Sports & Games of the Star Trek Universe

Hard working starship crews and bizarre aliens need recreation between space battles or discovering new life forms and new civilizations. During their leisure time, the inhabitants of the Star Trek universe engage in pretty nifty athletic hobbies. From Earth's pastime of baseball to the futuristic martial arts of Anbo Jitsu, Captain Sisko, Mr. Spock, Captain Picard and Worf love to work out, play hard or just plain work up a star soaked sweat. Here are sports you'll recognize, but also ones that will thrill with an alien angle.

Baseball

Earth's sport is alive and well in the future. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Captain Sisko and his crew love talking baseball when not playing the game in the holographic play rooms called holosuites. In these rooms, not only can any baseball field imaginable be recreated, but also players from the past like Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron can be called up as teammate or opponent. Buck Bokai was a fictional baseball player in DS9.

Influenced by a real life lover of baseball, co-creator of Deep Space Nine, producer Michael Piller, Star Trek's darkly imagined spin-off had many episodes where baseball was featured. Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) loved the game so much, he had an antique baseball on his desk throughout the run of the series.

Anbo Jitsu

Fans of this rough and tumble futuristic fighting style, dress in thick padding to avoid serious injury. It's called "the ultimate evolution of the martial arts."

Introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Icarus Factor", the combatants in this fast paced sport are Commander Riker and his father Kyle Riker. These two have serious family issues between them, so when they take up the electronic battle sticks to face one another, it's a real fight to the finish - or at least for the one who knows the sneakiest tactics to win. Despite dated American Gladiator style gear from the 1980's, the smooth fight choreography is not only fun to watch, but manages to integrate plot and conflict into the match exceedingly well.

Dom-jot

Rack 'em up! Dom-jot is best described as a cross between pool and pinball.

Games & Sports Of Star Trek

Credit: Will N. Stape

Copyright: Will N. Stape