Kiibasen

Okay, there is a lot to talk about from this weekend but I decided to start with by far the craziest thing I have ever seen...and the coolest.


Yes...I know what this looks like; a ton of shirtless japanese boys angrilly mobbing each other. This is the sport of Kiibasen(sp?). What I imagine must be a pretty old and fairly traditional sport.

First I'll explain that Andrew's dorm, Wakeijuku, has been preparing for weeks (more likely months) for this sports festival they have the weekend of Sports Day(the holiday we had on monday). Now...I missed most of their sports events day whcih included a tug of war sort of game, movnoving stones with chopsticks, an obstacle course(which had math problems?) and things of that sort. I did however maker it in time to witness all the Kiibasen matches.

There are four dorms(east, west, south, and north). Anrew is a prt of South Dorm. Because they supposedly have the smallest average weight it is not often that they win to many of the games on sports day but they all get really into it and practice very hard.


In Kiibasen there are groups of four people who make up "horses". Three people hold the fourth on their arms and shoulders. Each team has a lot of horses (dont know the exact number) but the most important horse is the one holding the general who is all in white. The point of the game is for the other team to get the general to the ground as fast as they can. Each team has offensive horses (who atttack) and defensive ones (who portect the general). If you get a normal horse to the ground then they have to leave the field.


So that is generally how the game works. Two dorms would compete against each other at a time and the remaining two dorms would be referees and crowd control. these are important things to have a in a sort like this to keep people from getting too hurt.

In any case, this game is freaking incredible to watch. These "horses" charge at each other like they think they are invincible and I even saw one guy jump from the top of his horse on top of a general. One match lasted 20 minutes and there was only the general left for one team. It was insane! And seriously, these guys were very intense. It was increbly amazing.

Andrew's dorm won kiibasen. Their general, TOma, was very good. At the end of each match both teams give a sort of speech and bow to each other. But at the end of the whole day Toma and the SOuth Dorm team also gave a speech to all the people watching and suppporting them. Some of the guys were crying and they also do this sort of yelling thing. It's all very powerful.


It made me and Andrew want to start a kiibasen clubu at Uga. Somehow I think that would go very well but dang it would be fun!

I uploaded all the pictures I took during the games because I didn't feel like going through them but I've picked out my favorite and included them in this post. If you want to see more they are in my photobucket acount. (some got uploaded twice though...) I also uploaded some more pictures and I will be posting again today with another update from the weekend.


Seriously...watching these guys be so into this sport was amazing. It was very intense. I just really can't believe it sitll...


anyway,
Much Love!