A closer look
Robert Dover founded the Cotswold Olimpick Games in England around 1612, featuring a wildly popular and deeply violent sport known as shin-kicking. Two men would literally hold each other by the collar and viciously kick each other in the shins with heavy boots until one of them was in too much agonizing pain to continue standing. Participants would famously stuff their socks with straw to act as primitive armor, but it rarely stopped the inevitable fractures and massive bruising. While the ancient Greeks were celebrating peak athletic prowess through discus and wrestling, the English decided the ultimate test of human endurance was just repeatedly smashing your leg bones together in a muddy field. The fact that this event was eventually revived and is still practiced today proves that humanity has an endless appetite for completely unnecessary, self-inflicted orthopedic trauma. It is the perfect sport for people who think modern rugby is just a bit too intellectual and safe
