The world of sports is full of interesting stories, including violent stories. And you find soccer, rugby, hockey, and other contact sports violent, lucky you weren’t born a few centuries ago. Check out some of the 5 brutal sports in history :

Spartan Games

The Spartans hated sports. They thought sports were for sissies. In fact, Tyrtaios, the great Spartan war poet, wrote about how unimpressive athletic performance was. According to him, “a man is no good at war unless he dares to look at bloody slaughter. To a Spartan, if you are not good at war, then you are not worth the air you breathe. For this reason, most Spartan “competitions” were astonishingly brutal.

Pele Viking

Essentially a big game of tug-of-war, the Vikings preferred to use animal skin on the rope and play over a huge bonfire. Usually, the winners walked away with the spoils of the town they had just plundered, which often included rape rights to women. As you might have guessed, the losers became intimately familiar with the bonfire.

Ulama

It was something like basketball, the players were supposed to swing the balls from their hips and try to get the ball through a hoop attached to the wall. The crazy part was that often the balls were made out of human skulls. And in case you are wondering where they got the skulls from, stick around until the end of the game. Let’s just say that the losers made a donation…

Muay thai

Muay Thai, although now practiced all over the world, this lethal martial art was born on the ancient battlefields of what is now known as Thailand. Commonly referred to as the “Art of the Eight Limbs,” practitioners use not only their feet and hands but also their elbows and knees.

Kabaddi

If you can imagine trying to fight seven people while holding your breath, then you may have an idea of what Kabaddi is all about. As one of the oldest sports in South Asia, Kabaddi is essentially a giant fighting game between two teams. The twist, however, is that only one member of each team can cross into the other team’s territory at a time, and in doing so must avoid breathing. All these sports are amazing, but if you are a fan of the more usual sports, and better yet, of betting on them, here is a tip: check out the best betting software to get the best limits and odds!