5 out-there hybrid sports

Photo above by Petter F. Schmedling / Feature photo by michael.kjaer

Chess Boxing

Chess boxing is the sport for anyone who’s every wished that you could win a board game by beating up your opponent. Athletes face off in alternating rounds of speed chess and boxing, with matches ending by knockout, decision or checkmate.

The Berlin-based World Chess Boxing Organisation governs the sport and organizes championship bouts for various weight classes.

International Rules Football

Developed in the 1960s to facilitate international athletic competition, international rules is a mixture of two regional codes of football, Australian and Gaelic. While the annual series between Ireland and Australia is one of the most-watched hybrid sporting events in the world, disputes over rules and different playing styles have made it notorious for spawning brawls.

Football Tennis

Tennis, but played with a soccer ball by soccer rules (no hands!). Invented in Czechoslovakia in the 1920s, football tennis remains popular in the Czech Republic, where it is known as nohejbal.

Bossaball

Start with football tennis. Instead of a tennis court, play it on a giant, inflatable trampoline. Now imagine that the referee is also a DJ.

Congratulations, you’re playing bossaball, an amalgam of volleyball, gymnastics, soccer and samba music that, despite all its Brazilian overtones, actually originated in Belgium.

Underwater Rugby

A sport with roots in German diving clubs’ training exercises, underwater rugby is much like water polo, but played under the surface instead of on it.

What’s the oddest hybrid sport you’ve ever played? Let us know in the comments!