10 Most Unique Sports You Won't Believe Exist

Also known as Calcio Historica; also known as the most bizarre sport to ever grace the earth. Imagine the athleticism and cooperation of football and rugby, add two cups of the brutality of MMA, mix a generous helping of pro wrestling with twenty giant spoonfuls of 17th century fashion and you more or less have the Calcio Fiorentino.

The mini tournament, played between teams representing the four neighbourhoods of Florence, comes to its baffling climax every June 24 in the Italian fine art hub of Florence. Because nothing says fine art more than a sport that could easily be named “punch ball”.

The game is pretty simple: two teams of 27 players attempt to get a ball to one end of a large dirt playing square and over a fence to score points. The team with the most points after 50 minutes wins. Beyond that there seems to be little limitation as to how the teams go about scoring points, with players actively engaging in fistfights to create opening opportunities for teammates to score.

You could spend your time learning interesting facts like how the game dates all the way to the 1600s or how the winning team used to be awarded with a cow – ONE COW – or how the game is officiated by men in pantaloons and plumed hats, but the best thing to do is watch it: find it online, go to Florence, just watch it. You have never seen anything with as much scale and grandeur before.