Takraw Ball
A kilometer north of the North Gate of the Old Town of Chiang Mai, there is a massive sports complex. From Google Earth, it appears to have more than 60 buildings, though somewhat difficult confirm on the ground, it’s just too big and spread out. There must be a hundred sports and activities played here, including football, volleyball, ping pong, badminton, and a very exciting and unbelievable game called Sepak Takraw.
Sepak is a Malay word which means “foot” and Takraw is a Thai word that describes a ball made traditionally of whicker or rattan. Apparently there is some dispute as to the origin of the game, so the diplomatic solution to the matter was to use a word from each language as its moniker.
Simply put, the Sepak Takraw is volleyball using nothing but the feet (mostly) or the head (rarely). But don’t let that description lull you into believing it’s some version of hackey sack. The net itself is about five feet tall and the hits over the net are blistering smashes executed by flipping oneself over in the air and spiking the ball into the over court.
Takraw World Championships
To be clear, the game is played by kicking a 5″ diameter ball over a 5′ net at speeds of 100mph while upside down. The images you see here are used (with permission) because after trying to capture just one picture myself, I found it impossible with the camera equipment I have with me (Samsung Galaxy Camera – see my review here). It just moves too fast. And how these guys don’t break their neck or an arm every time they flip upside down and come crashing down on the floor in a heap. These guys have springs in their legs and steel in their muscles.
I’ve set aside the date on my calendar for an upcoming Sepak Takraw tournament in Chiang Mai.
note the synthetic ball being used in this game
