🤼 My 11 year old nephew wants to play kabaddi now

My nephew is 11 and last month he told his mother he wants to join a kabaddi class. She called me because I'm the one who watches it with him. She said, what have you done to him? I started watching 2 seasons ago because my brother had it on during a family visit. I thought it was just 2 men grabbing each other. I was wrong about that. It took me about 3 matches to understand the rules. The raider holds his breath and keeps saying one word. If he touches a defender and gets back across the line, his team gets the point. My nephew explained it to me at the dinner table with a steel plate and 3 spoons as players. He's better at explaining than my college teachers ever were. I told him that and he looked proud. A friend of mine played kabaddi in college and he says the game is harder than it looks. He said the raider's legs are the real weapon, and the whole thing is about timing and not panic. When I watched a few matches after that, I started noticing the footwork. That was his advice. Now I pause the TV just to see how someone escaped a grip. My sister thinks I've gone mad. Last Sunday my nephew's school ground had a small kabaddi match, no mat, just a line drawn with chalk. He tried a move on his friend and they both landed in the dust and laughed for 5 minutes. His mother has agreed to the class, as long as he finishes his maths homework first. I'm already planning to go and watch his first week from behind the fence.

I played a bit of kabaddi at school, and it's rougher than it looks on TV. Cuts and bruises on my knees every week. My mother stopped me after I got a swollen wrist. So I'd say fine to the class, but ask the coach about warm ups first. A good one makes the kids stretch for 15 minutes. Mine didn't, which was my mistake.

Your nephew explaining kabaddi with spoons is great. My mother does that with the remote control. She never cared for sport, and now she calls me in Khobar during matches to complain about referees. I tell her to relax and she says, you don't understand the game. She's right, I don't. Let him join the class. If kids that age stick with something, it helps them a lot.