Bo-taoshi
In Japan there’s an unusual sport called Bo-taoshi, which is a capture-the-flag-like game. Bo-taoshi translates to “bring pole down”. It is a rugged game played by cadets of Japan’s National Defense Academy during its anniversary, where two teams of 150 players compete for each other's pole. It is also commonly played during school’s sports days.
Teams are divided into two groups where 75 players are the attackers and the other 75 are the defenders. The defenders will start to defend their own pole while the attackers will position to get to the other team’s pole.
Positions in the defensive half includes pole support (holding the pole in the vertical position), barrier (protect the pole), interference (pester and barge in attacks near or in the barrier), scrum disabler (stop opposing team members from running on top of the pole) and the ninja (the single member of the team at the top of the pole to protect it).
Positions in the offensive position include the springboard/scrum (lead their offensive team members so they could jump over the barrier and have trouble-free access to the other team’s pole), pole attackers (takes the ninja down and helps in bringing the other team’s pole down) and the general support attackers. The tactic is simply by punching, kicking and gouging.
To win at Bo-taoshi, the team must be able to lower the pole of the other team to a thirty-degree angle before the other team reaches this goal.
A 35-degree angle will be the basis to determine if the team wins the game. Have a look at this crazy video to get a better idea of what the game involves. It is not a sport for the weak.
Related Pages
- A video of bo-tashi
- About the sport Capture the Flag
- Complete list of unusual sports
- Sport in Japan
- Videos of unusual sports
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