot" of the blade, formally called a rocker, which
is the roundest portion of the blade, just behind the pick and near the middle of the blade. Skates
used in single and pair skating have a set of large, jagged teeth called toe picks on the front of the
blade. Toe picks are mainly used for the take-off on jumps. Ice dance blades are an inch shorter in
the rear and have smaller toe picks.
Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level (senior) at local,
regional, national, and international competitions. The International Skating Union (ISU) regulates
international figure skating judging and competitions. These include the Winter Olympics, the World
Championships, the World Junior Championships, the European Championships, the Four
Continents Championships, the Grand Prix series (senior and junior), and the ISU Challenger
Series.
The sport is also associated with show business. Major competitions generally conclude with
exhibition galas, in which the top skaters from each discipline perform non-competitive programs.
Many skaters, both during and after their competitive careers, also skate in ice shows, which run
during the competitive season and the off-season.
Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically
draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and
became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. According to the International Skating
Union (ISU), an ice dance team consists of "one Lady and one Man".[1]:p. 9[note 1]
Before the 2010–11 figure skating season, there were three segments in ice dance competitions:
the compulsory dance (CD), the original dance (OD), and the free dance (FD). In 2010, the ISU
voted to change the competition format by eliminating the CD and the OD and adding the new short
dance (SD) segment to the competition schedule. In 2018, the ISU voted to re-name the SD to
the rhythm dance (RD). Ice dance has required elements that ice dancers must perform during a
competition and that make up a well-balanced skating program. They include: the dance lift, the
dance spin, the step sequence, twizzles, and choreographic elements. They must be performed in
specific ways, as described in published communications by the ISU, unless otherwise specified.
In the early 1900s, ice dancing was primarily a recreational sport in England, Europe, and the United
States. British ice dance teams dominated the sport throughout the 1950s and 1960s, then Soviet
teams up until the 1990s. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was an attempt by ice dancers, their
coaches, and choreographers to move ice dance away from its ballroom origins to more theatrical
performances, but the ISU pushed back by tightening rules and definitions of ice dance to
emphasize its connection to ballroom dancing. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, ice dance lost
much of its integrity as a sport after a series of judging scandals. There were calls to suspend the
sport for a year to deal with the dispute, which seemed to impact ice dance teams from North
America the most. Teams from North America began to dominate the sport starting in the early
2000s.
The ISU publishes violations and their points values yearly. Deductions in ice dance include falls and
interruptions, and violations in time, music, and clothing.
Inline speed skating is the roller sport of racing on inline skates, or as they may be mistakenly be
called, rollerblades. The sport may also be called inline racing by participants. Although it primarily
evolved from racing on traditional roller skates, the sport is similar enough to ice speed skating that
many competitors are known to switch between inline and ice speed skating according to the season
Rink bandy and rinkball are variants of bandy played on significantly smaller ice rinks. While
a bandy rink is about the same size as a football pitch, rink bandy is played on ice hockey rinks.
Rink bandy originated in Sweden in the 1960s and was originally called hockeybockey.[1] With the
arrival of indoor ice hockey arenas, it was a way for bandy players to practice on ice a longer time of
the year; as bandy fields are larger, they were still only made outdoors in the wintertime when
artificial freezing was not necessary.
The game uses a bandy ball and bandy sticks. The goalkeeper has no stick. As in hockey, a game
lasts 60 minutes, but is composed of either two 30 minute halves or three 20 minute periods. Similar
rules to normal bandy are used, but they are simplified to increase the pace of the
game. Checking is prohibited, making the sport relatively safer than its relatives. Because of the
smaller playing area, there are fewer players, normally six a side. In the USA Rink Bandy League,
five players are used because of the smaller ice hockey rinks there
Roller hockey (in British English), rink hockey (in American English) or quad hockey is a team
sport that enjoys significant popularity in a number of Latin countries.
Two five-man teams (four skaters and one goalkeeper) try to drive the ball with their sticks into the
opponents' goal. The ball can only be put in motion by a stick, not the skate, otherwise a foul will be
stated. The game has two 25-minute halves, plus up to two 5-minute periods to settle ties with the
clock stopping when the ball becomes dead.
Players – including the goalie – use quad skates, whereas inline skates are used in inline hockey.
Excessive contact between players is forbidden in rink hockey, unlike inline hockey.
Roller Hockey was a demonstration rollersport in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. There
have been 43 editions of the Roller Hockey World Cup, with Latin countries dominating the sport
since the 1940s: Spain (17 World titles), Portugal (15 World titles), Argentina (5 World titles)
and Italy (4 World titles). Other countries, such
as France, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Andorra and England are regular international competitors,
but rarely overcome the traditional powers.
Roller Hockey is a very fast sport, which may create a problem for TV transmissions, and new rinks
are built using blue or white pavement to make the ball more visible on TV.
Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating counter-
clockwise around a track. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide,
mostly inside the United States.[2]
Game play consists of a series of short match-ups (jams) in which both teams designate a jammer
(who wears a star on the helmet). The jammer scores points by lapping members of the opposing
team. The teams attempt to hinder the opposing jammer while assisting their own jammer—in effect,
playing both offense and defense simultaneously.[3]
While the sport has its origins in the banked-track roller-skating marathons of the 1930s, Leo
Seltzer and Damon Runyon are credited with evolving the sport to its competitive form. Professional
roller derby quickly became popular; in 1940, more than 5 million spectators watched in about 50
American cities. In the ensuing decades, however, it predominantly became a form of sports
entertainment, where theatrical elements overshadowed athleticism. Gratuitous showmanship
largely ended with the sport's grassroots revival in the first decade of the 21st century.[4] Although
roller derby retains some sports entertainment qualities such as player pseudonyms and colorful
uniforms, it has abandoned scripted bouts with predetermined winners.[5]
Modern roller derby is an international sport, mostly played by amateurs. Most teams are all-female
teams, but there is a growing number of male, unisex, and junior roller derby teams. It was under
consideration as a roller sport for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[6][7][8] FIRS, recognized by
the International Olympic Committee as the official international governing body of roller sports,
released its first set of Roller Derby Rules for the World Roller Games that took place September
2017 in Nanjing, China. Most modern leagues (and their back-office volunteers) share a strong "do-
it-yourself" ethic[9] that combines athleticism with the styles of punk and camp.[10] As of 2018,
the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) had 423 full member leagues and 46
apprentice leagues
Short track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple
skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of 111.12 metres
(364.6 ft). The rink itself is 60 metres (200 ft) long by 30 metres (98 ft) wide, which is the same size
as an Olympic-sized figure skating rink and an international-sized ice hockey rink. Short track speed
skating is the sister sport to long track speed skating and the cousin sport to inline speed skating.
Roller hockey /skater hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates.
[1]
 Most professional inline hockey games take place on an indoor or outdoor sport court (a type of
plastic interlinking tiles used to create a skating surface). Otherwise, any dry surface can be used to
host a game, typically a roller rink, macadam, or cement. The term "Roller hockey" is often used
interchangeably to refer to three variant forms chiefly differentiated by the equipment used. There is
traditional "Roller hockey" (Quad hockey, Rink hockey), played with quad skates and a ball (without
contact), "Inline hockey", played with inline skates and puck (without contact) and "Skater hockey",
played with quad skates or inline skates and plastic ball (with contact like ice hockey). Combined,
roller hockey is played in nearly 60 countries worldwide. 
Synchronized skating is a sport where between eight and sixteen figure skaters (depending on the
level) perform together as a team. They move as a flowing unit at high speed over the ice, while
completing complicated footwork.[1] Synchronized skating grew rapidly in the late 20th and early 21st
centuries and today there are approximately 600 synchro teams in the United States alone.
The sport was originally called "precision skating" in North America, because of the emphasis on
maintaining precise formations and timing of the group
Winter sports or winter activities/ snow sportsare competitive sports or non-competitive
recreational activities which are played on snow or ice.[1] Most are variations of skiing, ice
skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold areas during winter,
but artificial snow and artificial ice allow more flexibility. Artificial ice can be used to provide ice
rinks for ice skating, ice hockey, and bandy in a milder climate.
Common individual sports include cross-country skiing, Alpine skiing, snowboarding, ski
jumping, speed skating, figure skating, luge, skeleton, bobsleigh, and snowmobiling. Common team
sports include ice hockey, curling, and bandy. Based on the number of participants, ice hockey is by
far the world's most popular winter sport, followed by bandy.[2] Winter sports have their own multi-
sport tournaments, such as the Winter Olympic Games.
Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six
competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and
include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, drops, steep and flat sections
designed to challenge the riders' ability to stay in control while maintaining maximum speed. It is not
uncommon for racers to collide with each other mid-race.
Snowboard cross courses share common traits with motorcycle motocross courses, hence the
similarity between the names of each sport.
Competition format is typically a time trial followed by a knock-out tournament.
Snowboarding is a recreational activity and Winter Olympic and Paralympic sport that involves
descending a snow-covered slope while standing on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet.
The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It
was developed in the United States in the 1960s, became a Winter Olympic
Sport at Nagano in 1998[1] and first featured in the Winter Paralympics at Sochi in 2014.[2] Its
popularity (as measured by equipment sales) in the United States peaked in 2007 and has been in a
decline since.[3]
Ski flying is a winter sport discipline derived from ski jumping, in which much greater distances can
be achieved. It is a form of competitive Nordic skiing where athletes descend individually at very fast
speeds along a specially designed takeoff ramp using skis only; jump from the end of it with as much
power as they can generate; then glide – or 'fly' – as far as possible down a steeply sloped hill; and
ultimately land within a target zone in a stable manner. Points are awarded for distance and stylistic
merit by five judges, and events are governed by the International Ski Federation (Fédération
Internationale de Ski; FIS).
