The Sport of Sepak Takraw - Thailand's Acrobatic Volleyball

Sepak Takraw: Volleyball, Kung Fu, Gymnastics and Circus Acrobatics Rolled into One

Sepak Takraw is one of Southeast Asia's most popular sports, yet most Westerners have never heard of it. Imagine a net like in volleyball, then reduce the volleyball to the size of a grapefruit and make it out of rattan, and that's all the equipment required for a Sepak Takraw game. But, unlike volleyball where you can use your hands, in Sepak Takraw the players are only allowed to touch the ball with their feet, body or head. This leads to some of the most amazing acrobatics ever seen on a court. In fact, Sepak Takraw is very much like a mix between volleyball, gymnastics, kung fu and circus acrobatics. You've got to see it to believe it!

In Thailand, the game is called just Takraw, and is often played by laborers or motor-cycle taxi drivers at the end of the day, when they want to wind down. They will find an empty piece of land where they will park two trucks or cars. Then they will string up a takraw net between the two vehicles and, voila, the game of takraw can begin. It's also played at temples, in fairgrounds, in schools and in parks all over Thailand. In fact, anywhere where the players can find a spare piece of flat ground.

The game probably originated in China as the kickball game of cuju then, by traders coming down into Thailand from China it was introduced to the Thais as early as the 1400s. You can see the game today in paintings on the walls of several temples in Thailand, where gods such as Hanuman play takraw. These paintings are often more than 250 years old. The sport became incredibly popular in Thailand when, in the early 1800s the Siam Sports Association created the first written rules for takraw. Soon after, it became a popular sport in schools all over the country and remains so today, especially out in the Thai provinces.