Ulama () is a ball game played in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, currently experiencing a revival from its home in a few communities in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

of Sinaloa. As a descendant of the

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

version of the

Mesoamerican ballgame The Mesoamerican ballgame ( nah, ōllamalīztli, , myn, pitz) was a sport with ritual associations played since at least 1650 BC by the pre-Columbian people of Ancient Mesoamerica. The sport had different versions in different places during ...

, the game is regarded as one of the oldest continuously played sports in the world and as the oldest known game using a rubber ball.

History

The word ''ulama'' comes from the Nahuatl word ''ōllamaliztli'' a combination of ''ōllamas'' (playing of a game with a ball) and ''ōllei'' (rubber). ''Ōllamaliztli'' was the Aztec name for the Mesoamerican ballgame, whose roots extended back to at least the 2nd millennium BC and evidence of which has been found in nearly all

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...

n cultures in an area extending from modern-day

to El Salvador, and possibly in modern-day

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

.Fox, John
''The ball : discovering the object of the game''
1st ed., New York : Harper, 2012. . Cf. Chapter 4: "Sudden Death in the New World" about the Ulama game. Archaeologists have uncovered rubber balls dating to at least 1600 BC, ballgamer figures from at least 1200 BC, and nearly 1500 ancient ball courts. Due to its religious and ritual aspects,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Catholics suppressed the game soon after the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

. It survived in areas such as Sinaloa, where Spanish influence was less pervasive. As part of its nationwide revival, the game now has a home in the capital

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, at a cultural centre in the

Azcapotzalco Azcapotzalco ( nci, Āzcapōtzalco , , from '' āzcapōtzalli'' “anthill” + '' -co'' “place”; literally, “In the place of the anthills”) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. Azcapotzalco is in the northwestern p ...

neighbourhood.

Ulama

Ulama games are played on a temporary court called a ''tastei'' (, from ''tlachtli'' , the Nahuatl word meaning "ballcourt"). The bounds of these long narrow courts are made by drawing or

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

ing thick lines in the dirt. The courts are divided into opposing sides by a center line, called an ''analco''. A ball that is allowed to cross the end line, the ''chichi'' or ''chivo'', will result in a point scored for the opposing team. Points or ''rayas'' ("lines", so named for the

tally marks Tally marks, also called hash marks, are a unary numeral system ( arguably). They are a form of numeral used for counting. They are most useful in counting or tallying ongoing results, such as the score in a game or sport, as no intermediate ...

used to keep score) are gained in play. The scoring system provides for resetting the score to zero under certain conditions, which can make for lengthy games. The modern-day game has three main forms: *''Ulama de cadera'' or hip ulama. A hip ulama team consists of five or more players (but there could be as many as twelve) wearing loincloths, with leather hip pads for some protection against the heavy (3-4 kg, around 7-9 lb) rubber ball. *''Ulama de antebrazo'' or forearm ulama. Played on a smaller field, with teams of one to three players and a ball lighter than that of hip ulama, the games requires the players to return the ball using their wrapped forearm. Women often play this game. *''Ulama de mazo'' or ''Ulamad de palo'', in which a heavy (6–7 kg or 13-15 lb) two-handed wooden paddle strikes a 500g (1 lb) ball, usually in teams of three or four.Federación Mexicana de Juegos y Deportes Autóctonos y Tradicionales, A.C. The object of the game is to keep the ball in play and in-bounds. Depending on the score and the local variant of the rules, the ball is played either high or low. A team scores a point when a player of the opposing team hits the ball out of turn, misses the ball, knocks the ball out of bounds, touches the ball with any part of the body aside from the hip, accidentally touches a teammate, lets the ball stop moving before it reaches the center line, or even if they fail to announce the score after they have scored a point. The first team that scores eight points wins. If both teams end up having the same number of points after a turn, both sides begin again from zero. One record-setting game reportedly lasted for eight days. Most modern games are stopped after about two hours. Weiditz Trachtenbuch 010-011

Ulama balls

''See also Mesoamerican rubber balls''

Notes

References

Ulama
accessed October 2007. * (1978) ''Ulama, the Perpetuation in Mexico of the Pre-Spanish Ball Game Ullamaliztli''. Leiden. * *

External links

The Mesoamerican Ballgame Ulama

Article on Ulama
from the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

(archived by Wayback Machine) {{Team Sport Mesoamerican sports Ball games Team sports Ancient sports Sport in Mexico Sports originating in Mexico Aztec pt:Tlachtli