Jianzi
Encyclopedia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n game in which players aim to keep a heavily weighted shuttlecock
Shuttlecock
A shuttlecock, sometimes called a bird or birdie, is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton. It has an open conical shape: the cone is formed from sixteen or so overlapping feathers, usually goose or duck and from the left wing only, embedded into a rounded cork base...
in the air using their feet and other parts of the body (but not hands, unlike the similar games peteca
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...
and indiaca
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; this consists of four goose feathers attached to a heavier...
). The game, which goes by many different names (see below), may be rules-based on a court similar to badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
and Volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, or 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
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, it is known as đá cầu and is the national sport, played especially in Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
.
In recent years, the game has gained a formal following in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and elsewhere.
In English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, both the sport and the object with which it is played are referred to as "shuttlecock" or "featherball". No racquets are used.
The game
The shuttlecock, called a jianzi in the Chinese game and also known in English as a 'Chinese hacky sackHacky Sack
thumb|right|200px|A Hacky SackHacky Sack is the trademarked name of a type of footbag.-History:The name "hacky sack" came from the 1972 inventors of the Footbag, John Stalberger and Mike Marshall. Although Marshall suffered a fatal heart attack in 1975, Stalberger continued the business. At a...
' 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
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
with a hole in the center.
During play, various parts of the body, but not 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 powerful and spectacular overhead kicks.
In China, the sport usually has 2 playing forms: Circle Kick among 5-10 peoples, and Duel Kick between 2 kickers. Circle Kick uses upward kicks only for keeping shuttlecock not touching ground. Duel Kick is very popular recently among Chinese young players, using "Flat Kick" techniques like Shooting Goal techniques in soccer sports. Therefore, the "Flat Kick" techniques applied in Chinese JJJ games as major attacking skills.
The formal game
Competitively, the game is played on a rectangular court 6.10 by 11.88 metres, divided by a net (much like badminton) at a height of 1.60 metres (1.50 metres for women).The new game of Ti Jian Zi called "Chinese JJJ" has been invented by Mr. John Du in 2009, which uses low middle net of 90 cm & inner lines of the standard badminton court, applying soccer's shooting goal techniques for exciting attacking each other. The book "Chinese JJJ Rules & Judgement" in Chinese has been published by China Society Pressing House in May of 2010, the English version of the book is translating now & will be published before the end of 2011 by author's plan. 5 formal events included in Chinese JJJ just similar as in Tennes games: Men's & Women's Single, Men's & Women's Doubles, Mixed Doubles. ,
The informal game
There are unlimited 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.
History
The first known version of jianzi was in the 5th century BC in China. The name ti jian zi, means simply 'kick shuttlecock' ('ti' = kick, 'jian zi' = little shuttlecock). The game is believed to have evolved from cujuCuju
Cuju is an ancient code of football with similarities to association football. It is seen by some to be a forerunner of modern football and originated in China, and was also played in Korea, Japan and Vietnam.-History:...
, a game similar to football
Football
Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
that was used as military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
training.
Over the next 1000 years, this shuttlecock game spread throughout Asia, acquiring a variety of names along the way.
Jianzi has been played since the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
(206 BC–220 AD), and was popular during the Six Dynasties
Six Dynasties
Six Dynasties is a collective noun for six Chinese dynasties during the periods of the Three Kingdoms , Jin Dynasty , and Southern and Northern Dynasties ....
period and the Sui
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....
and Tang
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
dynasties. Thus the game has a history of two thousand years. Several ancient books attest to its being played.
Modern history
Jianzi came to Europe in 1936, when a Chinese athlete from the province of JiangsuJiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
performed a demonstration at the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In Germany and other countries people began to learn and play the sport, now called 'shuttlecock'.
In June 1961, a film about the sport called The Flying Feather was made by the Chinese central news movie company, winning a gold medal at an international movie festival. In 1963, jianzi was taught by teachers in elementary school so that it became even more popular.
Well known in Asia, the game has been gaining popularity in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The World Shuttlecock Championship is an annual event held since the founding of the International Shuttlecock Federation (ISF) in 1999. Until then, various countries took turns organising championships.
The sport continues to receive greater recognition, and was included as a sport in the 2003 Southeast Asian Games
2003 Southeast Asian Games
The 22nd Southeast Asian Games were held in Hanoi, Vietnam from 5 December - 13 December 2003. The games were opened by Vietnamese prime minister Phan Van Khai in the newly constructed My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi. The games torch was lit by Nguyen Thuy Hien of Wushu...
and in the Chinese National Peasants' Games
National Peasants' Games
The National Peasants' Games are a quadrennial multi-sport event in China in which competitors from among the country's 750 million rural residents take part in sports, both conventional - including basketball, athletics, table tennis, shooting, Xiangqi and t'ai chi, and traditional rural and...
. Among the members of ISF are China, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Germany, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Vietnam, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. Vietnam and China are generally considered best, while in Europe, Hungary and Germany are strongest. On August 11, 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 got much faster spreading all over China due to its techniques similar to soccer sport, its simple skills friendly to beginners and its fun for skilled players. In June 2010, Chinese JJJ's "The First Beijing Invitational Tournament" held successfully, having participation by foreign players such as "German Shuttlecock King" Martin, who was a former professional soccer player before studying in Beijing. In 2 years till May of 2011, there were foreign players of more than 10 countries played the game, proving firmly the game's attractiveness to soccer players. In 2011, the first formal Chinese JJJ Championship will hold in province ShanDong, and a couple of other provinces are planned to follow.
