Memory Festival of the Hindu Prachaar Kendra, in association with the Trinidad Kabbadi Organisation and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, will be hosting a national kabaddi competition today as part of the 50th Anniversary of Independence celebrations. The one-day tournament entitled "Kabaddi is Here", is supported by the Ministry of Sport and kicks off from 5 pm at the Conquerors Sports Ground, Raghunanan Road, Enterprise. Kabaddi is a team sport which is said to have originated over 4,000 years ago in India. It requires both skill and power and combines the characteristics of wrestling and rugby. It was originally meant to develop self-defense, in addition to responses to attack and reflexes of counter attack by individuals and by groups or teams.
The sport was brought to T&T by the indentured labourers but over time, kabaddi was lost except in the faint memory of some elders who revived the sport locally in 1984. Today Kabaddi is played as a competitive sport in several Asian countries. It was given official status as a game in 1918 and is a fixture in the Asian Games. It was presented as an exhibition at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. When it was included at the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990, teams participated from India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In 2004 India hosted, the first Kabaddi World Cup in Mumbai. Kabaddi needs no supporting equipment and little space for a court. It is a healthy and absorbing way to engage youths and fight crime.