TRADITIONAL SPORTS

Hello ladies and gents this is the viking telling you that today we are talking about

POLAND

As the time passed by, almost every traditional Polish sport was forgotten. Nowadays there are only some small villages where people still play games such as palant, kapela, kulanie kulotka, pierścieniówka or ringo. These are the sports that aren't totally forgotten and weren't replaced by other types of sport more characteristic of our times.

Palant

The history of this sport begins in the Middle Ages. In the 19th century the interest in "palant" increased, and so some competitions were held. This sport was so popular that the Polski Związek Piłki Palantowej (Polish Organisation of Palant Ball) was founded. Unfortunately, this organisation didn't last long. It was transformed into Polski Związek Baseballu i Softballu (Polish Organisation of Baseball and Softball). Palant is quite similar to baseball. You also hit the ball with a bat whose name is "palant". After you hit the ball you have to run to the finish line and then back to the "nest". The task for the opposite team is to hit the running player with the ball. Now "palant" is played in the village of Grabów (near Łódź), where the title "King of palant" has only positive connotations. (In Polish palant also means a fool, dumbass).

Kapela

This folk sport was played till the beginning of the Second World War. The idea of the game was to hit kapela (a small pyramid made from some stones) with a stone. This sport was mostly played by herdsmen.

Kulanie kulotka

This folk game was played in a village called Bukówiec Górny. Players had to roll kulotko (a wooden disk) with a wooden stick in the shape of a board. The task was to toss the kulotko across the finish line of opposite team.

Pierścieniówka

This game was created in 1936 in Poland. It is similar to volleyball, but the net here has 3 holes (pierścienie). You don't throw the ball over the net, but through those holes, and it's only acceptable,when you do it using two hands. This game isn't popular, but it's really easy to play, so everyone can enjoy it. This game is played in 4-player teams.

Ringo

This game was invented by Włodzimierz Strzyżewski, a Polish fencer and journalist, who demonstrated how to play the game while he was covering the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Ringo is played on a rectangular court with a raised net, similar to volleyball or badminton. Individual players or teams stand on opposite sides of the net and throw a small rubber ring back and forth, without letting it hit the ground. When it is played one by one, then there is only one ring, when more - two. The winner of the game is the person/team that will first score 15 points. To score a point the ring has to hit the floor on the opponent's side. Players can catch the ring with both left and right hands, but they have to throw it with the same hand they caught it with. With the ring in hand the player can make four steps, then he or she has to throw it. You lose a point when:

• you touch the ring with some other part of the body than a hand,

• the ring hits the net and falls on your side,

• you change the hand in which you held the ring,

• you throw the ring with both your feet in the air,

• you throw the ring in an inappropriate way.

And as always have a chilled day from the viking.