Thousands have taken part this summer in the sport of kabaddi, popular on the Indian sub-continent, and now in England too, where it is often associated with Sikh gurdwaras that give their names and support to local teams. Hardeep Singh sketches in the background
What is kabaddi?
Kabaddi is a popular and thriving sport in Britain, with several representative bodies including the England Kabaddi Network, England Kabaddi Union, and England Kabaddi Federation.
It’s a contact team sport, with a history going back 4,000 years, and is played by two teams usually of seven players. Nowadays both men and women take part. It has been compared to British bulldog, but a more muscular version.
A “raider” from one team runs to the opponents’ half of the court, and tags an opposing player, who, on being tagged, must stop the “raider” going back to the halfway line. Players responsible for stopping a raider are — no mystery here — known as “stoppers”. They apply a variety of techniques, depending on the style of kabaddi, to halt their opponent, which include ankle and thigh holds, blocks, heavy standing slaps, and a move often referred to by Punjabi commentators as a kenchi (which translates as scissors). This involves tightly wrapping both legs around an opponent to stop them in their tracks — not a move for the faint-hearted.
Each team takes its turn to raid. A successful raid, or stop, results in the awarding of points. How the game is played varies, depending on where you are. For example, in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) in India, attempts to prevent a raider going back to their touchline are a team effort rather than a solo one, using co-ordination and precision timing. In traditional kabaddi, only the single tagged player can attempt to tackle the raider.
Kabaddi comes into other categories: “circle” is a more traditional form played on outdoor circular fields, as in the Punjab; and “rectangular” kabaddi, which is associated with big professional leagues and international tournaments such as the Asian Games.
There’s even an annual World Kabaddi Day, which this year was on 24 March, when the theme was “Kabaddi: Created by Men, Perfected by Women”.
The future of British kabaddi
The England Kabaddi Federation (EKF) was established in 1968. This year it has organised 13 tournaments across the country, ending in Derby on 4 August. The EKF focuses on circle kabaddi and there are more than a dozen teams affiliated to the federation, which include those linked with UK gurdwaras, including Guru Arjan Dev Kabaddi Club Derby; Guru Nanak Gurdwara Kabaddi Club Gravesend; and Singh Sabha Kabaddi Club Slough.
The England Kabaddi Network (EKN) was founded by Ashok Das, a former Punjabi team player who is a qualified national coach and is known to as the Kabaddi Daddy on EKN’s website. He formed what was then known as the the England Kabaddi Association in 2003. One of the highlights of his work was introducing the sport into the British Army in 2006. The England Women’s Kabaddi Team was founded in 2009 — an important milestone for the sport.
The network was involved in setting up the British Kabaddi League. Das is passionate about promoting kabaddi to the next generation, but is acutely aware of the challenges involved, given that many players must hold down regular jobs, as well as taking part in a rigorous training schedule. The EKN have a dozen clubs affiliated including the Leicester Warriors, Edinburgh Eagles and the Kent-based Guru Nanak Sport Club.
The new kid on the block — the England Kabaddi Union (EKU) — was founded in 2019 and specialises in rectangular kabaddi. Its committee includes players who are alumni from English universities, and they are affiliated with the International Kabaddi Federation which run the PKL in India.
Eight university clubs are affiliated to the EKU, which has hosted a universities tournament with up to eight teams competing and holds training sessions outside of university with a good attendance each week.
The union is confident in the future of British kabaddi, with a drive using social media to promote the sport in universities. In April, EKU set up a club at Cambridge University, bringing the number of affiliated university clubs to six.
Last year, two university players in the EKU were bought by Dabang Delhi, a Pro Kabaddi League franchise in India, which paid about about £12,700 each for Felix Li and Yuvraj Pandeya. EKU president Sanjay Patel told me: “Once the sport has grown sustainably with a strong foundation there may be opportunities for individual players to get sponsored, but Kabaddi is not quite at this level yet.”
Links to gurdwaras
The second Sikh guru, Guru Angad, encouraged Sikhs to get involved in physical education. The guru became a patron of wrestling and set up a mal akhara, a wrestling arena, to encourage strength and fitness training, wrestling and martial arts. It’s not surprising, therefore, that gurdwaras in Britain today are involved in kabaddi and fielding affiliated teams. The Wolverhampton gurdwara, for example, has set up a dedicated kabaddi training centre.
Kabaddi, however, is a sport played by people of all faith backgrounds and nationalities and the National Hindu Students’ Forum also runs teams and tournaments.
Some politicians have taken a keen interest in the sport, and an All-Party Parliamentary Group for Kabaddi “to promote the sport of kabaddi in the UK and worldwide” has been set up. No doubt the group’s officials will be busy in the run-up to the 2025 Kabaddi World Cup, which will be hosted in the West Midlands.
