Polo - the origin and history of the legendary sport. How to play Polo. Polo clothes

Have you ever heard of the game of Polo? Today, almost everyone knows about the existence of such a famous and ancient sport, but few people really understand this game. For those who want to supplement their knowledge with information about the primordially aristocratic sport, the AVIATOR store blog suggests reading the article "Polo - the origin and history of the legendary sport."

The origin of the game of Polo

Football, basketball and tennis games are very popular among young people and ordinary people, but these sports are relatively young. Whereas the game of Polo has been around for over one and a half thousand years! The game was first demonstrated in the middle of the 5th century in Turkey and was called chovgan-polo. The game became very popular among the countries of Central Asia, since the specifics of the climate forced almost any man in these countries to be an excellent rider, and as a result, the sport had to be associated with horses. Also, it was the climate that played an important component in the selection of the rules and strategy of the game: the debilitating heat forced us to choose such game conditions in which players would not have to move a lot, sweat profusely and overheat (as happens in traditional and familiar sports), as in otherwise, players would be threatened with about a dozen diseases in those harsh places, which, as a result of limited medicine, would end in death. In XII, during the Crusades in the occupied lands, the English Teutonic Order discovered this very game of chovgan polo, which was actively played by the local population in their free time, after which the basic rules and techniques were transferred to England. The English aristocrats were truly stunned by the game, as it was perfect for the pompously dressed nobility who wanted to have fun through sports, but did not want to overexert themselves physically. It was then that the equestrian Polo, familiar to our time, was born with all its specifics, subtleties and elegance. However, in those days, the game of Polo was more graceful and less mobile, since the clothes of that time did not allow for many physically active movements, and the large breeds of horses that were popular in England at that time could not maneuver at the proper level. But this was only the beginning of the development of the legendary game...

Polo Rules

Chess is a game of kings, so it has complex and long rules. But polo is a game of nobility, so the rules are much simpler, although not as simple as in football, for example. However, the essence is the same. In total, there are 2 teams on the field, each of which consists of four players (shepherds). The task of each team is to score more goals in each round into the opponent's goal than the opponent will score. The ball, by the way, is made of wood, which is called "pulu" in Indian -

 This is where the name of the game comes from. The outdoor ball is approximately 8.3 centimeters in diameter and weighs 113.4 grams. The club is traditionally made of bamboo, wicker, or other light but dense wood.

History of the development of Polo

To make it more convenient to play Polo, local riders of Foggy Albion began to breed a special breed of undersized horses - ponies. Smaller horses had more agility, so the limited fields of play in England could give players a better feel for the game. After all, the game of polo in Central Asia was on more extensive fields, as it took place in the steppe. However, the ponies had one peculiarity - they did not know how to jump quickly. This again limited the strategy of the game, because the playing field is 300 yards long and 160 wide (about 5-6 standard football fields in area). And to overcome such distances for 6-8 periods of 7 minutes each, also with a player in the saddle, an ordinary pony cannot. Therefore, later they began to grow a special breed of pony horses, which were small (slightly larger than ordinary ponies), but at the same time hardy almost like Arabian horses. This made the game more active, fast and interesting. However, the main issue remained - uniforms.

Polo clothing

Initially, it was impossible to buy clothes for playing Polo, as there was no well-established or clearly regulated form at that time. Everyone put on such clothes in which he would be most comfortable ... Of course not! Each aristocrat tried to dress as pretentiously and representatively as possible, so that during the game they would shine not only with their outstanding skills, but also with an amazing outfit. However, soon many had to abandon this idea, since beautiful and solid clothes restricted movement too much, which made dressage a horse a certain difficulty. Therefore, tailors had to create exclusive outfits, first for each player separately, then for the whole team as a whole. However, a full and clearly regulated form appeared only in the 19th century. It was shorts, a helmet, a T-shirt with a collar that could be freely unbuttoned / fastened without anyone's help while on horseback, and of course shoes. However, until the beginning of the 20th century, everyone ordered uniforms from the same tailors, but in the twentieth century, large fashion houses appeared that annually created collections of clothes for playing Polo. The most popular today are 2 fashion houses: POLO Ralph Lauren and La Martina. However, over the past 20 years, the POLO brand has moved away from traditional polo wear and has begun to specialize more in casual and luxury clothing. While the legendary Argentinean brand La Martina continues to produce famous Polo collections every year, and has permanent contracts not only with many professional teams, but also with famous universities whose students play Polo: Spruce, Oxford, Harvard and others . Therefore, if you want to buy clothes for playing Polo, the AVIATOR online store advises you to pay attention to La Martina clothes.