[blackbandit]

Originally Posted by Samurai

On a separate note, one image from this old thread has become extremely famous, the pic of the guy with 8 pack abs...

It was indeed a surprise to me!! Been seeing this photo all over my social feeds since long and now did i realise that it was sourced from our very own team bhp mod

And it is indeed saddening that the kambla ban received very less response compared to the jallikattu ban which is happening at a huge scale as of now. Maybe atleast now we can learn from the tamilians and do something. its always better late than never.

EDIT:Gotta appreciate the timing. This photo came up my Facebook feed right after i posted here


Image Source: Facebook WTN network page

[procrj]

Always wanted to experience one of these events and the kambala calendar published here says that there is going to be an event on 27th Jan at Aikala Kambala fields. Any way to confirm if the event is happening? Any do's and dont?

[Shamegz]

One of the most famous buffalo who ruled the sport was Nagaraja.

Nagaraja - King of Kambula

Nagaraja joined Payyoottu House when it was two years old. He started participating in races when it was four, and became the uncrowned emperor of the Kambala scene here, for 20 long years. During its illustrious career, Nagaraja won 115 medals.

The achievements of Nagaraja may be gauged by the fact that the postal department had brought out a stamp with its picture on the stamp. It was felicitated at various places including a felicitation at Katpady in which it was honoured by offering a golden crown. Nagaraja understood the touch of the whip and did not need to be hit while racing. The buffalo was rested since the last five years.

Nagaraja took part in the junior section of Kambala for the first four years and in the senior section, for the next 16 years.
It won in almost all the Kambala competitions it participated. The buffalo gets credit for being longest-running Kambala buffalo ever and also for accumulating highest number of medals, many of which were hat-tricks, earning him the nick-name, ‘Hat-trick Hero’. He had even earned the titles Kambala Karna. Nagaraj's specialty was to pull along the other buffalo along, irrespective of the capabilities of the other buffalo, and win the race.

Hhttps://www.daijiworld.com/news/news...x?newsID=60986

Payyottu Sadashiva A Salian is the proud owner of Kambala buffalo Nagaraja.

[Shamegz]

The sport is credit with bringing out rural talents. Here are some of the famous buffalo runners of Kambula:

Aladangadi Ravi
From a humble background Ravi aḷadaṅgaḍi is a masters as Kambula athlete by winning 300 medals with great number of fans in public. He received many recognition's from buffalo owners. At the age of 51, he is now training new generation of buffalo runners for the sport.

Picture courtesy: Beauty of Tulunad

Ashwathapura Srinivas Gowda is a buffalo runner who did a record run of 13.62 seconds for a distance of 145m, covering a 100m stretch in 9.55 seconds. Srinavas is famous on social media in comparing him with Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, whose 100m world record is 9.58 seconds..He is also awarded by Chief minister and Sports Minister's invite for a trial at the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

Picture courtesy: Google


https://www.news18.com/news/sports/d...s-2503623.html

[Samurai]

It is not fair to compare Gowda with Bolt. Main component in sprinting is the explosive power the runner can achieve via his fast-twitch muscles. That is why top sprinters are very muscular and have fast-twitch muscles. The Kambala runners don't need this because the Buffaloes are literally dragging them from the get go. They only have to move their legs fast enough to keep up, while needing no explosive power or fast-twitch muscles. Often the runner can't keep and falls flat or just lets go the rope if the Buffaloes are too fast.

The soft vs hard surface doesn't matter either. The Kambala runner doesn't need to push his toes hard against the ground to move forward. They mainly use their heel to break the foot fall. Buffaloes do all the pulling forward.

[Trojan]

Originally Posted by Samurai

It is not fair to compare Gowda with Bolt.

- Main component in sprinting is the explosive power the runner can achieve via his fast-twitch muscles.

- The Kambala runners don't need this because the Buffaloes are literally dragging them from the get go.

- The soft vs hard surface doesn't matter either. The Kambala runner doesn't need to push his toes hard against the ground to move forward. They mainly use their heel to break the foot fall.

- Buffaloes do all the pulling forward.

Thanks for pointing these out Samurai, in the last few days enough and more has been said about the running prowess, I had these thoughts but since have never witnessed any of these events myself, could only guess from video.
Its unfair and post trials it becomes a subject of taunts etc. but am sure if given the right training and the right event these are Gold level athletes and will be achievers.

[AZT]

Originally Posted by Samurai

It is not fair to compare Gowda with Bolt. Main component in sprinting is the explosive power the runner can achieve via his fast-twitch muscles. That is why top sprinters are very muscular and have fast-twitch muscles. The Kambala runners don't need this because the Buffaloes are literally dragging them from the get go. They only have to move their legs fast enough to keep up, while needing no explosive power or fast-twitch muscles. Often the runner can't keep and falls flat or just lets go the rope if the Buffaloes are too fast.