The rules and scoring in ski flying are mostly the same as they are in ski jumping, and events under
the discipline are usually contested as part of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup season, but the hills
(of which there are only five remaining, all in Europe) are constructed to a different standard in order
to enable jumps of up to 66% longer in distance. There is also a stronger emphasis
on aerodynamics and harnessing the wind, as well as an increased element of danger due to
athletes flying much higher and faster than in ski jumping.
From its beginnings in the 1930s, ski flying has developed its own distinct history and since given
rise to all of the sport's world records. The first hill designed specifically for ski flying was built in
Yugoslavia in 1934, after which both Germany and Austria built their own hills in 1950. This was
followed by Norway in 1966, the United States in 1970, and Czechoslovakia in 1980. From the
1960s to 1980s, a friendly rivalry between the European venues saw world records being set
regularly, together with hill upgrades and evolutions in technique to fly longer distances.
Ski flying remains at its most popular in Norway and Slovenia,[1] where the most recent world records
over the past three decades have been set in front of audiences numbering 30,000–60,000.
Olympic weightlifting, often simply referred to as weightlifting, is an athletic discipline in the
modern Olympic programme in which the athlete attempts a maximum-weight single lift of
a barbell loaded with weight plates.
The two competition lifts in order are the snatch and the clean and jerk. The snatch is a wide-grip,
one-move lift. The clean and jerk is a close-grip, two-move lift. Each weightlifter receives three
attempts in each, and the combined total of the highest two successful lifts determines the overall
result within a bodyweight category. Bodyweight categories are different for male and female
competitors. A lifter who fails to complete at least one successful snatch and one successful clean
and jerk also fails to total, and therefore receives an "incomplete" entry for the competition.
The clean and press was once a competition lift, but was discontinued due to difficulties in judging
proper form.
In comparison with other strength sports, which test limit strength (with or without lifting aids),
weightlifting tests aspects of human ballistic limits (explosive strength); the lifts are therefore
executed faster—and with more mobility and a greater range of motion during their execution—than
other strength movements.
While there are relatively few competitive Olympic weightlifters, the lifts performed in the sport of
weightlifting, and in particular their component lifts (e.g. squats, deadlifts, cleans), are commonly
used by elite athletes in other sports to train for both explosive and functional strength.
Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three
lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete
attempting a maximal weight single lift of a barbell loaded with weight plates. Powerlifting evolved
from a sport known as "odd lifts", which followed the same three-attempt format but used a wider
variety of events, akin to strongman competition. Eventually odd lifts became standardized to the
current three.
In competition, lifts may be performed equipped or un-equipped (typically referred to as 'raw' lifting
or 'classic' in the IPF specifically). Equipment in this context refers to a supportive bench shirt or
squat/deadlift suit or briefs. In some federations, knee wraps are permitted in the equipped but not
un-equipped division; in others, they may be used in both equipped and un-equipped lifting. Weight
belts, knee sleeves, wrist wraps and special footwear may also be used, but are not considered
when distinguishing equipped from un-equipped lifting.[1]
Competitions take place across the world. Powerlifting has been a Paralympic sport (bench
press only) since 1984 and, under the IPF, is also a World Games sport. Local, national and
international competitions have also been sanctioned by other federations operating independently
of the IPF
Rock climbing is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations
or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-
defined route without falling. Due to the length and extended endurance required and because
accidents are more likely to happen on the descent than the ascent, rock climbers do not usually
climb back down the route. It is very rare for a climber to downclimb, especially on the larger
multiple pitches (class III- IV and /or multi-day grades IV-VI climbs). Professional rock climbing
competitions have the objectives of either completing the route in the quickest possible time or
attaining the farthest point on an increasingly difficult route. Scrambling, another activity involving the
scaling of hills and similar formations, is similar to rock climbing. However, rock climbing is
generally differentiated by its sustained use of hands to support the climber's weight as well as to
provide balance.
Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climber's
strength, endurance, agility and balance along with mental control. It can be a dangerous activity
and knowledge of proper climbing techniques and use of specialized climbing equipmentis crucial for
the safe completion of routes. Because of the wide range and variety of rock formations around the
world, rock climbing has been separated into several different styles and sub-disciplines
A thumb war (also called thumb wrestling, pea-knuckle or pea-knuckle war in New Zealand, and
a "Guerre des pouces" in France) is a game played by two players in a tournament called a thumb-
a-war (or thumb war) using the thumbs to simulate fighting.[1] The object of the game is to pin the
opponent's thumb, often to a count of three.[2][3] The San Francisco Chronicle called the game
"the miniature golf of martial sports."[2]
The players face each other and each holds out their left hand or right hand in a "thumbs up",[4] and
they link hands such that each player's fingers curl around the other player's fingers. Gameplay has
several tactics such as "playing possum", aiming for the knuckle rather than the nail for a pin,[3] going
for a quick strike, and waiting for one's opponent to tire.[5] Variations include making the thumbs
"bow", "kiss", or both before warring, and to war with both hands at once; or sneak attacks, which
involve using your pointer finger to take over the opponent.[6]Players may also engage in Rabbit Hole
maneuver to escape imminent defeat. Players may not use any of the fingers except the thumb to
pin down their opponent’s thumb. This is when you duck your thumb down into your palm. These
additions are optional and do not need to be included into the rules of play.
The game is typically initiated with both the players uttering the rhyme "One, two, three, four, I
declare a thumb war", passing their thumbs over each other in time with this rhyme.[7] The rhyme is
sometimes extended with "Five, six, seven, eight, try to keep your thumb straight." or "Five, six,
seven, eight. This should be a piece of cake." [8] A regional variation in Boston is “five, six, seven,
eight, open up the battle gate.” In South America, the starting song is "ésta es la pulseada china"
("this is the Chinese arm wrestling"), with the same thumb dance as in English.

U.S. Marine playing thumb war with a local boy in Afghanistan

Competitive matches on thumb wrestling have been held on Long Island[9] and at Lowestoft.
[10]
 The 826 Valencia Foundation holds an annual thumb-wrestling competition, which has been won
three times by San Francisco Chronicle book editor Oscar Villalon.[11] There is no leaning nor tilting
when thumb wrestling.
Toe wrestling is a sport involving two opponents who lock feet and attempt to pin each other's foot
down with no time limit similar to arm wrestling.
Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport
that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope,
with the goal being to bring the rope a certain distance in one direction against the force of the
opposing team's pull.
Wood splitting (riving,[1] cleaving) is an ancient technique used in carpentry to make lumber for
making wooden objects, some basket weaving, and to make firewood. Unlike wood sawing, the
wood is split along the grain using tools such as a hammer and wedges, splitting maul, cleaving
axe, side knife, or froe.
Air hockey is a game where two players play against each other on a low-friction table. Air hockey
requires an air-hockey table, two player-held strikers, and a puck.
Air Hockey table has very smooth and slippery surface which reduces friction by suspending the
puck on cushion of air, so that this its motion is much less altered by friction, causing it to glide in a
straight line at relatively constant velocity across the table
Backgammon is one of the oldest known board games. Its history can be traced back nearly 5,000
years to archeological discoveries in the Middle East, originally in Iran (Persia).[1][2] It is a two player
game where each player has fifteen pieces (checkers) which move between twenty-four triangles
(points) according to the roll of two dice. The objective of the game is to be first to bear off, i.e. move
all fifteen checkers off the board. Backgammon is a member of the tables family, one of the oldest
classes of board games.
Backgammon involves a combination of strategy and luck (from rolling dice). While the dice may
determine the outcome of a single game, the better player will accumulate the better record over
series of many games, somewhat like poker.[3] With each roll of the dice, players must choose from
numerous options for moving their checkers and anticipate possible counter-moves by the opponent.
The optional use of a doubling cube allows players to raise the stakes during the game.
Like chess, backgammon has been studied with great interest by computer scientists. Owing to this
research, backgammon software has been developed that is capable of beating world-class human
players (see TD-Gammon for an example)
Beer pong, also known as Beirut, is a drinking game in which players throw a ping pong ball across
a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup of beer on the other end. The game typically
consists of opposing teams of two or more players per side with 6 or 10 cups set up in a triangle
formation on each side.[1] Each team then takes turns attempting to shoot ping pong balls into the
opponent's cups. If a ball lands in a cup (known as a 'make'), the contents of that cup are consumed
by the other team and the cup is removed from the table. The first team to eliminate all of the
opponent's cups is the winner.
Connect Four (also known as Captain's Mistress, Four Up, Plot Four, Find Four, Four in a
Row, Four in a Line, Drop Four, andGravitrips (in Soviet Union)) is a two-player connection
game in which the players first choose a color and then take turns dropping one colored disc from
the top into a seven-column, six-row vertically suspended grid. The pieces fall straight down,
occupying the lowest available space within the column. The objective of the game is to be the first
to form a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of four of one's own discs. Connect Four is
a solved game. The first player can always win by playing the right moves.
The game was first sold under the Connect Four trademark[3] by Milton Bradley in February 1974.
Cue sports (sometimes written cuesports), also known as billiard sports,[1][2] are a wide variety
of games of skill generally played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby
cause them to move around a cloth-covered billiards tablebounded by elastic bumpers known
as cushions.
