"...soccer, volleyball and gymnastics played in one."

   I love sport. I love to watch track and field, boxing, and swimming. I play Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, and Gymnastic but sometimes it's boring. What about playing gymnastic, volleyball, and soccer played in one, cool isn't it? You can play it all by playing Sepak takraw. I played it well during my high school.

Sepak takraw is originated and a popular ballgame in South East Asia. It is one of the sports has medal at stake on South East Asian Games and Asian Games. A very interesting game and you can see a lot of gymnastics exhibitions more than what Michael Jordan do on the hoops. Takraw ball is made of rattan or very hard plastic weighed approximately 250 grams. Ruling and point system is almost similar to volleyball. You can use head, body, legs and anywhere for volleying and smashing the ball except that the player can't touch with his hand. Facility is not expensive, so you can start right now.


Photos of smashing and blocking. Cool, isn't it? Some players used their head to block the ball and I experienced hitting to the head. Also you can invent how to smash the ball like runs up to the net, jump, float in the air, flip upside down while spinning like a helicopter, kick the ball more or less 60 miles per hour. Warning! don't do this while you are still new.
Point sytem and ruling.
Excerpted from Asian game homepage

The sepak takraw court and net are of the same standards as for badminton matches. A team consisting of 3 members is called Regu. Two teams compete for higher scores by spiking a ball into the opponents court. The same rules apply as for volley ball, with the following 4 exeptions:

  1. players are prohibited from using their hands;
  2. a player can touch the ball 3 successive times;
  3. the players position of the defensive team is not rotated;
  4. net-in service is accepted.
Ball woven of rattan stems or made of plastic can be used.

A match is composed of 3 sets. The team scoring 15 points win a set. The first team winning two sets wins the match. If both teams are tied, 13 to 13, the first team to score 13 points may choose to decide the set through 5-point match. If the teams are tied at 14 to 14, the first team to score 14 points may choose to decide the set through a 3-point match.

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