Shin Kicking: the new extreme sport?

Every year at the Costwold Olimpick Games in England there is a game that is played by many men and viewed by everyone. The sport is called Shin Kicking and even though the name sounds like it hurts, it is the most popular event at the games

Shin kicking is a game where two men wearing long pants and high socks (usually stuffed with hay), square up with their arms grabbing onto their opponents shoulders and start kicking each other's shins.

A player can throw their foe to the ground as long as the arms stay attached to the challenger's shoulders. While kicking their opponent, a player must be trying to wrestle the other player down onto the ground, otherwise no point is awarded and the bout continues.

The game is played on a best-of-three basis. Each fighter gets points for winning bouts. The bout can only end when one kicker releases his grip from his opponent and falls on the ground.

The first player to win two bouts moves on to the next round to face another kicker. A player may not throw a kick above the knee or else they are disqualified.

The referee figure is known as the arbiter. The rules state that the arbiter's decision on any matter is final; no red flags or challenges. The arbiter is very active in the match and will follow the kickers around the field to ensure all rules are followed.

The outfits or equipment that they wear don't follow that of typical uniforms. The fighters usually wear a white over coat with a regular shirt underneath, with long pants. To help protect their shins, competitors are allowed to stuff their socks and pants with hay or some other form of stuffing (not that it helps a lot).

This sport and many others such as distance running and jumping and hammer throw have been around for 400 years along with the Costwold games.

The games come to Dover's Hill above Chipping Camden in England every year the first Friday after Spring Bank Holiday. The 2009 games were held on May 29 according to essencially-england.com.

Shin kickers are uniting and trying to get the sport into the Olympics, as a branch of wrestling.

In order for shin kicking to become an Olympic sport it has to be able to prove its popularity by being played in 75 countries in four continents by men and 40 countries on three continents by women. Today, the sport is dominated by men.

While shin kicking continues to be popular in England at Costwold Olimpick Games, it has not branched out overseas. For now it seems that shin kicking will only get its 15 seconds of fame on "SportsCenter".