Overeview
The history of Kabaddi dates back up to 4000 years ago. Kabaddi has been very famous and popular in Asia. It is played between two teams having 12 players each (7 in the field + 5 as reserve). For men it is of 40 minutes (with 20 minutes each half) and for women 30 minutes (with 15 minutes each half). Offenders of both teams during their attack or defense, continuously repeat the word ‘Kabaddi Kabaddi’ and make efforts to touch or catch player of other team to get higher points of the game.
The word Kabaddi has been derived from the word ‘Kaon bada’ meaning fighting with counterpart. Kabaddi received its first Inter- National exposure during the 1936 Berlin Olympics, demonstrated by Hunuman Vyayam Prakash Mandal, Amravati, in Maharashtra. Kabaddi was introduced in Indian Olympic Games held at Calcutta during the year 1938. Kabaddi Federation of India was established in 1950 and in 1952 Rules and Regulation of Kabaddi were ratified. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) was founded in 1973.
The AKFI has given new shape to the rules and it has also the rights of modification the rules. In 1978, the Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation was formed and for the first time Kabaddi was included as a demonstration game in the IX Asian Games hosted by India at New Delhi in 1982, and in the XI Asian Games held in the year 1990 at Beijing, China, Kabaddi was included in the main disciplines. This was a land mark in the history of Kabaddi.
The first formal world competition based upon the rules and regulation of the Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation was held at Mumbai, India in 2004 and countries from Asia, Europe, and America participated in this event. The first Women’s championship was held in 1980 so that women could their activities on International Level.
The main aim of World Kabaddi Federation is to expand this game to the whole world and to make sure of its entry in the World Olympic Games. The day and night effort of Mr. J. S. Gehlot, former President of World Kabaddi Federation and his colleagues has been to pave way for Kabaddi to enter into the Olympic Games.