Courtesy of a link at Dark Roasted Blend, I was interested to find this video of the Japanese sport Bo-taoshi. Wikipedia describes it thus:
The game played by cadets at the National Defense Academy of Japan traditionally on its anniversary is famous for its size, wherein two teams of 150 individuals each vie for control of a single large pole. Each team is split into two groups of 75 attackers and 75 defenders. The defenders begin in a defensive orientation respective to their own pole, while the attackers assume position some measure away from the other team's pole. A team is victorious if it is able to lower the pole of the opposing team (which begins perpendicular to the ground) to a thirty-degree angle (respective to the ground), before the other team reaches this goal. Until a rule-change in 1973, the angle of victory was only forty-five degrees.
It certainly looks like a license to fold, spindle and mutilate everyone in sight!
Peter
You could improve the experience by dusting off Gary Cohn's old Moopsball rules.
ReplyDeletehttp://eblong.com/zarf/moopsball/index.html
Now, THAT looks like fun.
Looks like a variation on Marine Corps "Murderball" - American-rules football, but with no pads, and no rules (I recall that I "called a penalty" on a guy from 1st Platoon for "offensive holding" with a couple of right hooks...)
ReplyDeleteLooking back, I'm astonished that we didn't manage to kill each other in those games, and I suspect there are some former JSDF cadets thinking the same thing...
Banzai Capture the Flag?
ReplyDeleteSomebody forgot to explain that rugby at least starts out with a ball.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how this effects the cadets' impression of using a full frontal assault? (Seems to be a cultural icon with the Japanese military, doesn't it?)
stay safe.