Modern Day Gladiator Defends His ‘Shin Kicking Championship’ World Title And This Sport Looks F’n Incredible

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Shin Kicking is an ancient sport dating back to the 1600s in England. Shin-kicking is also known as hacking and/or purring, and it’s best described as an English Martial Art.

It was one of the most popular events at the annual Cotswold Olimpick Games in England, a competition that dates back to the early 1600s. British immigrants brought it to America in the 1800s but it disappeared from the Cotswold Olimpick Games between the 1850s until it was revived in 1951 and it has since been a spectator favorite.

The annual Shin Kicking Championship took place a few weeks back at the 2019 Costwold Olimpick Games with the men’s title won by last year’s champion who kicked his way towards back-to-back belts using a clever strategy. I’ve got footage of this glorious event below but first let’s check out the rules to Shin-Kicking:

1. Competitors will be assigned bouts at random, with winners of all rounds gaining entry to a final bout. Usually, there will be a maximum of 12 contestants.
2. Equipment – Competitors must wear long trousers or tracksuits and may cushion their shins by using straw (provided). They will be provided with white coats, representing the traditional shepherd’s smock. (Participants may purchase their smock afterwards for £25) Footwear may be trainers, shoes, or soft-toed (i.e. un-reinforced) boots. Any form of metal-reinforced toe on footwear is expressly forbidden. This will now be checked both before and after your bouts! Failure to comply will result in instant exclusion, and barring from future events!
3. Stance. A competitor begins by holding his or her opponent by the shoulders (or lapels) with arms straight.
4. The contest will be started, finished (if necessary) and judged, by an arbiter, known as a Stickler. The Stickler decides the fairness of a contest.
5. A contest is decided on the best of three throws – i.e. two successful throws results in a win.​​ Note that this may be reduced to one throw in the event of poor weather, or the maximum number of competitors reached.​

I take it you’ve got a solid handle on the nuances of Shin-Kicking by now so let’s get to the action. Here’s a breakdown of this man defending his 2018 title and winning it all again in 2019 by using an almost Judo-like technique of using his competitor’s weight against him.

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I wouldn’t say that I’m extremely familiar with the Cotswold Olimpick Games so I was curious what their other premier events looked like. Some highlights include Tug O’War, King of the Hill, and Championship of the Hill which is a combination of four old English events like stone-throwing.

For a full rundown of the Costwold Olimpick Games, you can click here to check out their website.

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Cass Anderson is the Editor-in-Chief of BroBible. Based out of Florida, he covers an array of topics including NFL, Pop Culture, Fishing News, and the Outdoors.