Sepak Takraw

Sepak takraw is the official, international name for the Southeast Asian sport in which teams compete by moving a small ball back and forth over a net without using their hands or arms. The name is derived from sepak which means "kick" in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore and takraw which means "ball" or "woven ball" in Thailand. The sport is the modern, competitive version of an ancient Southeast Asian game in which participants stand in a circle and keep the ball in the air, using only their feet, legs, and bodies. It is popular in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines, southern China, and more recently, in the West. The game is called sepak, takraw, sepak takraw, sepak raga, sipa, ching long, kator, and tago, depending on the nation. The sport of sepak takraw was first included in the Asian Games in 1990 as a men's sport; a women's event was added in 1998. The governing body for the sport, the International Sepak Takraw Federation, is working to have it accepted as an Olympic sport.

The origin of the game is unclear. A similar game was played in Japan and south-central China over a thousand years ago, but it is likely that the games played in Southeast Asia developed indigenously, and likely in more than one place, anywhere from five hundred to a thousand years ago. The game emerged as a village recreational activity in which boys or men stood in a circle and kicked a woven rattan ball to one another while attempting to keep it from touching the ground. Other varieties of the game include kicking the ball into a hoop, racing while keeping the ball in the air, and keeping as many balls in the air as possible at one time. The modern game is similar to volleyball, with a rectangular court and net, teams of three players each, formal rules, three hits per side, 15-pointgames, and a two-out-of-three set format. Modern balls are made out of plastic rather than the traditional rattan, to maintain uniformity in size, shape, and weight.

Thai and Brunei players compete in takraw at the Southeast Asian Games in Brunei in August 1999. (REUTERS NEWMEDIA INC./CORBIS)

Supporters believe it only a matter of time before sepak takraw is accepted as an international sport beyond Southeast Asia. It is a source of considerable pride in Southeast Asia, and debates continue—especially between Malaysia and Thailand—over which nation can claim ownership of the sport.

Trevithick, Alan. (1996) "Takraw." In Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present, edited by David Levinson and Karen Christensen. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1010–1014.