Techniques in Kabaddi

1) Raid
Raid is the focal point of Kabaddi. A couple of good raiders can change the whole tempo of the match within minutes with their superior techniques and tactics. Since more points can be scored through raids, the raider is always in the lime light and can be the recipient of public adulation or their brickbats depending on the quality of his raids. During the raid or attack in the opponents’ court, the raider has to maintain the ‘cant’ while withholding his breath. ‘cant’is the continuous audible chanting of the term ‘Kabaddi’ while withholding his breath by the raider during his attack in the opponents’ court. The aim of the raider, while in the opponents’ court, is to touch as many ‘antis’ as possible without being caught.

To make the raid successful, the raider must enter the opponents’ court with cant and either cross the baulk line or touch one or more antis before returning with cant to his home court without any breach of rules. The raid is fairly complex and several factors are to be considered to make it successful. A good raider should be equipped with skill, tactics, counteraction, ability to judge the situation, extricate him-self from difficult situations and above all good footwork to score points. The preconditions of a raid relate to the technique and strategy adopted by the raider just before he embarks on the raid. The points to be considered include where to enter, the existing number of antis in the opponents’ court, the defence positions adopted by the opponent, system of play adopted by the opponent, choosing the target, take stock of the game situation, whether to cross the bonus line and generally making a quick mental plan of the attack. All these factors are to be considered by the raider in split seconds before he starts his attack.

During the raid, the raider makes maximum use of his limbs to come into contact or touch the opponents to score points. This is accomplished through the techniques used by the raider with leg touches such as toe touch, foot touch, squat leg thrust, kicks and hand touches with his arms. Skill is the automatic application of technique without conscious thought. Skill is also defined as the ability to coordinate different muscles in order to perform a combination of specific movements smoothly and effectively. The factors that influence footwork, which is the hallmark of a good raider include general & specific fitness as well as stance, body position, movement velocity, feinting ability, pivots, & sudden checks in the raiding movement.

There are different types of raiding footwork such as the leading leg raid, shuffling raid, natural raid, and reverse step raid and cross step raid. Changing direction during the raid is also a significant technique adopted by the raiders to take the antis by surprise.

2) Fundamental raiding skills
Fundamental raiding skills can be broadly classified into hand touches, toe touches, foot touches, leg touches and kicks. Even if the raider is capable of good footwork, he will not be effective without these basic raiding skills. Hand touch is the easiest and perhaps the first raiding skill learnt by the raiders. This apparently easy skill does require proper practise and good reflexes on the part of the raider. Hand touch has been classified into five types i.e., running hand touch, stooping hand touch, turning hand touch, hopping hand touch and Feint & touch. Various skill drills have been designed for hand touches.

Toe touch is very effective in the bonus line game since it can be used by the raider even when he is at a considerable distance from the antis. Toe touch involves quick movements which can take the antis by surprise. To make the skill more effective it can be used in its different forms such as double attack in toe touch, feinting toe touch, dragging back & toe touch, running toe touch & taking a step & toe touch.

3) Foot touch
Foot touch is another fundamental raiding skill akin to toe touch with similar application method and principles. However, the salient difference between both the skills is that in toe touch the raider tries to touch the antis with his toe while in foot touch, the raider uses his complete foot. During the execution of this skill, the raider drags his thrusting leg towards the antis, which is known as a ‘slip’ in Kabaddi. This ‘slip’ helps the raider cover more area in the opponents’ court which has an advantage over toe touch.

4) Sudden leg thrust
Sudden leg thrust is another type of leg touch which is a combination of toe touch and foot touch. Raiders with quick reaction ability can use this skill to advantage. Sudden leg thrust is applied by sliding the attacking leg from side wards to reverse or forward to sideward making a second attack during the same execution of the technique, which can take the antis by surprise and is very effective in the bonus line game.

5) Squat leg thrust
Squat leg thrust as the name suggests, is applied by the raider in a squatting position by thrusting his nearest leg towards the antis. This skill can be applied after feint by the raider to push the defence chains away to create a distance between the chains and results in delay in application of cover by the antis. This skill calls for high reaction ability and good agility. Sort and slim raiders can make good use of this skill since the squatting position inclined towards the midline will make their escape to home court easier.

6) Kicking in Kabaddi
Kicking in Kabaddi is a significant attacking skill which can be resorted to in critical situations with good results. Back kick, Side kick & Curve / roll kick are the various types of kicks used by raiders in Kabaddi which can be executed while maintaining distance from the antis, to confuse the defence and enable the raider to make a surprise attack on the second man or cover, a good weapon to use against the defence when the antis are fielding on the baulk line. This is a good skill to be used effectively when the defence players are less in number.