Historically, the umbrella term was billiards. While that familiar name is still employed by some as a
generic label for all such games, the word's usage has splintered into more exclusive competing
meanings in various parts of the world. For example, in British and Australian English, "billiards"
usually refers exclusively to the game of English billiards, while in American and Canadian English it
is sometimes used to refer to a particular game or class of games, or to all cue games in general,
depending upon dialectand context. In colloquial usage, the term "billiards" may be used colloquially
to refer to pocket billiards games, such as pool, snooker, or Russian pyramid.
There are 3 major subdivisions of games within cue sports:

 Carom billiards, referring to games played on tables without pockets, typically 10 feet in length,
including balkline and straight rail, cushion caroms, three-cushion billiards, artistic
billiards and four-ball
 Pool, covering numerous pocket billiards games generally played on six-pocket tables of 7-, 8-,
or 9-foot length, including among others eight-ball (the world's most widely played cue
sport), nine-ball (the dominant professional game), ten-ball, straight pool (the formerly dominant
pro game), one-pocket, and bank pool
 Snooker, English billiards and Russian pyramid, games played on a billiards table with six
pockets called a snooker table (which has dimensions just under 12 ft by 6 ft), all of which are
classified entirely separately from pool based on a separate historical development, as well as a
separate culture and terminology that characterize their play.
There are other variants that make use of obstacles and targets, and table-top games played with
disks instead of balls.
Billiards has a long and rich history stretching from its inception in the 15th century, to the wrapping
of the body of Mary, Queen of Scots, in her billiard table cover in 1586, through its many mentions in
the works of Shakespeare, including the famous line "let's to billiards" in Antony and
Cleopatra (1606–07), and through the many famous enthusiasts of the sport such as: Mozart, Louis
XIV of France, Marie Antoinette, Immanuel Kant, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, George
Washington, French president Jules Grévy, Charles Dickens, George Armstrong Custer, Theodore
Roosevelt, Lewis Carroll, W.C. Fields, Babe Ruth, Bob Hope, and Jackie Gleason.
Draughts (British English) or checkers[1] (American English) is a group of strategy board games for
two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by
jumping over opponent pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque.[2] The name derives from the
verb to draw or to move.[3]
The most popular forms are English draughts, also called American checkers, played on an
8×8 checkerboard; Russian draughts, also played on an 8×8, and international draughts, played on
a 10×10 board. There are many other variants played on 8×8 boards. Canadian checkers and
Singaporean/Malaysian checkers (also locally known as dum) are played on a 12×12 board.
The 8×8 variant of draughts was weakly solved in 2007 by the team of Canadian computer
scientist Jonathan Schaeffer. From the standard starting position, both players can guarantee a draw
with perfect play.
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with rectangular "domino" tiles. Each domino is a
rectangular tile with a line dividing its face into two square ends. Each end is marked with a number
of spots (also called pips, nips, or dobs) or is blank. The backs of the dominoes in a set are
indistinguishable, either blank or having some common design. The domino gaming pieces make up
a domino set, sometimes called a deck or pack. The traditional Sino-European domino set consists
of 28 dominoes, featuring all combinations of spot counts between zero and six. A domino set is a
generic gaming device, similar to playing cards or dice, in that a variety of games can be played with
a set.
The earliest mention of dominoes is from Song dynasty China found in the text Former Events in
Wulin by Zhou Mi (1232–1298).[1]Modern dominoes first appeared in Italy during the 18th century, but
how Chinese dominoes developed into the modern game is unknown. Italian missionaries in China
may have brought the game to Europe.[2]
The name "domino" is most likely from the resemblance to a kind of carnival costume worn during
the Venetian Carnival, often consisting of a black-hooded robe and a white mask.[3][4] Despite the
coinage of the word polyomino as a generalization, there is no connection between the word
"domino" and the number 2 in any language.
Headis is a mix of table tennis and the heading of association football. It is played at a regular table
tennis table so it combines tactical elements of table tennis and the legwork of tennis. In summer
2016 the 11th Headis World Championship was held with players from twelve countries
Janggi (including romanizations changgi and jangki), sometimes called Korean chess, is
a strategy board game popular in Korea. The game derived from xiangqi (Chinese chess) and is
very similar to it, including the starting position of the pieces, and the 9×10 gameboard, but without
the xiangqi "river" dividing the board horizontally in the middle.
Janggi is played on a board nine lines wide by ten lines long. The game is sometimes fast paced
due to the jumping cannons and the long-range elephants, but professional games most often last
over 150 moves and so are typically slower than those of Western chess.
In 2009, the first world janggi tournament was held in Harbin, People's Republic of China
Mahjong (/mɑːˈdʒɒŋ/ mah-JONG, Mandarin: [mǎ.tɕjâŋ]) is a tile-based game that was developed
in China during the Qing dynasty and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century.