In August 2011, an American company released a toy called Kikbo based on jianzi.
Health benefits
Playing shuttlecock is vigorous aerobic exerciseAerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise is physical exercise of relatively low intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. Aerobic literally means "living in air", and refers to the use of oxygen to adequately meet energy demands during exercise via aerobic metabolism...
, and provides the health benefits of any active sport. Building hand-eye coordination is also good for the health of the brain.
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 21cm. The feathers vary in colour, usually dyed red, yellow, blue and/or green. However, in competitions a white featherball is preferred. The Official Jianzi for CompetitionsThe Shuttlecock uses 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 2 opposite feathers is 14-15 cm.
Other names
- USA - kikbo
- Vietnam - đá cầu
- Malaysia - sepak bulu ayam
- Singapore (and SE Asia) - chapteh or capteh or chatek
- Korea - jegichagiJegichagiJegichagi is a Korean traditional outdoor game. It requires the use of people's foot and Jegi, an object used to play jegichagi. Jegi looks like a badminton shuttlecock, which is made of a small coin , paper, or cloth....
or jeigi (to most Koreans known as sports only for children) - Indonesia - bola bulu tangkis or sepak kenchi
- Philippines - larong sipa
- Macau - chiquia
- India - poona (forerunner of badmintonBadmintonBadminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
) (unknown to most Indians) - Greece - Podopterisi
- France - da câu or plumfoot or pili
- Poland - zośka
- The Netherlands - "Voetpluim" or "voet pluim" or "Jianzi"
Related games, derivatives and variants
Sepak takrawSepak takraw
Sepak takraw , or kick volleyball, is a sport native to the Malay-Thai Peninsula...
is popular in Malaysia, using a light rattan
Rattan
Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.- Structure :...
ball about five inches in diameter. (Sepak means "kick" in Malay, and takraw means "ball" in Thai.)
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.
Kemari
Kemari
Kemari is a form of football that was popular in Japan during the Heian Period. Kemari has been revived in modern times.-History:The first evidence of kemari is from A.D.644. The rules were standardized from the 13th century. It was the first Japanese sport to become highly developed.The game was...
was played in Japan (Heian Period). It means ‘strike the ball with the foot’.
Chinlone
Chinlone
Chinlone is the traditional sport of Burma . Chinlone is a combination of sport and dance, a team sport with no opposing team. In essence chinlone is non-competitive. The focus is not on winning or losing, but how beautifully one plays the game....
is a non-competitive Burmese game that uses a rattan
Rattan
Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.- Structure :...
ball and is played only in the circle form, not on a court.
- CujuCujuCuju is an ancient code of football with similarities to association football. It is seen by some to be a forerunner of modern football and originated in China, and was also played in Korea, Japan and Vietnam.-History:...
or tsu chu, the possible forerunner of both footballFootballFootball may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
and jianzi - MyachiMyachiMyachi is the brand name of a type of hand sack.. It is a small rectangular bag approximately that players use to perform a variety of tricks using every part of the body except the palm of the hand. Myachi can be played alone or in groups...
- SipaSipaSipa is the Philippines' traditional native sport which predates Spanish rule. The game is related to Sepak Takraw. Similar games include Footbag net, Footvolley, Bossaball and Jianzi....
- Ebon (game)
- FootbagFootbagA footbag is both a small, round bag, and the term for the various sports played with one – characterized by controlling the bag by using one's feet. Although often referred to generically as a Hacky Sack, that is the trademarked name of one specific brand.Footbag-like activities have existed...
and footbag netFootbag netFootbag net is a sport in which players kick a footbag over a five-foot-high net. Players may use only the feet. Any contact knee or above is a foul. The game is played individually and as doubles.... - Hacky SackHacky Sackthumb|right|200px|A Hacky SackHacky Sack is the trademarked name of a type of footbag.-History:The name "hacky sack" came from the 1972 inventors of the Footbag, John Stalberger and Mike Marshall. Although Marshall suffered a fatal heart attack in 1975, Stalberger continued the business. At a...
- FootvolleyFootvolleyFootvolley is a sport which combines aspects of beach volleyball and football .-History:Footvolley was created in Brazil, by Octavio de Moraes, in 1965 in Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach as a means for football players to be able to touch the ball without violating the formal football ban at the...
- BossaballBossaballBossaball is a sport invented in Spain by Filip Eyckmans who developed the concept between 2003 and 2005. It is similar to volleyball, but also includes elements of football , gymnastics and capoeira...
- List of circle kick variants
External links
Official organisations
- International Shuttlecock Federation
- European Shuttlecock Federation
- German Shuttlecock Federation
- Hong Kong Shuttlecock Association Limited (A member agency of Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, ChinaSports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, ChinaThe Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China is the national olympic committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. As such it is a separate member of the International Olympic Committee . The current president is Timothy Fok...
) - USA Shuttlecock Association
- Greek Shuttlecock Federation
- Hungarian Shuttlecock Federation
- French Shuttlecock Federation
- Finnish Shuttlecock Federation
- Holland Shuttlecock Federation
- Chinese JJJ Association (CJA)