Watch: Hong Kong students seen bonding over Kabaddi

Kabaddi is a contact team sport that is played between two teams of seven players each. It is believed to have started as a form of practicing combat moves for battles and wars in ancient India. Kabaddi which was mainly popular in the Indian subcontinent has spread its wings to other Asian countries and Hong Kong is one of them.

Recently, a video went viral on social media which saw young Hong Kong students bonding over the ancient Indian game.

The physical sport was relatively unknown outside the region. But around eight years ago, two Chinese anthropologists, Wyman Tang and Yuk-Kwong Lo set up a Hong Kong team to encourage integration in a city that, despite its status as an international hub, can be less than inclusive, especially when it comes to non-white and non-Chinese residents.

Lo and Tang wanted to do more to help youth from the city’s ethnic minority groups integrate into local society. They desired to make Hong Kong people embrace aspects of the South Asian culture and chose sport as their avenue, specifically kabaddi.

“Myself and Wyman wanted to promoted social inclusion in Hong Kong, we wanted to hold some talks and conduct a tour of the city but we wanted to find something more interesting,” Lo told.

The project Kabaddi United Hong Kong (KUHK) began as a one-off workshop at a local university. It has now spread to nearly 80 schools and social organizations and has had more than 8,000 participants. Though still not among the prime Kabaddi nations, the acceptance of Kabaddi in Hong Kong is expected to increase.

A Nepali immigrant Rojit Sharma, who joined KUHK in 2019, stated that Kabaddi has offered a gateway to making Chinese friends for the first time.

“(There is) an emotional connection in kabaddi because we hold hands and then we know more about each other,” he said.

In Kabaddi, the teams collect points by sending a “raider” to the rival side, who tries to quickly tag an opponent and then run back to their own half. Defending teams try to prevent the raider from escaping, which often involves full-team pile-ons.