It is commonly played by four players (with some three-player variations found in Japan, South
Korea and Southeast Asia). The game and its regional variants are widely played throughout
Eastern and South Eastern Asia and have become popular in Western countries too. The game has
also been adapted into a widespread online entertainment.[1][2][3][4] Similar to the Western card
game rummy, Mahjong is a game of skill, strategy, and calculation and involves a degree of chance.
The game is played with a set of 144 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols, although
some regional variations may omit some tiles or add unique tiles. In most variations, each player
begins by receiving 13 tiles. In turn players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand
using the 14th drawn tile to form 4 melds (or sets) and a pair (eye). A player can also win with a
small class of special hands. There are fairly standard rules about how a piece is drawn, how a
piece is robbed from another player, the use of simples (numbered tiles) and honors (winds and
dragons), the kinds of melds allowed, how to deal the tiles and the order of play. Despite these
similarities, there are many regional variations to the rules including rather different scoring systems,
criteria for legal winning hands and even private table rules which distinguish some variations as
notably different styles of mahjong.
Reversi is a strategy board game for two players, played on an 8×8 uncheckered board. There are
sixty-four identical game pieces called disks (often spelled "discs"), which are light on one side and
dark on the other. Players take turns placing disks on the board with their assigned color facing up.
During a play, any disks of the opponent's color that are in a straight line and bounded by the disk
just placed and another disk of the current player's color are turned over to the current player's color.
The object of the game is to have the majority of disks turned to display your color when the last
playable empty square is filled.
Reversi was most recently marketed by Mattel under the trademark Othello.
Shogi (将棋 shōgi) (/ˈʃoʊɡiː/, [ɕo̞ːŋi]), also known as Japanese chess or the Game of Generals, is a
two-player strategy board game native to Japan in the same family
as chess, makruk, shatranj, janggi and xiangqi, and is the most popular chess variantin
Japan. Shōgi means general's (shō 将) board game (gi 棋).
Shogi was the earliest chess variant to allow captured pieces to be returned to the board by the
capturing player.[1] This drop rule is speculated to have been invented in the 15th century and
possibly connected to the practice of 15th century mercenariesswitching loyalties when captured
instead of being killed.[2]
The earliest predecessor of the game, chaturanga, originated in India in the 6th century. Shogi in its
present form was played as early as the 16th century, while a direct ancestor without the drop rule
was recorded from 1210 in a historical document Nichūreki, which is an edited copy
of Shōchūreki and Kaichūreki from the late Heian period (c. 1120).
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles bearing a single
letter onto a board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that,
in crossword fashion, read left to right in rows or downward in columns, and be included in a
standard dictionary or lexicon.
The name is a trademark of Mattel in most of the world, but of Hasbro, Inc. in the United States and
Canada. The game is sold in 121 countries and is available in 29 languages; approximately 150
million sets have been sold worldwide and roughly one-third of American and half of British homes
have a Scrabble set.[1][2][3][4] There are around 4,000 Scrabble clubs around the world

Target sports[edit]
Sports where the main objective is to hit a certain target.
Archery is the art, sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.[1] The word comes from
the Latin arcus. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is
mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. A person who participates in archery is typically
called an archer or a bowman, and a person who is fond of or an expert at archery is sometimes
called a toxophilite
Axe throwing is a sport in which the competitor throws an axe at a target, attempting to hit the bulls
eye as near as possible. Axe throwing is an event in most lumberjack competitions. Today there are
commercial locations in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom where participants can
compete, similar to dart throwing, as well as opportunities at festivals and some theme parks.
Bocce (/boʊtʃi/), sometimes anglicized as bocci[1][2][3] or boccie,[4][5] is a ball sport belonging to
the boules family, closely related to British bowls and French pétanque, with a common ancestry
from ancient games played in the Roman Empire. Developed into its present form in Italy[6] (where it
is called bocce, the plural of the Italian word boccia which means 'bowl' in the sport sense),[7] it is
played around Europe and also in overseas areas that have received Italian migrants,
including Australia, North America, and South America (where it is known as bochas, or bolas
criollas ('Criollo balls') in Venezuela, bocha in Brazil). Bocce was initially played among the Italian
migrants but has slowly become more popular with their descendants and the wider community.
The sport is also very popular on the eastern side of the Adriatic, especially
in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the sport is known in Serbo-
Croatian as boćanje ('playing boće') or balote (colloquially also bućanje).[8][9][10] In Slovenia the sport is
known as balinanje[11] or colloquially 'playing boče', or bale (from Italian bocce and Venetian bałe,
meaning 'balls')
Bocce volo ("flying boules"), or boule lyonnaise ("Lyonnais boules"), is a boules-type game.
In bocce volo, the balls are thrown overhand (palm down) and are metal.[1] In standard bocce, the
wooden or plastic balls are tossed underhand (palm up) and rolled.
