Speed, excitement, danger. You can find all these in the different extreme sports that have become popular last 10 years. Take bungee jumping. You jump off a bridge and you fall and fall, and then, just before you hit the ground or water, an elastic rope pulls you back. In skysurfing you jump out of aeroplane and use a board to “surf” the air, doing gymnastics in mid-air! And extreme sports on land can be just as dangerous.
Winter sports have always an element of danger. For example snowboarding, which has all the excitement of surfing but on snow, is more dangerous even than skiing. Probably the most dangerous of all the new winter sports is snowrafting. You sit in a rubber boat and sail down a mountain at great speed – and you can't control the boat!
Of course, water sports have always been fun. Ice diving, for those people who are absolutely crasy. You put on diving equipment and dive under a frosen lake. And, if that's not enough, you try to walk upside down on the ice! I feel cold just thinking about it.
A lot of people are not fit nowadays. It's a big problem today. If you want to feel fit you'd better go in for one kind of sport or another. I think that everyone must do all he can to be healthy. Good health is better than the best medicine. All kinds of physical exercises are very useful to make our bodies strong and to keep ourselves fit and healthy. To tell the truth I don't do sports regularly and it is not an essential part of my daily life. In the morning I do some exercises just to awake. In summer I go swimming as there is a beautiful lake with pure water where my Granny lives. In winter I swim in the swimming pool. I like to ride the bike. I shouldn't call myself a sports fan. Of course , I like to watch sports competitions on TV, like hockey or football. But most of all I admire extreme kinds of sport. I think they are really cool.
Chess box
There is a stereotype that boxers are not distinguished by exceptional intelligence and a sharp mind, because they often get "brains" from their opponents. But the creators of this curious sport decided to prove the opposite: strong muscles can be combined with powerful intelligence. The rules of chessboxing provide for the traditional 11 rounds, where ordinary boxing three-minute rounds alternate with rounds of "quick" chess lasting 4 minutes. Chessbox gained popularity in Europe, especially in Germany and England.
kabaddi
This team game may seem a bit childish because it resembles "catch me". But in Asia, where it originated, they definitely don't think so. In 1990, kabaddi was included in the Asian Games, and since 2004, four world championships have been held in this sport. However, only India won them.
The principle of the game is that one of the teams chooses an "invader" who runs to the opponent's half of the field and with a continuous (as long as there is enough breath) scream "Kabaddi! Kabaddi!" tries to touch one of the opponents and then return to his half. If he fails to do so, the opponents already have the right to attack. See for yourself what it looks like.
Big toe wrestling
Can you show off your strong toes? In England they can. In a small village in the north of Britain, an annual toe wrestling championship is held, which has even gained international status. Although, again, the strongest here are the founders themselves. British Alan Nash's thumbs currently have 16 championship titles.