Kabaddi is a contact sport from India, believed to be over four thousand years old. The word itself comes from the Tamil kai-pidi — “to hold hands.” In Hindu mythology, the sport echoes the story of Abhimanyu from the Mahabharata: a sixteen-year-old warrior who broke through an enemy formation on a daring solo raid but was trapped inside and killed before he could return. The sport was said to have been created in his memory.
The rules are deceptively simple. Two teams face each other across a rectangular court. Each team takes turns sending a single player — the raider — into enemy territory. The raider’s mission is to tag as many opponents as possible and make it back to their own side. The catch: they must do it all on a single breath.
How do you prove you haven’t taken a breath? You chant. The raider must continuously repeat the word kabaddi — out loud, without pause — from the moment they cross the line until they return. This unbroken chant is called the cant. It is the sport’s clock, its proof of life, and its most distinctive feature. Kabaddi may be the only sport in the world where players chant the name of the game while playing it.
The opposing team tries to stop the raider by grabbing, holding, or tackling them before they can return. If the raider stops chanting, takes a breath, is pinned down, or steps out of bounds, they are declared out — and the defending team scores a point. But if the raider makes it back safely in a single breath, their team scores a point for each opponent tagged. Teams alternate raids until all the players on one side are knocked out.
There is a lesson in kabaddi — about never getting too comfortable in the middle of your mission. We are limited in time, and we have a goal to accomplish.
When navigating the opposing side, many will try to arrest us, grab us and hold us down. We can never let that happen. We have to glide through the obstacles no matter how tough or painful.
We can never get too greedy, either — the more we try to take, the more likely we will be crushed by the counterattack. And we can never get too boastful. Dodging the tackle is great, but looking around for admiration from your peers will get you trapped.
How do we survive and thrive in this game? And what can we take back to our daily life? The focus. The mental fitness. The repetition of the word kabaddi. As long as we keep focused on the goal, no matter how fierce the obstacle, we will stay on track. If we lose focus, thoughts can invade our mind and trap us. We lose the game.
We have to be constantly and incessantly vigilant.