Jianzi (), tī jianzi (踢毽子), tī jian (踢毽) or jianqiú (毽球), is a traditional Chinese national sport in which players aim to keep a heavily weighted

shuttlecock A shuttlecock (also called a birdie or shuttle) is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger tea ...

in the air by using their bodies, apart from the hands, unlike in similar games

Peteca Peteca () is a traditional sport in Brazil, played with a "hand shuttlecock" from indigenous origins and reputed to be as old as the country itself. The same name is given to the shuttlecock-object itself. Objectives The objective of the game ...

and

Indiaca Indiaca is a form of the Brazilian game peteca popular in Europe. It is played on court across a net with similar rules to volleyball but instead of a ball, a large shuttlecock, sometimes also called an ''indiaca'', or ''featherball'' is used; th ...

. The primary source of jianzi is a Chinese ancient game called ''

Cuju ''Cuju'' or ''Ts'u-chü'' (蹴鞠) is an ancient Chinese football game. Cuju is the earliest known recorded game of football. It is a competitive game that involves kicking a ball through an opening into a net without the use of hands. Descripti ...

'' of the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

2,000 years ago. Jianzi's competitive sport types are played on a

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

court using inner or outer lines in different types of jianzi's competitive sports, respectively. It can also be played artistically, among a circle of players in a street or park, with the objective to keep the shuttle 'up' and show off skills. In

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

, it is known as ''đá cầu'' and is the national sport. In the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, it is known as '' sipa'' and was also the national sport until it was replaced by

arnis Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines (" Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), which ...

in December 2009. In recent years, the game has gained a formal following in around the globe. In

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

, both the sport and the object with which it is played are referred to as a "shuttlecock" or "featherball". The game is also popular in Malaysia, where it is known as "Capteh" or "Chapteh." It's a children's game before they can master " Sepak Raga".

Game play

The shuttlecock (called a ''jianzi'' in the Chinese game and also known in English as a 'Chinese hacky sack' or 'kinja') typically has four feathers fixed into a rubber sole or plastic discs. Some handmade jianzis make use of a washer or a

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order ...

with a hole in the centre. During play, various parts of the body (except for the hands) are used to keep the shuttlecock from touching the ground. It is primarily balanced and propelled upwards using parts of the leg, especially the feet. Skilled players may employ a powerful

overhead kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...

. In China, the sport usually has two playing forms: *Circle kick among 5-10 people *Duel kick between two kickers or two sides. The circle kick uses upward kicks only when keeping the shuttlecock from touching the ground. The duel kick has become popular among younger Chinese players, and uses "flat kick" techniques like goal shooting techniques in soccer sports. Therefore, the "powerful flat kick" techniques are applied in Chinese games as a major attacking skill.

Formal game

Competitively, the government-run game is called "Hacky-Sack (jianqiu 毽球)" played on a rectangular court 6.10 by 11.88 meters, divided by a net (much like badminton) at a height of 1.60 metres (1.50 metres for women). A new style of Ti Jian Zi called "Chinese JJJ" was introduced in 2009. "JJJ" stands for "Competitive Jianzi-kicking" in Chinese with the three Chinese characters "竞技毽" all with "J" as first letter. This version uses a lower middle net of 90 cm and inner or outside lines of the standard badminton court.

The informal game

There are several variations of the game, such as trying to keep the feathercock in the air until an agreed target of kicks (e.g. 100) is reached, either alone or in a pair. In circle play, the aim may be simply to keep play going. In all but the most competitive formats, a skillful display is a key component of play. There are 2 informal games in Chinese JJJ games using the same middle net: "Team game" having 3 players on each side & "Half court game" using just a half court for double player game only.

Freestyle

Freestyle discipline is very similar to freestyle footbag, where players perform various kicks, delays and other dexterities without touching the

with their hands. Many footbag tricks were initially inspired by jianzi, but later it turned the other way around and jianzi freestylers looked for inspiration from the more developed sport of footbag.

History

Jianzi has been played since the

(206 BC–220 AD), and was popular during the

Six Dynasties Six Dynasties (; 220–589 or 222–589) is a collective term for six Han-ruled Chinese dynasties that existed from the early 3rd century AD to the late 6th century AD. The Six Dynasties period overlapped with the era of the Sixteen Kingdoms ...

period and the Sui and

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) ...

dynasties. The game is believed to have evolved from

cuju ''Cuju'' or ''Ts'u-chü'' (蹴鞠) is an ancient Chinese football game. Cuju is the earliest known recorded game of football. It is a competitive game that involves kicking a ball through an opening into a net without the use of hands. Descripti ...

