Lately I happened to come across another piece of evidence that our British friends simply have a wonderful – but sometimes bizarre – sense of humour. Apparently they are not afraid of self-mutilation and pain either.
It’s about an English martial art:
Shin-kicking
In fact, competitors from all over England meet once a year in the English town of Chipping Campden (Gloucestershire) to find out who will win the popular championship title in this particular discipline and take home the silver trophy. Sometimes they even come from other parts of the world to challenge the local matadors.
The aim is to bring the opponent down with well-directed kicks against the shinbone – and that is the only rule of this sport. Because even if the opponent goes to the ground less because of the kicks and more because of the pulling and dragging at his collar, this is still regarded as a victory and not as a foul or unfair action. The most important thing here is probably endurance – and of course pain tolerance. 😉
Obvious – there’s nothing better to do than that…
Shin-kicking was born in the early 17th century as part of local competitions, the “Cotsworld Olimpick Games”, and was also a popular pastime among shepherds and mountaineers. Really FIBER!
But enough talking – I think I’d rather let the pictures speak:
P.S. All right, the thing with the self-mutilation was perhaps a little exaggerated… In truth, the participants are allowed to pad their shins with straw.
Those wimps! 😀
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