Volo, as it is called for short by the Italians, derives its name from the Italian verb volare meaning 'to
fly', and refers to the technique of throwing a ball through the air in an attempt to knock away an
opponent's ball.
Bocce volo is similar to pétanque in that the ball is thrown rather than rolled or bowled. It is similar to
traditional bocce (and different from pétanque) in that the ball is delivered with a run-up.
A volo players' run-up is athletic, even theatrical, as in jeu provençal
Boccia (/ˈbɒtʃə/ BOTCH-ə) is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related
to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – bottia.[1] The
sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes with severe physical
disabilities. It was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes
athletes with other severe disabilities affecting motor skills. In 1984, it became a Paralympic sport,
and in 2008 was being practised in over fifty countries worldwide.[2] Boccia is governed by the Boccia
International Sports Federation (BISFed) and is one of only two Paralympic sports (along
with goalball) that have no counterpart in the Olympic program.
Boules (French pronunciation: [bul]) is a collective name for a wide range of games similar
to bowls and bocce (In French: jeu or jeux, in Italian: gioco or giochi) in which the objective is to
throw or roll heavy balls (called boules in France, and bocce in Italy) as close as possible to a small
target ball.
Boules-type games are traditional and popular in many European countries and are also popular in
some former French colonies in Africa and Asia. Boules games are often played in open spaces
(town squares and parks) in villages and towns. Dedicated playing areas for boules-type games are
typically large, level, rectangular courts made of flattened earth, gravel, or crushed stone, enclosed
in wooden rails or back boards.
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls or throws a bowling
ball toward pins or another target.
In pin bowling, the goal is to knock over pins at the end of a lane, with either two or three balls per
frame allowed to knock down all pins. A strike is achieved when all the pins are knocked down on
the first roll, and a spare is achieved all the pins are knocked over on a second roll.
Lanes have wood or synthetic surfaces onto which protective lubricating oil is applied in different
specified oil patterns that vary ball path characteristics. Common types of pin bowling include ten-
pin, candlepin, duckpin, nine-pin, and five-pin bowling.
In target bowling, the aim is usually to get the ball as close to a mark as possible. The surface in
target bowling may be grass, gravel, or synthetic.[1] Bowls, skittles, kegel, bocce, carpet
bowls, pétanque, and boules may have both indoor and outdoor varieties.
Bowling is played by 100 million people in more than 90 countries (including 70 million in the United
States),[2] and is the subject of video games.
In the U.S. and Canada, the term bowling usually refers to ten-pin bowling, whereas in the U.K. and
Commonwealth countries the term often denotes lawn bowls.
Calva is a traditional sport played in certain parts of Spain. It has roots going back to pre-Roman
times, being developed by the Celtiberianswho lived in the modern-day provinces
of Ávila, Salamanca, and Zamora. It was a game for shepherds, who threw stones at bull's horns to
entertain themselves. With the passing of time, the game was modified: a piece of wood (the calva)
came to be substituted for the horn, and the stone was replaced with a cylinder of iron or steel
(the marro). The name of calva was derived from the field in which the game came to be played,
which was free of obstacles and rocks.
Today the sport is practiced mainly in Castile, Salamanca, Zamora, and Biscay, although also
in Madrid, Barcelona, Plasencia and Navarre.
Darts is a sport in which small missiles are thrown at a circular target ("dartboard") fixed to a wall.
[2]
 Though various boards and rules have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers
to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules. As well as being a
professional competitive game, darts is a traditional pub game, commonly played in the United
Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, across the Commonwealth,
the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the Scandinaviancountries, the United States, Australia and
elsewhere.
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes
on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not utilize a standardized playing area, and coping
with the varied terrains encountered on different courses is a key part of the game. The game at
the usual level is played on a course with an arranged progression of 18 holes, though
recreational courses can be smaller, often having 9 holes. Each hole on the course must contain
a tee box to start from, and a putting green containing the actual hole or cup (4.25 inches in
diameter). There are other standard forms of terrain in between, such as the fairway, rough (long
grass), bunkers (or "sand traps"), and various hazards (water, rocks) but each hole on a course is
unique in its specific layout and arrangement.
Golf is played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known as stroke play, or the
lowest score on the most individual holes in a complete round by an individual or team, known
as match play. Stroke play is the most commonly seen format at all levels, but most especially at
the elite level.
The modern game of golf originated in 15th century Scotland. The 18-hole round was created at
the Old Course at St Andrewsin 1764. Golf's first major, and the world's oldest tournament in
existence, is The Open Championship, also known as the British Open, which was first played in
1860 in Ayrshire, Scotland. This is one of the four major championships in men's professional
golf, the other three being played in the United States: The Masters, the U.S. Open, and the PGA
Championship.

