Sepak takraw

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Sepak takraw

Women's double event at the 2014 Asian Games

Highest governing body ISTAF

First played Malaysia, mid-15th century

Characteristics

Contact None

Team members 2–4 players

Type Indoor

Equipment rattan ball, synthetic rubberised plastic

Presence

Olympic none

Sepak takraw,[1] or kick volleyball, is a sport native to Southeast Asia.[2] Sepak takraw

differs from the similar sport of footvolley in its use of a rattan ball and only allowing
players to use their feet, knee, and head to touch the ball.
In Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore and it is commonly called sepak takraw.
It can be known as sepak raga as well in Indonesia[3] and Malaysia. In the Philippines,
the sport is also called "sepak takraw", resembling the related native sport known
 as sipà, while the international version is known by the borrowed terms sipà
tákraw or sepak takraw. In Thailand, it is known simply as takrawwhile in Laos, it
is kataw.[1] In Myanmar, it is known as chin lone, and is considered more of an art as
there is often no opposing team, and the point is to keep the ball aloft gracefully and
interestingly.
Similar games include footbag net, footvolley, football
tennis, bossaball, jianzi, jokgu and sipa.

Contents

 1Etymology
 2History
 3Competition
o 3.1Asian Games
o 3.2Canada
o 3.3Japan
o 3.4United States
 4Rules and regulations
o 4.1Expressions
o 4.2Court
o 4.3Net
o 4.4Ball
o 4.5Players
o 4.6Start of play and service
o 4.7Faults in the game
 4.7.1Serving side during service
 4.7.2Serving and receiving side during service
 4.7.3For both sides during the game
o 4.8Scoring system
 5Competing countries
 6See also
 7References
 8External links

Etymology[edit]
The word takraw is Thai in origin. Takraw ( Thai: ตะกร ้อ) can be translated as muzzle or
woven rattan ball[4] while sepak is Malay word for kick. Sepak Takraw is referred to the
sport played using takraw; therefore sepak takraw quite literally means "to kick a ball".[5]
In Thailand, it is simply known as its original name of takraw (Thai: ตะกร้อ
, RTGS: takro, pronounced [tā.krɔ̂ː]) while sepak takraw is commonly known across
Southeast Asia; including Indonesian: sepak takraw, ‫;سڨق تکر‬ Malay: sepak raga, ‫سڨق‬
‫;راݢ‬ Burmese: ပို က်ကျော်ခြင်း , Pike Kyaw Chin; Filipino: sipà, sipà tákraw, sepák
tákraw, pronounced [sɛ̝päk täkɾɐw]; Khmer: សីដក់, Sei Dak; Lao: ກະຕໍ້, ka-
taw; Vietnamese: cầu mây, "calameae ball" or "rattan ball".
History[edit]

Video recording of a Sepak Takraw game

The earliest historical evidence shows the game was played in the 15th
century's Malacca Sultanate of Malaysia, for it is mentioned in the Malay historical text,
"Sejarah Melayu" (Malay Annals).[6] The Malay Annals described in details the incident
of Raja Muhammad, a son of Sultan Mansur Shah who was accidentally hit with a rattan
ball by Tun Besar, a son of Tun Perak, in a Sepak raga game. The ball hit Raja
Muhammad's headgear and knocked it down to the ground. In anger, Raja Muhammad
immediately stabbed and killed Tun Besar, whereupon some of Tun Besar's kinsmen
retaliated and wanted to kill Raja Muhammad. However, Tun Perak managed to restrain
them from such an act of treason by saying that he would no longer accept Raja
Muhammad as the Sultan's heir. As a result of this incident, Sultan Mansur
Shah ordered his son out of Malacca and had him installed as the ruler of Pahang.[7]
In Indonesia, sepak takraw was spread from nearby Malaysia across the strait to Riau
islands and Riau area in Sumatra as early as the 16th century, where it is also called
as Sepak Raga in local Malay tongue,[8][9] at that time some of Sumatran areas were part
of Malacca sultanate. From there the Malay people spread across archipelago and
introduced the game to Buginese people in Sulawesi. Then the game is developed as
Buginese traditional game which is called "Raga" (the players are called "Pa'Raga").
The "Raga" can trace its origin from Malacca Sultanate,[10] and was popular in South
Sulawesi since the 19th century. Some men playing "Raga" encircling within a group,
the ball is passed from one to another and the man who kicked the ball highest is the
winner. "Raga" is also played for fun by demonstrating some tricks, such as kicking the
ball and putting it on top of player's head holds by tengkolok bugis (Bugis cloth
headgear similar to Malay tanjak).
In Thailand (formerly Siam), there was evidence that the Thai had played Sepak Takraw
since the Ayutthaya Kingdom, at least during the reign of King Naresuan (1590–1605).
[11]
 A French historian, François Henri Turpin, wrote about how the Siamese played the
game of takraw to stay in shape.[11] Murals at Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaeo which was built
in 1785, depict the Hindu god Hanuman playing sepak takraw in a ring with a troop
of monkeys. The game was played in its circle form for hundreds of years, and the
modern version of sepak takraw began taking shape in Thailand sometime during the
early 1740s. In 1929 the Siam Sports Association drafted the first rules for takraw
competition.[11] Four years later, the association introduced the volleyball-style net and
held the first public contest. Within just a few years, takraw was introduced to the
curriculum in Siamese schools. The game became such a cherished local custom that
another exhibition of volleyball-style takraw was staged to celebrate the kingdom's first
constitution in 1933, the year after Thailand abolished absolute monarchy.