The soft vs hard surface doesn't matter either. The Kambala runner doesn't need to push his toes hard against the ground to move forward. They mainly use their heel to break the foot fall. Buffaloes do all the pulling forward.

There is also the genetic component. Jamaicans and also in general ethnically black people dominate track and field events. Same can be said about Kenya producing so many marathon winners.

[saisree]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Gee, I was almost tempted to put this under Motorsports section, but then the motor was missing. So, here it goes.

That's lot of info and thanks for getting this to us.

Meanwhile Another Kambala runner Nishant Shetty breaks Srinivas Gowda record
After Srinivas Gowda created a storm by covering 100 metres in 9.55 seconds recently, another Kambala runner Nishant Shetty has now overtaken the former by completing the same distance in 9.51 seconds.

And Srinivas Gowda has declined the trial at SAI

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by saisree

After Srinivas Gowda created a storm by covering 100 metres in 9.55 seconds recently, another Kambala runner Nishant Shetty has now overtaken the former by completing the same distance in 9.51 seconds.

I think we have already established in the last few posts that it is the Buffalo that runs fast, the man just manages to keep up.

[saisree]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I think we have already established in the last few posts that it is the Buffalo that runs fast, the man just manages to keep up.

Yeah!! I Agree. But the nation is not still taking that into conscience

[Guna]

Originally Posted by saisree

Yeah!! I Agree. But the nation is not still taking that into conscience

And this included someone like Anand Mahindra

[jayguar]

According to News18, it is understood both Srinivasa Gowda and SAI do know how to go about this and also are trying to bring down the hype with their statements. That is good from both the sides. However the majority of the public are ignoring the fact that keeping up with the buffaloes which in itself is no mean feat is very different from a 100m sprint. On a similar note, Thailand also has a buffalo racing festival.

But Gowda knows too well that the similarity between the two ends with just calling them running sports.
"Usain Bolt has succeeded at world level on track. I am only used to running in fields. The two can't be compared. That's a track event. Here you run with your heels. There it's on the toes," says Gowda
...
"We have plans in place. We have sports science and medicine department. But he has to decide. Once he comes, it will be a planned procedure for him where he needs to get accustomed to the difference of things, then coming on track. It will be premature for us to take his trials straight away," said SAI senior director Ajay Kumar Bhal.

"So he has to get conditioned because the dynamics of both are different. When he's ready then series of trials will be taken. We have to change his kind of running, but not lose what he has," he added.

Source

[am1m]

The news is just doing what the news does, sensationalizing without analyzing.

But in this case, it's great that in the process some recognition for athletic prowess and some awareness about the possibilities is coming about.

Over the past 5 years, I've had the opportunity to watch up close the way a recognized but not mainstream sport works at a state level. (Not through any form of participation but just through a weekend hobby.) From what I can see, it's really not the money, facilities, coaching or information that's lacking anymore. The past few years have actually seen a lot of investment in all those areas. What's sorely lacking is identifying a deep enough talent pool.

Most athletic sports (actually most sports barring cricket and hockey) seem to be where Indian cricket was in the 70s. Only players from big cities and from upper middle-class or wealthier families really had the time or resources to pursue the game. Opportunities for those from rural or economically weaker backgrounds were practically non-existent.

At each selection competition or trial at the senior level, I've basically seen the same faces for 5 years. That's because competitions are organized at the whims of the organizers, the dates are announced barely a week before the competition so how can an economically-disadvantaged competitor afford to travel across the country at short notice? This fits in well with the vested interests of coaches who train the competitors from big cities and also serve as competition officials! The regular competitors also become relaxed because there are no new challengers every year and on the rare occasion when they do compete internationally, they get whipped and the wide gap between our athletes and even competitors from smaller Asian countries is glaringly obvious.

Cricket is a success because it now has a system in place that identifies talented youngsters from almost every corner of the country and there is a formal system in place that feeds these youngsters into the national system. To succeed in athletics, all sports need such a feeder system. Badminton and Football seem to be getting that in place now. Such a system will not show results for years. But every sponsor wants to invest only in the short-term and needs results pronto.

So even some news like this that gives people from non-city or privileged backgrounds an opportunity is a big deal. A start.

[Samurai]

With the movie Kantara, the sport of Kambala has been showcased very well. What is really interesting is the director/hero Rishab Shetty did a Tom Cruise act. He learned how to be a Kambala jockey and played the role without using a body double. How he learned the sport has been described in this video:

https://youtu.be/Eamdt7unILM

[thirugata]

Sharing the calendar for Kambala 22 - 23



Also sharing some of the kambala photos from archive

https://www.flickr.com/photos/k_rao/...57625632771559

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126650...77720302659436