Chessboxing

Exactly what it sounds like, chessboxing combines the thrill of a boxing match with the …excitement of speed chess. The result is an 11-round game where 6 four-minute chess rounds and 5 three-minute boxing rounds are held. Players win by knocking out the opponent, if they checkmate the other player or if the other player runs out of time on the chess clock.

Sadly, chessboxing has yet to work its way into America. For now Germany is the major arena for this dual event.

Street Luge

Like chessboxing, street luge combines two activities, skateboarding and the luge. While the general idea is to get going fast, high-level events even include jumps. The resultant sport is terrifying… just watch the video.

Cheese Rolling

It’s far more interesting than the name sounds. Yeah, there’s a rolling wheel of cheese.. the fun part is that the sport entails chasing it down a wildly steep hill. Being really drunk isn’t exactly a prerequisite, but it’s more or less a standard part of competing. A lot of people get injured too, as you would expect with all that booze and running and falling. First one to the bottom wins the cheese. Literally.

Though in existence for centuries, cheese rolling is still pretty much exclusively a local tradition on Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire, England. If you’re in the country though, check it out.

Underwater Hockey

Pretty much any fully underwater sport is guaranteed to be odd. Regrettably, underwater hockey is played with 12-inch wooden sticks. If it were played with four-foot wooden sticks, the game would be a lot more interesting. And maybe it could be full-contact? Extreme Underwater Hockey… yeah.

Lawn Mower Racing

Transformed from the lazy man’s way to trim the yard to a sport, lawnmowers are juiced up and set free on the tracks.