Sepak Takraw is a sport that is like volleyball, but it was created in Southeast Asia. It literally translates as Kick the ball. There are three players who play against their opponents on a volleyball court having a net in the middle. In comparison to volleyball, the players in Sepak Takraw are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands and they should use their feet, head, knees and chest to play the ball. Sepaktakraw is popular in Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia as Sepak Raga and in Thailand as Takraw. The Rules of Sepaktakraw define how the game is played.
The game has a history that goes back to the 15 th century with some minor variations in different regions in Southeast Asia. However, in the 1940s, the government established codified regulations and officially called the sport Sepak Takraw. The sport is governed by the International Sepak Takraw Federation (ISTAF), and the sport is becoming increasingly popular each year across the world. People also play the sport in the United States, Canada, and other Western nations with Southeast Asian population hubs beyond the region.
What is Sepak takraw like?
The game challenges one team to score more points than the other by causing the other team to fail, and thereby they earn a point. The players do not participate in the game to defeat an opponent, but to keep the ball in the air with increasingly more interesting and graceful moves. The two Sepak Takraw teams consist of three players each of whom occupies a particular position. These are the Teukgong, or the player who is furthest back in the court, a left inner and a right inner, who are nearer the net and play on each side of the court.
The players will play using balls made of different synthetic materials, and each ball has to be certified for use in the playing of the match by ISTAF. The balls are sewn by manufacturers and must have 20 intersections and 12 holes and must meet the official weight and size requirements. They will place a net down the middle, standing at 1.5 meters for men and 1.42 meters for women. The Sepak Takraw scoring is quite easy: a team earns a point whenever the opponent team fouls. The faults (leading to a point to the opponent).
What are the rules of Sepak takraw?
The team that wins two sets first is the winner in a Sepak Takraw match. The team that gets to 21 points first will win each set. In the event of a 21-21 tie, the teams play a tiebreak, and the first team to build a two-point lead or reach 25 points wins. The game is very fast and athletic and therefore, to win a match a team needs to be at a good level of physical fitness, flexibility, and teamwork.
A teammate starts the game by tossing the ball to the server, who kicks it over the net while standing with one foot on the serving circle. The only parts of the body that the players can use to touch the ball are feet, head, knees, and chest. Any contact of the ball with the hand or any other part of the body may lead to foul and a point to the opponent. Be aware of the fundamental volleyball rule that allows both teams three touches maximum to return the ball across the net. Failure to do so before the ball hits the ground awards the opposing team a point.
Sepak takraw or foot volleyball
In Sepak Takraw, one can always score points when the opposing team is at fault and they can act as such in different ways (see above). The team that reaches 21 points wins a set. The first team to win two sets wins. As opposed to volleyball, the players of Sepak Takraw do not handle the ball using their hands but utilize their feet, head, knees, and chest to play the ball. Southeast Asians, particularly those from Malaysia and Thailand, are fond of the sport. Malaysians refer to the game as Sepak Raga, and Thais use the name Takraw.
Historians are able to trace the history of the game back to the 15th century, when people played slightly variant versions of the game in other regions of Southeast Asia. The game developed its first set of formal rules in the 1940s, at which time organizers officially gave it the name Sepak Takraw. The International Sepak Takraw Federation (ISTAF) now oversees the sport in places all over the world where it becomes increasingly popular each year. However, outside of Southeast Asia, the game is most popular in the U.S. And Canada and other west nations with large populations of southeast Asians.
Conclusion
The game aims at one team scoring higher points than the opponents by making the opponents commit a foul, which will lead to a score. In a slightly different form of the game, however, known in Myanmar (Burma) as ‘Chin Lone’, the teams do play on the same side; and the game is rather an art in which the idea is not to beat any antagonist, but to keep the ball in the air in more and more interesting and elegant forms.
Popular in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, and Indonesia, sepak takraw is a hybrid of volleyball and football. Sepak Takraw is notable for its remarkable plasticity, which occasionally pushes players to the limits of human body elasticity. As a result, it can be challenging to photograph its protagonists’ nimble and lightning-fast movements. More than six centuries have passed since the invention of sepak takraw in China. Foot volleyball is a free translation of its name.
