The Nine Most Unusual Popular Sports in the World

Football, soccer, basketball, baseball—these mainstream sports attract the most interest. However, there is more to sports than just hitting a ball with a stick or throwing something at someone.

Here's just a few of the most unusual popular sports...

 

1. Extreme Ironing

http://www.goextremeironing.com/

I don't know about you, but I hate ironing. It's so boring. For all you adrenaline junkies out there, there is a way to get your blood pumping while you iron. It's called extreme ironing.

All you have to do is find the craziest way to iron your clothes. If that means ironing across a canyon or while jumping off a cliff, then so be it. As it says on goextremeironing.com, "...we just don't put our lives in danger we risk our laundry to."

Think you can iron your shirt while parachuting?

 

2. Wife Carrying

Husbands, have no fear. There is a sport which you and your wife can do together—wife carrying.

Originally began in Finland as a joke, the sport has become a sport that attracts many. It seems to becoming very popular in the United States with at least three major competitions a year.

 

3. Shin Kicking

Any sport, mainstream or not, can be considered useless. However, there is one sport that is absolutely useless but fun: shin kicking.

The point of this sport is to kick your opponent so hard with your shin, that they will fall down or you can throw them down. Talk about ruthlessness. I don't recommend wearing steel-tipped boots, unless you really want to hurt someone.

 

4. Chess Boxing

http://www.chessboxing.com/

According to Wikipedia, chess boxing is "a hybrid sport which combines the sport of boxing with games of chess." Sounds simple enough. Get a guy in checkmate, then go beat him to a pulp and repeat.

This sport is mostly popular in Europe, but it is gaining world-wide recognition. The sport gains its inspiration from a graphic novel called, Froid Équateur.

 

5. Zorbing

http://www.zorb.co.nz/

Wanna feel like a hamster? Then zorbing is the perfect sport for you.

According to the official website of the Zorb Ball, “Zorb is the sport of rolling down a hill inside a giant inflatable ball and where New Zealand once again leads the world in stupid things to do while you’re on a vacation.” Sounds fun. I didn't realize that New Zealand was the world leader on stupid things to do while on vacation.

The zorbs can hold as many as three people, making it a great way to battle against rival families.

 

6. Buzkashi

http://www.afghan-web.com/sports/buzkashi.html

Buzkashi is so popular, that it's a national sport—for Afghanistan.

The aim is to seize a medium-sized decapitated animal (generally a goat, sheep, or calf), ride around a series of obstacles and deposit it in a circle. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, it might not be once you have literally hundreds of guys on horses trying to do the same thing.

Did I mention there's only one decapitated animal? Horses, hundreds of men, a dead animal—sounds like a great time.

 

7. Cheese Rolling

http://www.cheese-rolling.co.uk/

The rules are very simple: Someone throws a cheese wheel down the hill, and hundreds of people stampede after it. The first person who gets the cheese and crosses the finish line gets to keep the cheese. It's really just a Western version of buzkashi.

The biggest event is the annual The Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake held in England. I'm not too sure I want cheese that has been thrown down a hill though.

 

8. Catfish Grabbling

http://www.catfishgrabblers.com/

According to the website, grabbling is "the art of fishing with hands." To get started, all you need is a swimsuit and the ability to wrestle in the water trying to get the catfish if possible.

Don't worry—most of the time they catch and release.

 

9. Cell Phone Toss

"Why I hate this frik'n phone! Die Nokia!"

Have you ever just wanted to chuck your phone out of anger? I have. Chucking phones has a way of making you happy.

Every so often, people meet up and have chucking competitions. At the Seventh International Mobile Throwing World Championship, the winner chucked a phone 89 meters (or 97 yards).

That's a lot of frustration.

 

If you want to nominate any other unusual sport, let me know in a comment.