Ulama
By from May 3, 2004
I recently learned about the ancient Mesoamerican game of ulama from an article in the Economist. The game, which is still played today, has a continuous history going back almost 4,000 years. As the article says, "This is not to say the rules of ulama have not changed over the years--ritual sacrifice of the losers is thought to have died out in the 1300s."
From what I understand, you play on a long, narrow field (60 meters by 4 meters), and you have to hit this very heavy (9 pounds!) rubber ball with your hip or thigh toward the other team.
According to the Economist article, "The rules of ulama are still today in flux, and often not even understood by the participants. This is why in a match each team brings a veedor, an elder who is meant to settle disputes over the rules."
That seems like a good idea, but it would have been even more important back when they sacrificed the losers.
<< | Posted on May 3, 2004 at 11:11 AM | >>
AUTHOR: freddy
EMAIL: fan.2.freddybot@spamgourmet.com
IP: 216.210.182.54
URL: http://www.orange-bicycle.com
DATE: 05/03/2004 11:46:23 AM
Posted by freddy @ May 3, 2004 11:46 AM
I tried to post a photo with no success. You can go paste it into your browser tho:
http://www.viewzone.com/olmec.ballplayer.jpg
Posted by freddy @ May 3, 2004 11:46 AM
From what I understand, it's mostly played by adults. Children playing may even be a recent development. The ball is nine pounds. Kids can't handle that!
Posted by josh @ May 3, 2004 11:32 PM
Ulama is a survival of the ancient mesoamerican ballgame. You can log on a couple sites and read a bit more on this sport that is 3500 years old. To answer the question about the kids, most people begin playing Ulama between the ages of 8 to 12 years old. In order to really understand the game they start young. By the way they play with a worn out ball that weighs about 2 kilos or four pounds. About keeping the ball in the air, no you have two types of service. The first service is rolling the ball on the ground (male por abajo)and the second service is a high service (male por arriba) where a player (taure) hits the ball in the air. Go to these sites and you will see more pics. Here are two sites:
www.archaeology.org/0309/abstracts/ballgame.html - 18k
http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/anthro/jbrady/ulama/proyectoulama.htm
P.S. my pic looks pretty good on your page!
Posted by Ramirez @ February 24, 2005 10:16 PM
Post a comment:
Do they have to keep the ball in the air? Also, photos pleez!
Posted by freddy @ May 3, 2004 11:40 AM