KABADDI AND BREATHING.

KABADDI AND BREATHING. As the wikipedia article indicates, there are several sets of rules for kabaddi, but the basic idea is: “Teams take turns sending a “raider” to the opposite team’s half, where the goal is to tag or wrestle (“confine”) members of the opposite team before returning to the home half…..The goal of the defenders is to stop the raider from returning to the home side before taking a breath.” Breathing is the distinctive feature of kabaddi. The word “kabaddi” is a Hindi, and punjabi word meaning “holding of breath.” A player chants the word “kabaddi” as proof that he or she is not breathing in. Breathing exercises are an important part of practices. The Wall Street Journal article describes a practice with “precise diaphragm movements to make the most of scarce oxygen.” I would think that water polo players might be the American athletes with the best chance at success at kabaddi.