Previously on the “Kabaddi series”: ”Kabaddi Brothers” in Taiwan: “I met a Bollywood superstar thanks to the sport!”
Since the first part of the “Kabaddi series” highlighted how Kabaddi made landfall in Taiwan, I continued the second part, where the story of the "Kabaddi Brothers" was highlighted. I am glad to share that a couple of school principals and individuals have approached me and showed their interest in Kabaddi through private messages. I am thankful for their attention. I would also like to thank you all for your interest in reading about such a relatively new sport in Taiwan.
In this part, I have tried to put down some of the thoughts of the National Kabaddi Team of Taiwan. I was fortunate enough to be invited to visit the National Training Camp of the Kabaddi team, which was held at Hsuan Chuang University (HCU) at Hsinchu. The name Hsuan Chuang/Xuanzang has a historical link to India. He was one of the earliest Chinese monks who traveled to India in 629-645 CE and brought over 600 Indian texts to China and later translated them. Due to his efforts, Buddhism and Bharat (the original name of India) gained popularity in Eastern Asia. I was thrilled as well when I found out this.
The day I arrived at HCU, I was perplexed by the campus location and the natural scenery it abides by. Reaching here was a bit tough, but I was lucky to have my friend drop me there. Upon arriving here, I was welcomed by the National Coach of Women's Team, David (蔡威暘). After a short rest, I was guided by David to attend the training area. I was super excited that finally, it is happening where I am going to witness the Taiwanese National Team playing an Indian sport.
The first day I attended was spent with me observing them doing their training, as they were preparing for the matches the following two days that they had to play. David told me that such camps around the country help us evaluate ourselves on where we stand and train in a different environment than the usual at the National Training Centre. Upon seeing the players, it was pretty evident that they were somewhat shocked to see me. We all greeted each other and introduced ourselves.
One of the first few people I met was Mr. Lin (林韋宏), the National Coach for Men's Team. Being a vivid player of Kabaddi for over a decade now, he got into this sport by watching a friend playing it. "I was curious after I saw my friend playing it; I wanted to give it a try," said Mr. Lin (林韋宏). Being a part of the Bengaluru Bulls team in the 2018 edition of the Pro-Kabaddi, Mr. Lin (林韋宏) himself had quite a bit of experience of his time in India. Besides gaining a different perspective of playing Kabaddi, he became a fan of Indian food. His tales on how tasty the "Naan" bread was fun to listen to. Mr. Lin (林韋宏) is very passionate about Kabaddi, which one can see based on the tattoo he made on his body.
I also was able to speak to the players as well, Liam (林易璟) and Sun (黃日宏) from the Men's team shared their experiences of getting introduced to Kabaddi. Liam recalled his father was quite supportive and somehow pushed him to learn this game. He was initially trained by his father's friend. Sun, on his part, mentioned that earlier, he was into wrestling but later changed to Kabaddi as he found teamwork being more of his kind than an individual sport.
For the Women's team, I got the opportunity to speak to 胡玉珍 and 劉宜茹, who shared their reason to join the game as being introduced by their friends. 胡玉珍 is now a seasonal player and has been playing Kabaddi since she was in high school; fast forward 10 years, she is now one of the Asian Bronze medalists with her teammates in 2018. She mentioned, "At first I was scared to play because this is a contact sport, but slowly I developed confidence and realized it is beyond contact; it is also about the brain." 劉宜茹 on her part shared her experience about training that, "I got little injuries throughout the training and playing, but it is a part of the game and learning process, it didn't bother me much."
Being a part of the team, which also played against India in the semi-final of the Asian Games in 2018, 胡玉珍 shared that, "India's defense is very different from ours, it was quite unique. (...) And our bronze medal match with Iran was quite challenging and thrilling."
During my several interactions throughout my visit to both male and female teams, it was interesting to see how different perspectives of a new sport play out. One of the male team's challenges was that every time they got into international matches, they always faced some accidents that prevented them from attending any games outside Taiwan. In comparison to them, the female team had been quite fortunate as they could participate and prove themselves in the international matches, including the Asian Games.
The game days were fun, I could meet some of the senior players who were referees to the game, and also, I was able to meet Mr. Huang Chung-jeng, Henry, and other senior players again in this camp. It was a different feeling for me to witness the Kabaddi matches from the top podium of the venue, sitting in Taiwan.
There is no lack of hunger for winning matches internationally when I saw the National Team players playing and practicing throughout my visit. I am sure they will win more medals and play a significant role in spreading the message of this sport throughout Taiwan and bringing more name and fame to Taiwan. As a follower of this sport, I also request that the Taiwanese keep an eye on the National Team of Kabaddi, they have done it before, and they will do it again and make everyone proud. I would like to thank you again to every player, coach, and administration staff who hosted me throughout my stay in the camp.
To be continued.
*For the Chinese version please check: 直擊卡巴迪國家隊——衷心謝謝台灣人發揚我的家鄉運動！
執行編輯：劉芳瑜
核稿編輯：林欣蘋