, a game similar to

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

that was used as

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

training. Several ancient books attest to its being played. Over time, the game spread throughout Asia, acquiring a variety of names along the way. Jianzi came to Europe in 1936, when a Chinese athlete from the province of

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

performed a demonstration at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-s ...

in Berlin. In Germany and other countries people began to learn and play the sport, now called "shuttlecock". The International Shuttlecock Federation (ISF) was founded in 1999 and the first world championship was organized by Hungary in

Újszász Újszász is a town in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of central Hungary. Geography It covers an area of and has a population of 6153 people (2015). Twin towns – sister cities Újszász is twinned with: * ...

in 2000. Up until this point, various countries took turns organizing championships. The sport continues to receive recognition, and was included as a sport in the

2003 Southeast Asian Games The 2003 Southeast Asian Games ( vi, Đại hội Thể thao Đông Nam Á 2003), officially known as the 22nd Southeast Asian Games and also known as Vietnam 2003, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from 5 to 13 December 2003 in Hano ...

and in the Chinese National Peasants' Games. Among the members of ISF are China, Taiwan, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, Laos, Vietnam, Greece, France, Romania, and Serbia. Vietnam is highly regarded, having won the world championship for ten consecutive years. On 11 August 2003, delegates from Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia founded the Shuttlecock Federation of Europe (S.F.E.) in Ujszasz, Hungary. After being invented in 2009, Chinese JJJ spread throughout China due to its techniques similar to football. In June 2010, Chinese JJJ's "The First Beijing Invitational Tournament" held, with players from more than 10 countries participating. In 2011, the first formal Chinese JJJ Championship was held in Shandong province, with other provinces planned to follow. In June 1961, a film about the sport called '' The Flying Feather'' was made by the Chinese central news agency, winning a gold medal at an international film festival. In August 2011, an American company released a toy called Kikbo based on jianzi. In 2013, a Hong Kong company released KickShuttle. It is a form of shuttlecock not made of feather with similar weight.

Official jianzi for competitions

The official featherball used in the sport of shuttlecock consists of four equal-length goose or duck feathers conjoint at a rubber or plastic base. It weighs approximately 15-25 grams. The total length is 15 to 21 cm. The feathers vary in color, usually dyed red, yellow, blue and/or green. However, in competitions a white featherball is preferred
The Official Jianzi for Competitions
The shuttlecock used in Chinese JJJ games weighs 24-25 grams. The height from the bottom of rubber base to top of the shuttlecock is 14–15 cm, the width between tops of two opposite feathers is 14–15 cm.

Related games, derivatives and variants

Sepak takraw Sepak takraw, or Sepaktakraw, also called kick volleyball, is a team sport played with a ball made of rattan or synthetic plastic between two teams of two to four players on a court resembling a badminton court. It is similar to volleyball and ...

is popular in Thailand, using a light

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed- canopy old-growth tropical fores ...

ball about five inches in diameter. (''Sepak'' means "kick" in Malay, and ''takraw'' means "ball" in Thai.) *Da cau in Vietnam, the game is popular among schoolchildren. *Indiaca or featherball is played with the same shuttlecock as jianzi but on a court, similar to a badminton court, and played over the net using the hands.The Featherball - a handy game around the world
/ref> *

Kemari is an athletic game that was popular in Japan during the Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura period (1185–1333). It resembles a game of football or hacky sack. The game was popular in Kyoto, the capital, and the surrounding Kinki ( Kansai ...

was played in Japan (Heian Period). It means "strike the ball with the foot". * Chinlone is a non-competitive Burmese game that uses a

ball and is played only in the circle form, not on a court. *

or ''tsu chu'', the possible forerunner of both

and jianzi *

Myachi A hand sack is any sack or similar object, typically made of cloth and filled with sand or a similar material, that is tossed on the back of the hand for the purpose of mastering tricks or playing games. Origin Tossing and catching (or striking) ...

* UKick * Sipa * Ebon (game) * Footbag and footbag net * Hacky Sack * Footvolley * Bossaball * Basse * Kickit * Lyanga * In France, pili, or plumfoot

Notes

References

* "Chinese JJJ Rules and Judgement", by John Du, Beijing, May 2010, by China Society Pressing House

External links

Basic Rules of Shuttlecock Sport
{{Authority control Individual sports Chinese words and phrases Team sports Sports originating in China