Ulama (game)

Ulama (or Pok -ta- Pok ) was a different ball game Indian cultures in Central America and a variant of the so-called Mesoamerican ball game.

History

The game is about 3000 years old. The word comes from the Nahuatl word Ulama ullamaliztli ( ball game). The name Pok -ta- Pok is derived from the sound that makes the ball while popping up from. The game was played by the Olmecs, the Aztecs, the Mixtecs and Maya. It has been found more than 600 playing fields from all periods of history of Mexico, the evidence of the popularity of the game over a long period of time. The rules can be reconstructed on the basis of fragmentary representations on vessels, sculptural objects and stone monuments. The teams consisted of four players. The aim of the game was to carry a rubber ball with the hips, the thighs or the elbow by a stone gate or a ring. The use of hands and feet was forbidden. The rubber ball weighed about 1.5 to 3 pounds. The pitches were often applied in the form of an artificial gorge which should symbolize the gateway to the underworld.

A legend says that the winner of the game were sacrificed, as this was considered a great honor (see also the sacrificial cult of the Aztecs ).

Others

As the " Official of the Artistic and Cultural Programme to the 2006 FIFA World Cup " has performed a Mexican Pok -ta- Pok- Force in Germany.