Horseshoes is a lawn game played between two people (or two teams of two people) using
four horseshoes and two throwing targets (stakes) set in a lawn or sandbox area. The game is
played by the players alternating turns tossing horseshoes at stakes in the ground, which are
traditionally placed 40 feet (12 m) apart. Modern games use a more stylized U-shaped bar, about
twice the size of an actual horseshoe.
Knife throwing is an art, sport, combat skill, or variously an entertainment technique, involving
an artist skilled in the art of throwing knives, the weapons thrown, and a target.
Kubb (Swedish pronunciation: [kubː]) is a lawn game where the objective is to knock over wooden
blocks (kubbs) by throwing wooden batons (kastpinnar) at them. Kubb can be described as a
combination of bowling and horseshoes. Play takes place on a small rectangular playing field, known
as a "pitch". "Kubbs" are placed at both ends of the pitch, and the "king", a larger wooden block, is
placed in the middle of the pitch. Some rules vary from country to country and from region to region,
but the ultimate objective of the game is to knock over the "kubbs" on the opposing side of the pitch,
and then to knock over the "king", before the opponent does. Games can last from five minutes to
well over an hour. The game can be played on a variety of surfaces such as grass, sand, concrete,
snow, or even ice.
The alleged Viking origin of the game has led some players and kubb fans to nickname the game
“Viking chess
Mölkky (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈmølkky]) is a Finnish throwing game invented by Lahden Paikka
company (formerly known as Tuoterengas) in 1996. It is reminiscent of kyykkä, a centuries-old
throwing game with Karelian roots. However, mölkky does not require as much physical strength as
kyykkä, and is more suitable for everyone regardless of age and condition. Mölkky requires no
special equipment and success is based on a combination of chance and skill. Lahden Paikka has
sold nearly 200,000 sets in Finland. Tactic owns the Mölkky-trademark.
Pétanque (French pronunciation: [petɑ̃k]; Occitan: petanca [peˈtaŋkɔ]) is a sport that falls into the
category of boules sports, along with raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, lawn bowls and crown green
bowling. All of these sports share something in common, in that players or teams play their
boules/balls towards a target ball.
In Pétanque the objective is to score points by having boules closer to the target than your opponent
after all boules have been thrown. This is achieved by projecting boules closer to the target, called a
cochonnet,[1] or by hitting the opponents' boules away from the target, while standing inside a circle
with both feet on the ground.
The game is normally played on hard dirt or gravel. It can be played in public areas in parks, or in
dedicated facilities called boulodromes.
Pétanque players on the beach in Nice

The current form of the game originated in 1907 or 1910 in La Ciotat, in Provence, France. The
French name pétanque (borrowed into English, with or without the acute accent) comes
from petanca in the Provençal dialect of the Occitan language, deriving from the expression pès
tancats [ˈpɛs taŋˈkats], meaning 'feet fixed' or 'feet planted' (on the ground).[
Pitch and putt is an amateur sport very similar to golf but where the hole length is typically up to 90
metres (100 yd)[1]. Ring-goal, a sport for two persons played on a ground, or indoor rink, 78 ft (24 m)
long by 10 ft (3.0 m) wide, with a ring of split cane about 7.5 in. in diameter and weighing about 3.5
oz., which is propelled in the air by means of two sticks, resembling miniature billiard-cues, which
are held inside the ring. The goals consist of two uprights 8 ft (2.4 m). high and 10 ft (3.0 m). apart,
from which a net is stretched on an incline, so that its base will be a few feet behind the goal-line,
and the object of the game is to drive the ring into these goals, each goal made scoring one point.
The ring must be propelled by the server and caught by his opponent, on one or both of his sticks, if
he can, and so returned alternately, and a point is scored for either player if it be stopped by his
opponent in any other manner. A point is also scored for the receiver if the server, who begins the
game, throw the ring so that it falls to the ground before the receiver can catch it between
the creases, which are lines drawn across the court 6 ft (1.8 m). from the goal-lines, or the ring be
driven out of court. Eleven points constitute a game.[1]
Ring-goal was invented by an undergraduate of Keble College, Oxford in about 1885, and was
played at Oxford, but without attracting wide popularity.
Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as
a gun, slingshot, crossbow, or bow. Even the acts of
launching/discharging artillery, darts, grenades, rockets and guided missiles can be considered acts
of shooting. When using a firearm, the act of shooting is often called firing as it involves initiating a
combustion process (deflagration).
Shooting can take place in a shooting range or in the field, in shooting sports, hunting or in combat.
The person involved in the shooting activity is called a shooter. A skilled, accurate shooter is
a marksman or sharpshooter, and a person's level of shooting proficiency is referred to as
his/her marksmanship.
Tournament Of Knights (Swedish Riddarspelet, literally The knight game) is a game of physical
skill, in which players toss wooden balls firstly into a triangle area, then knock down blocks in order.
The game was invented in 2001 by Micael Hellberg, Sweden, and is manufactured by Bex Sport AB
in Höganäs