POV
26
NOVEMBER2015
AMERICANWAY
ILLUSTRATION
KENT BARTON
PHOTO
SHANGR I - LA HOTEL , VANCOUVER
“Tossing thepigskin” isabout tosound likeanormal activity
TheBestInsaneGamesEver
JustOurCupofTea
Anewway tosiphashitNorthAmerica—butdon’t try itathome
Holdinghis“sword“(a five-foot-longspout)behindhisback in
awarriorstanceworthyofBruceLee,CheHuadong looks like
he’sabouttostrike.Butthekung fuexpert issimplypouring
steamingwater intomyteapotattheXiShiLoungeof the
Shangri-LaHotel,Vancouver.Kung fuTeaoriginatedduring
theTangdynastyasawaytopour incrowdedteahousesand is
rarelyseenoutsideofChina.Huadong isNorthAmerica’s first
kung futeamaster.Ashecradlesthespout inhiselbowand
bowsbeforeme, Isurmisehewon’tbethe last.
—MARGIEGOLDSMITH
OCTOPUS-WRESTLING.
Waterfall-
Riding.Hot-Hasty-Pudding-Eating.
Competitive-Trumpet-Blowing. Some-
thing called “Chunkey.”We can’tmake
this stuffup— andneither didEdward
Brooke-Hitching, the author of
FoxTossing:
AndOther Forgotten andDangerous Sports,
Pastimes, andGames
. The factual book
collects history’smost dangerous, curious
andunthinkablepursuits, and the common
characteristic, asBrooke-Hitchingputs it, is
total insanity. Some you’ll want to trywith
your friends; others, youwouldn’t wishupon
your worst enemy.Here areour favorites:
BALLOON-JUMPING
Thismaybe the closest
we’ve come yet to jetpacks:
Circa 1920, thesedaring
“athletes” strappedmini
hot-air balloons (giant air
bags attachedby ropes to
awoodenbench) to their
backs and launched them-
selves into the sky, prepared
to soar great distances
cross-country.Divinewhen
it worked. Lethal when it
didn’t.
—ABBYKINSINGER
DWILE-FLONKING
In this 1960sNorfolk sport,
two teams of 12players
inporkpiehats gathered
together todance to an
accordionwhilehitting
eachother in the facewith
beer-soaked rags. The rules
arebafflingly complex for
a sport that forbids ending
sober, but somehighlights:
ablindfold, thehokeypokey,
a “gazunder” full of beer
and, obviously, a sugar beet.
PHONE-BOOTH-
STUFFING
In the 1950s, agroupof
students inSouthAfrica set
the record formost people
tofit inside a telephone
booth: 25. Studentsworld-
wide soon set out tobeat
the record. If theperson’s
bodywas at least halfway
inside thebooth, they
counted.Many came close,
but noneprevailed.Consid-
er yourselves challenged.
TheU.S. editionof
FoxTossing
(Touchstone, $24)
will beavailable in
bookstores andonline
Nov. 10.
