10 Unusual Sports You’ll Want To Try Out… Or Not!

How many sports can you list off the top of your head? Ten, fifteen, twenty? Maybe even more? As a sports lover, you may think that you’re familiar with all the sports out there, but today we’ll show you 10 unusual sports you probably never heard of.

Headis

Headis is, as the name implies, just like tennis (in this case, table tennis) – but played with the player’s head instead of a racket. Table tennis can be a rather demanding sport (despite possibly seeming easy to play) but headis most certainly takes it up a notch. It’s obvious that players need to pay great attention to their neck muscles and that any possible injuries can be very painful. Also, notice how many players use the word “head” in their names!

Onbashira

You used to love sledding when you were a kid, but you also enjoy extreme sports? We have a sport that seems just right for you! Onbashira is a traditional Japanese festival that consists of riding a log down a hill. The festival occurs once in 6 years, and its main purpose is linked to a symbolic renewal of shrines located near the Japanese lake Suwa. However, given the adrenalin rush it surely gives to its participants, and its similarity to extreme sports, today you can find it featured in “top 10 crazy sports” listicles online, such as this one.

Office chair race

If climbing up the corporate ladder is less fun than you expected, here’s a more entertaining workplace activity – office chair racing. With this sport that originated in Germany and spread to many countries in the last few years, even the lazy couch potatoes can hope to become athletes. And they can do it from the comfort of their own chair! On top of it all, it seems like a great idea for a team building activity.

Toe-wrestling

Because arm wrestling is just too mainstream! We just have one question to ask regarding this sport – if a contestant has foot fungus, does it count as doping? Either way, let’s all just take a moment to appreciate how female contestants pay special attention to their pedicure. Their nail polish game is spot on!

Chessboxing

You know the prejudice about chess players being nerdy, and nerds being weak? You also know the prejudice about boxers not being too bright because of all the blows they got in the head? Here comes a sport that will crush that prejudice with a knock-out… or with a check-mate, whatever you prefer! How is it all achieved? Fairly simple really – the players compete in alternate rounds, first in chess and then in boxing, totaling 11 rounds altogether. Yes, indeed it’s a sport that cultivates both the physical strength and the brain cells of its players.

Cheese rolling

How much do you love cheese? What would you be willing to do for cheese? Would you run after it down a steep hill, along with dozens of other participants, and risk injuring yourself? If your answer is no, you surely don’t love cheese as much as the participants of the cheese rolling race which takes place in UK once a year. As you can see, it may seem entertainting for the spectator, but it’s rather risky for the participants. Is there a special type of cheese for which you’d be willing to do this?

Do you think it would be hilarious to see this gif in reverse? Say no more, we got you covered:

Unicycle hockey

The creators of unicycle hockey probably thought that riding a unicycle was just too easy, so they decided to spice it up a little bit. While this unusual sport may be too hard for most of us to master, we must admit that it’s very interesting to watch! Given how much training and skill it requires to be played this well, it’s a shame it’s not more popular – these players surely deserve more recognition.

Shin kicking

Don’t you just hate it when you walk though the dark room in the middle of the night and you smash your shin against a piece of furniture? If you answered this question with “No, I in fact very much enjoy the feeling” we found a sport that’s made for you! This English folk sport, also known as purring, is in fact centuries old, some historians even claim it originated well before the 16th century. If there were so many people throughout the centuries who were willing to practice this discipline, we can only assume that getting hit in the shin is not as universally hated as previously thought. By the way, does anyone know – why are all the players wearing white shirts? If there are any professional shin kickers in the audience, we’d love to hear from you!

Extreme ironing

If extreme ironing was all about forgetting whether or not we turned off the iron before leaving the house (so we get the adrenaline rush from rushing back home to check), this sport wouldn’t be so uncommon. However, it revolves around an entirely different thing – going to the most extreme places you can think of, and ironing there. Top of the mountin, bottom of the sea, in the air while parachuting – it seems that these gentlemen have done it all! And to all the ladies who complain that their husbands won’t help out around the house – it seems that it would be enough to place the word “extreme” in front of the chore, and he’ll climb the highest mountain to do it. 🙂

Wife carrying

This sport comes from Finland, and as the name says, the concept is very simple – it’s a race in which husbands have to carry their wives. According to the rules, the track is 253.5 metres long and at the end of the race, the prize for the winner is – the wife’s weight in beer! So, should you decide to participate in this race with your wife, and you notice she has gained a little weight and you wonder will this make it harder for you to carry her, fear not! It only means more beer for you in the end if you win. And even if you don’t win, don’t worry, because one of the wife carrying rules is also that all participants must enjoy themselves!

And how about you, which one of these unusual sports do you prefer? Would you rather take part in extreme ironing, or participate in an office chair race?  Is there a sport discipline mentioned here that you particularly dislike?