5 Lesser Known Sports To Try Your Hand At

If you want to get a little more sporty, there’s no better time to get more active than the dawn of a new year. While wintertime isn’t the easiest time to get outdoors to partake in a sporting activity, you don’t have to let the weather limit you if you consider taking part in more indoor sporting activities. When you were younger, you may have enjoyed doing cross country club at school, you might have belonged to the soccer team, badminton club or did judo at college, and you may have spent your weekends heading out on long cycle rides. Fast forward to today, and you can’t remember the last time you did anything remotely sporty, apart from maybe watching some tennis on the TV in a bar.

To embrace your newfound motivation to get active, you need to find a sport that resonates with you. While you could return to your heady footie days, there are plenty more sports for you to try your hand at. You don’t have to worry about being the best or knowing all of the rules or competing if you don’t want to. You might prefer to have fun with a sport, get fit and shift a few festive pounds. Take a look at these lesser known sports that you might want to try your hand at.

Karate

If you’re keen to become fit while learning a new discipline, martial arts could be worthy of your consideration. There are many different styles of karate for you to take a look at from wado ryu to shotokan. Each style has a slightly different ethos and range of moves. You can work your way through the belts to become an expert within your chosen martial art.

Karate is a fantastic place to start because it is accessible to the masses. Many clubs choose to take a family friendly approach with children’s, women’s and men’s sessions all on offer. If you fancy having a go at karate, you could embrace a new way of looking at self defense. Karate isn’t about starting fights or getting the first punch in; it is the total opposite. You will be harnessing your new moves to protect yourself and others should you find yourself in a dangerous situation. The art of karate can be addictive and with weekly classes you can quickly progress through the belts. Get to know your sensei and enquire about local competitions. Here, you can meet up with friendly competitors and enjoy sparring matches and kata skills tests where you put your combinations to the test against fellow martial arts enthusiasts.

If you fancy a more legs based martial art, you could try out kickboxing. There are many styles including American and Muy Thai. Like other martial arts, you can work your way through a belt system to learn combinations, new moves and skills that can help you become more supple, flexible and athletic. It doesn’t matter whether you want to tone up or burn fat, kickboxing is the perfect all round exercise.

Boxing

If you’ve always fancied getting into the ring but thought boxing was more of a spectator sport, you need to think again. Head to your local boxing club or gym and explore the beginners sessions. While boxing can appear intimidating, the clubs in your area will be eager to welcome beginners. They will have a range of competitors on their books too, so it’s always worthwhile to head down to see these experts in action. Yes, they may look scary, but they are getting in the mental zone for their fights, ready to psyche out their opponents.

The most important boxing fights of all time focused more on the mental fitness of competitors rather than their skills. Mind over matter is definitely apt for boxing. If you’re keen to compete you can ramp up your training and find yourself in the ring. However, most people are more than happy for a cardiovascular workout with pads. Gyms have even got in on the action with boxercise sessions to music. As an active sport, you will be sure to get sweaty and lose weight.

Cycling

While you may head out now and then on your bike for a ride to the park or you hire bicycles for a tour when you head off on a city break every now and then, you probably don’t view cycling as a sport as such. However, with velodromes popping up everywhere, you can head down and have a go on full on racing bikes, complete with the cone backed helmet and lycra gear.

These ultra thin wheeled bikes take some getting used to but whizzing around the velodrome at astronomical speeds can be thrilling. You can receive coaching from some past champions if you find yourself really getting into the sport. Consider heading to a velodrome to watch the pros in action and see if it is something that you fancy a go at.

Table Tennis

Ok, so many people will suggest that table tennis is a hobby and not a sport, but tell that to the competitors in the Far East who have won numerous Olympic titles and are some of the fittest people on the planet. Table tennis when played competitively is like nothing you have seen before. Players stand meters away from the table and smash the ping pong ball towards their competitors at breakneck speed. There is nothing sedate about table tennis.

Plenty of gyms and youth clubs offer table tennis coaching sessions for new members. They are always eager to encourage people to give it a go. Ping pong or table tennis is great fun. You can play lots of games such as round robin knock outs, and it is accessible from your own home. You might fancy getting your own table tennis table for Christmas this year and testing your skills against your family before you take it up with fellow competitors.

Rugby

If you want a team sport to get your teeth into you could try rugby. This is the more European way of playing football. You won’t be wearing any protective gear and the rules can be a tad more complex, but this is manly sport at its finest. It’s not unheard of for players to receive concussions in matches. If you want to partake in a sport that verges on the dangerous and will get your endorphins raging, you could do far worse than rugby.

With fifteen players on a team, ranging from the scrum half to a back, you can have our pick of positions. If you are large, stocky and powerful, you might be the ideal back. If you are a pocket rocket and super fast, a fly half position will be more your style. Get yourself to a bar and watch a few matches. With the World Cup having only just finished there are plenty of replays of great matches available.

Check out your local clubs and venture down there to check out the rugby on offer. You will end up meeting like minded individuals and extend your social circle too. This is the joy of a fun team sport – the camaraderie is brilliant.

If you want to get more active in the New Year and you are also keen to shift some festive pounds, don’t become a gym bunny. Instead, focus on joining in with some sports in your local area. This can help you to make new friends, shift the pounds and learn a new sporty skill set.