K is for Kayaking

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.


There's no actual K sport in the Olympics but it does include Canoe events which are competed in using both Canoes and Kayaks!  Confused?  Join the club.

Kayak means "man-boat" in Eskimo and probably originated in Greenland.  These tend to be for one person and closed in so that water cannot get it.  I don't think I'd want icy water getting in on my legs either but, as you've probably gathered by now if you're a regular visitor here, cold combined with water doesn't combine with me!

Canoes come in various shapes and sizes and are usually open topped and used for different purposes.  (Originally transport, trading and warfare.) In Olympic canoeing the competitors kneel in the canoe and paddle.

Competitive canoeing began in the mid 19th Century and it has featured in the Olympics since 1936.  Events have changed over the years and the distances that are raced over have shortened.  This probably helps with two things - keeping the cost of creating the course down and making it more spectator friendly.

There are two types of events - Sprint and Slalom.  Sprint is just a race to the line by competitors but Slalom involves negotiating a white rapids course and passing through a series of gates.  It's a very physical sport and not one I'd ever want to attempt but it can be exciting to watch.

As for other K sports well there are a number of Kite sports.  Don't be fooled like me that it's just about flying a kite.  Oh no.  You can Kite Buggy (yep sit in a buggy, get propelled by a kite) Kite Landboard, Kite Ski, Kite Surf........getting the idea?
But then you can also Kite Fight (the aim is to cut the line of your opponent's Kite - mainly a thing in Asian countries and there are some interesting ways of toughening the lines so that they are able to cut, including coating them with crushed glass!)   

Enough with the Kites I hear you say (some of you are probably wanting to tell me about the birds.)

Now where were we?  Oh yes there are Kabaddi and Kho Kho which are forms of tag but my favourite sounding K sport has to be Kubb.  But I'm not sure I should be allowed to play - it involves throwing wooden sticks at blocks of wood.  Think bowling combined with horseshoes.

It also involves a King and some complicated sounding rules.  And you need a big lawn. And maybe some public liability insurance!  Would you be considered safe to play?