A traditional sipà (rattan wicker ball) from the Maranao people of the Philippines, along with kakasing topsand

a sungka board

In the Philippines the sport is related with a native game called "sipà" (or "sipà salama"
among Muslim Filipinos) and along with traditional martial arts survived the three
century Spanish colonisation.[12] It is a popular sport played by children in Philippines. It
was the Philippine national sport until it was replaced by arnis in 2009. Sepak Takraw is
included in Philippine's elementary and highschool curriculum. In Myanmar, or Burma, it
was dubbed "chinlone", in Laos "kator", "cầu mây" in Vietnam and in Indonesia "raga" or
"sepak takraw".[1]
Some of the people believed that many variations of the game evolved from cuju, an
ancient Chinese military exercise, where soldiers would try to keep a feathered
shuttlecock airborne by kicking it back and forth between two people. As the sport
developed, the animal hide and chicken feathers were eventually replaced by balls
made of woven strips of rattan.[citation needed]
The first versions of sepak takraw were not so much of a competition, but rather
cooperative displays of skill designed to exercise the body, improve dexterity and
loosen the limbs after long periods of sitting, standing or working. [citation needed]
By the 1940s, the net version of the game had spread throughout Southeast Asia, and
formal rules were introduced. This sport became officially known as "sepak takraw".

Competition[edit]
International play is now governed by ISTAF, the International Sepak Takraw
Federation. Major competitions for the sport such as the ISTAF SuperSeries, the ISTAF
World Cup and the King's Cup World Championships are held every year.
Sepak takraw is now a regular sport event in the Asian Games and the Southeast Asian
Games, in which Thailand has won the most medals for.[citation needed]
Asian Games[edit]
Main article: Sepak takraw at the Asian Games
Sepak takraw has been a sport at the Asian Games since 1990 with Thailand securing
the highest number of gold medals.
Canada[edit]
The Lao people first brought sepak takraw into Canada when they immigrated as
refugees in the 1970s. But the game got exposure outside the Laotian communities and
really started taking off when a Saskatchewan teacher, Richard (Rick) Engel, who
encountered sepak takraw while living in Asia, included it in Asian Sport, Education &
Culture (ASEC) International's School Presentation Program. Sepak takraw was so well
received by schools that it became part of ASEC's mandate to help introduce, promote
and organise the sport right across the country. In May 1998, after getting many schools
playing sepak takraw, and by networking with experienced players, ASEC International
organised the first Canadian inter-provincial tournament to include men's, boys and girls
teams. By the end of 1998, Engel was sent to Bangkok, Thailand to film at the 14th
King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championships – the footage of which was used to
produce a widely used instructional sepak takraw video/DVD, called Sepak Takraw –
Just for Kicks.
On 11 December 1998, the Sepak Takraw Association of Canada (STAC) [13] was
incorporated to organise and govern the sport nationally. Its office was set up in Regina,
SK, where there are experienced players and organisational support, and where it could
share the resources and office space of the already established ASEC International, a
committee from which has now become Sepak Takraw Saskatchewan Inc. [14] The first
annual Canadian Open Sepak Takraw Championships (a national and international
tournament event) were held in May 1999 in Regina, SK, and have over the years
attracted teams from across Canada, the United States, Japan, Malaysia and China.
That same year Canada also attended its first International Sepak Takraw Federation
(ISTAF) Congress and was accepted as members of ISTAF, which governs the sport
globally. In 2000, Rick Engel, Perry Senko and Brydon Blacklaws played for Team
Canada and earned a silver medal in the entry level division of the King's Cup World
Sepak Takraw Championships in Thailand. Another major milestone was achieved on 3
December 2000, when STAC and the sport of sepak takraw became an official class E
Member of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Canada has since contributed much to the development of sepak takraw worldwide,
with Engel authoring three instructional sepak takraw books [15] and helping produce five
sepak takraw DVDs, while STAC does the publishing. The most notable of these books
is Sepak Takraw 101 - The Complete Coaching/Instructional Manual for Sepak Takraw
(Kick Volleyball), the third edition of which has also been translated and published in the
Indonesian language and released in Indonesia through a government education
project. Engel has found himself to be in demand, introducing the sport and conducting
sepak takraw skills clinics in schools and sessions at physical education teachers'
conferences all over Canada, the US and Europe.
Japan[edit]
A Japanese team played at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing. While as of 2010 there
are no professional teams in Japan, university level teams had been established at Asia
University, Chiba University, Keio University, and Waseda University.[16]
United States[edit]
The earliest accounts of organized takraw in the United States involve a group of
students from Northrop University (Greg St. Pierre, Thomas Gong, Joel "big bird"
Nelson, and Mark Kimitsuka) in 1986 in Inglewood, California, learning about and
playing the sport in Los Angeles. In the early 80s, Southeast Asians held soccer
tournaments that had takraw events in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and California,
especially within the Lao, Hmong and Thai communities. [17] Malaysian students attending
the university often enjoyed playing the sport on a court on top of the dormitory
cafeteria. They taught a handful of curious American students how to play, which in turn
inspired Malaysia Airlines to sponsor a US team from the university to attend the
National Tournament in Kuala Lumpur in November 1987. The Northrop team played in
a bracket of international new teams with Korea, Sri Lanka, and Australia. The US team
beat Sri Lanka and Australia to bring home the gold. [18]
Los Angeles's Asian community and Northrop's team had already established a takraw
community in and around L.A. Sonderegger moved to Los Angeles, founded the United
States Takraw Association, and started a business that sold plastic takraw balls. In
1989, he was sent an invitation from the International Sepak Takraw Federation, and
Sonderegger along with a few of the Northrop group travelled to represent the United
States in the World Championships.
The team was beaten badly but the takraw world was enchanted with the fact that non-
Asian teams had competed at the World Championships. [19]