Most of the sporting activities, as we have come to know them today, developed into their present form in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries since many take origin from the more primitive ancient sports and pastimes. While it seem quite difficult to say, with accuracy; if the case is true for ALL sports, it is usually thought that sprinting, boxing and wrestling, which all had links with warfare, entertainment and rituals, were the first sport ever indulged in. There were also some sports that were developed out of early means of transportation such as horse race and its likes. More often than not, sporting activities can be seen from competitions in earlier military trainings (which still persist until this day) which were used to ascertain the level of physical fitness of individual soldier.
The first ever Olympic game occurred in the year 776BC where games such as archery. marathon. javelin (throwing of spears), discus, shot put were all contested. A soccer type game was said to have originated between secon and third century BC (Han Dynasty) in the form of "Tsu Chu" where a leather stuffed with fur was kicked around by the players. No form of goal post was known nor was any rule that guide the game play was reported except that no hands were permitted to touch the ball during the game play.
Now let us take a look at different sporting activity
1. Golf
It is quite unclear as to where the game originated from. Contrary to the form it is know today which actually originate from Scotland in the 15th century, a similar game known as paganica, where a stuffed leather ball is hit by a bent stick, was popular among the Romans.
A theory claim that the spread of the game came along with the Romans during their campaign activities in the first century BC, while another claim the game play is same as Chuiwan is known among the Chinese in the eight and fourteenth centuries (the Ming Dynasty).
The modern form of the game originates from Scotland in the 15th century and was introduced into the Olympic games in 1900. Early form of the play saw golfers using a pebble as the golf ball, and stick or club as the golf clubs. Standard rules were set for the game for the first time by the Edinburgh golfers in 1774
2. Cricket
This is a game that originated from the south-east England in the late 18th century even though there have been numerous conjectures about the origin of the game. The game was defined to be boy's game and it was until recently that adult participation were continued to be witnessed. international games began in 1844 starting with a match between the United States and Canada
3. Archery
Archery is indeed one of the ancient art that have seen continued practice amongst the global populace. It is quite possible to date its origin as far back as the 20,000 BC, however the earliest natives known to regularly employ arrows and bows for hunting and warfare are the Ancient Egyptian dating around 3,0000 BC.
It was among the games that were included in the Olympic games in 1800.
4. Boxing
The earliest known form of boxing was observed from a sculptor in Sumer (present day Iraq) from around 3rd millennium BC. It was also observed in other cultures in sculptors observed in Assyria and Babylon in 2nd Millennium century and also in the Asia Minor. The 23rd Olympiad (688BC) witnessed boxing as a well developed sporting event although the rules were not as they are known today.
5. Surfing
It is nearer to truth that riding the waves has been a way of humans since they dared swim in the ocean. But the use of a surfboad is a very recent development introduced by the Polynesians. Surfing was said to first be noticed during the Europeans voyage in Tahiti in 1767.
it was said that it is a tradition that the highest rider of the wave becomes the chief of his people. Surfing gained establishment as a sporting activity at the start of the 20th century by the Hawaiians.
Hope you enjoyed the reading. Why not check later for next posts where we shall the discussing other sporting games such as Badminton, Bowling, Canoeing and Kayaking, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Ice Skating, Skiing, Tennis, Volleyball and Swimming.
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