List of Sports that Start with ‘Z’

  1. Zip lining  

  2. Zorb Football 

  3. Zourkhaneh 

  4. Zui Quan 

  5. Zen Bu Kan Kempo

Table of Contents 

  1. Introduction 

  2. Zip Lining – Description 

  3. Zorb Football – Description 

  4. Zourkhaneh – Description

  5. Zui Quan – Description

  6. Zen Bu Kan Kempo – Description

INTRODUCTION

As we have already seen in the sports list, the sports that start with ‘Z’ are very few, so to understand more about these unknown sports, let’s directly dive into them.

ZIPLINING – DESCRIPTION 

It can be said it is the most known sport that starts with ‘Z,’ but it is at stake that it could be said a sport or not, some people believe it is, but on the other hand, some believe that rather it is only an adventure activity. Zip Lining is majorly practiced in mountains, forests, treks, and other similar geographical structures. It is practiced through a cable usually made up of stainless steel and is connected at two far ends, and a pulley is connected on it through which the person is tied and then sent from one end to the other. It has been used a Tyrolean traverse, too, using the force of gravity. The world’s longest zipline as of 31 January 2018 is ‘Jebel Jais Flight.’ It is in UAE and is 2,831.88 m (9,290ft 11in).

Other Names: Zip wire and aerial runway 

Zorb Football – Description 

As the name suggests that it is a fusion of zorbing with football, this sport gets more and more interesting; while playing this game, the upper half of a person is covered with an inflatable bubble, similar to the half of zorb while zorbing and the lower part is used in playing football, the rules followed are the same as football, only an additional rule of wearing the bubble during the whole game is there, it is a fun sport which is played in teams at larger indoor/outdoor areas.

It is usually played at corporate, stag, birthday, and bachelor parties. Henrik Elvestad created it and Johan Golden in their show Golden Goal in 2011; it was then spread out in the UK by Lee Mosley, then to New Zealand, and now in the USA to the extent that it had also appeared on the American TV show Shark Tank in 2015. In 2018, a Bubble Football International Cup was held in Shoreditch, London, and the final was held at Wembley; Finland, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain were the nations that participated.

Other Names: Bubble Football or Bubble Soccer 

Alternatives: Bubble Bowling, Bubble sumo, and Bulldog 

Zourkhaneh – Description

This sport has a long history; its origin is as back as 132 BC in Ancient Persia, which is why it is spread to Iran, Iraq, and Azerbaijan. In these countries, it is a traditional athletics sport to train warriors and athletes for martial arts, calisthenics, strength training, and music; it is recognized by United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the longest-running form of training, it is training also involves components of pahlvani and kushti. In the countries where it is practiced, it is also known as the ‘house of strength.’

This was practiced like rituals in Ancient Persia; the purpose was to train men like warriors and instill national pride given the upcoming battles. The places where it is practiced came to be called zourkhanehs, which now are the traditional gymnasiums. However, it was losing its importance by the mid 20th century but regaining popularity in Iran and its adjacent countries. International Competitions are now mandated by International Zurkhaneh Sports Federation, established on October 10, 2004, to promote the sport.

Other Names: Varzesh-e pahlavani or Varzesh- e bastani 

Zui Quan – Description

Zui Quan is a type of Chinese martial arts. It stimulates the movements of a drunken person. That is the reason it is called drunken boxing/Kungfu/fist/style. It consists of the most unusual movements of the body. It is an ancient sport whose origin is traced to that of the Buddhist or Daoist religion. The Buddhist style traces the Shaolin Temple, and the Daoist style traces the tale of eight drunken Immortals. It incorporates all combat methods like hitting, locking, feinting grappling, and all other sophisticated methods.

Though it is ancient. There is not much historical evidence for it. The earliest written reference is the classical novel Water Margin and the Kung fu Manual ‘Boxing Classic’ from the 18th century. The whole Sport is technique-based and comes internally, as the body movement is very less. Many aspects are awarded to a drunken man, like continuous bobbing, weaving, slipping, and feigning instability and lack of focus. It is used to confuse the opponent by attacking through weak angles and positions, constant change in momentum, multiple attacks, and other wide variety of attacks with different mid-fight techniques. Zui Quan’s styles use weapons too like a gun or saber, guan dao, fan, sah, spear, flute, gourd bottle, and more.

Other Styles: Northern Fist and Southern Fist 

Other Names: Drunken Boxing, Drunken Kung fu, Drunken Luohan Boxing, Drunken Fist, Drunken Eight Immortals Boxing, Wine/alcohol Boxing, and Drunken Style

Zen Bu Kan Kempo – Description

It is an ancient sport consisting of karate and martial art. It was founded and established by the grandmaster of Australia, Harnos Imre Hansi. The meaning of this sport starting with ‘z’ is ‘Pure Fist Fight spirit’ or ‘Hall of Martial arts spirit.’ So as the meaning suggests fist fight, it composes Shaolin Kempo, Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, and Fist Fight techniques together. It also tells about the benefits of jiu-jitsu, judo, aikido, Kyokushin, Thai fistfight, kicks boxing, kushti, K-1, MMA, and other ancient related sports. It is widespread in Australia, Europe, and especially Hungary. There are many ancient alternatives to it.