KABADDI AND SOCCER BALL TAG.

KABADDI AND SOCCER BALL TAG. I posted here about the game of soccer ball tag which our playmates invented when we were about ten. Kabaddi reminds me of soccer ball tag in that both involve an initial tag and then a joint effort to prevent a player from escaping, an effort which in each case can lead to physical violence (The Wall Street Journal article says that: “Opponents get a point if they can prevent [a raider] from returning by wrestling, tackling or body-slamming him until he runs out of breath.”). I am pleased that inventors of games can think alike in no matter what century. I note another similarity. Both sports were developed for a purpose. The Wall Street Journal article says that kabaddi’s backers “believe it developed as a way for warriors to learn self-defense.” Soccer ball tag developed, I have always believed, because it produced satisfying fights, with the added advantage that because sides were always changing, grudges did not develop.