Reviving a 3,000-year-old Ancient Ballgame
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2024
- Long before basketball and soccer, ancient Mayans were hitting the park to play rounds of Mesoamerican ballgame. Dating back to 3000 B.C., the game was played with a solid rubber ball that could only be hit by a player’s hip. Today, in Hidalgo, Mexico, a group of athletes are determined to bring back the ancient ballgame and honor the traditions of their ancestors.
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Seeing grassroots movements like these of individuals who work hard to not only preserve culture, but to bring it forward into modern relevance fills me with so much warmth. Tengo nada pero orgullo por nuestra cultura ❤❤
gabdominates Me too. I just wish to see them speaking their native tongue. Our original Aztec language
Are you proud of human sacrifice?
protects No they just want to see their Aztec ancestors have their traditions preserved
@@JesusProtects Are you proud of the killing of 95% of human indigenous killed in the name of Christianity???
@@JesusProtects yes. Human offerings are pretty cool.
Yes I’m 100% sure that the ancient game was called mesoamerican ball game
milky memes yeah that made me laugh too
I read about a game like this that the aztecs played, it it had an actual name. This one looks different though
well... its called just "ball game" so its ok
He was supposed to say 'Pok a Tok'.
There are so many variations based on the time and region that historians encompass them under the name "Mesoamerican ball game." It's not really known how exactly the old versions of the game were played because there were so many variations.
If Ricardo Milos was there he would easily win using his ultimate move.
No way this meme is that old now 💀
No sacrifices were made during the making of the video...
Unfortunately many balls were humped during the making of this video
I was thinking of Sacrifices too. However then I remembered that most historical accounts are those made by people who oversaw genocidal campaigns and extermination of local culture in favour of a European one.
Hence, the claim about sacrifices may be taken with a pinch of salt.
Perhaps more investigation is required before we assume such actions took place.
Vishesh Bansal Nah. We all prefer using the Internet. ^-^
Muhammad Ali Could you please elaborate further on your statement. I am not sure if I truly understand what you are trying to convey.
Vishesh Bansal Current historia. Internet culture! :D
Oh and sacrifices exist today as well! Watch the news and figure it out.
You know, back in the days they burned "witches" in Europe and there were all sorts of sacrifices. Not so long ago.
Sacrifice was a very common thing. And lots of other disgusting things
I think some Mayan ruins had these ballgame pits, but with a small vertical ring on the wall, they were so skilled they could shoot the ball through the hoop.
It's the same game. The primary objective was to get the ball to the other side, but variations of the sport played by professional teams in the large cities also had the hoop that would grant a large amount of points to whoever could get it in.
@@iannordin5250 You're correct. I have been to many sites in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala... not all of them had real courts but the largest/ more important cities did and they still stand today.
They’re also in Zapotec and Mixtec ruins
I had always read descriptions of the game play but could never understand. Excellent video.
Created by the Olmecs thousands of years before the Mayans.
game for the thicc
k lol
Yes plz
Finally. A game for me.
@Frank Wilson What
@Frank Wilson Oh ok
I'm Chilean and I remember I had to make a presentation about this game 10 years ago for my history class.The moment I saw the thumbnail I remembered what it was about and how interesting I thought it was,glad to see it's going strong❤
But why are schools in Chile teaching about an ancient game from central mexico?
Maybe the Incas had a similar game, IDK
@@ericktellez7632 becuase it wasn't just from mexico...
@@Xolotl000 it wasn’t from chile though my guy, this extended mostly from southern mexico to all of central america but not to south america.
@@ericktellez7632 you are incorrect. In south america its called pik a tok. in the united states their have been courts found in the s.w. aswell.
Neymar would kill at this sport. ’Cause he's always on the ground.
OOOH🤣🤣🤣🤣
And shakira with those hips move 😂
its his heritage
diddy car skibidi neymar
The Mayans were not the first reported to have played the game, rather it was the Olmecs; who were also an older Mesoamerican civilization.
I thought they were talking bout Mexicas (Aztecs)
@@marioalberto34844 Well, the Aztecs also practiced this ballgame, but the Olmecs is the oldest Mesoamerican civilization known and there is archaeological evidence that shows that this game most likely originated from them. Many refer to the Olmecs as the “mother culture.” The rise of the Aztec empire didn’t come until much later :) hope this helps
@@lilymar117 -- That is correct. Also, the rubber plant in which the ball is derived from was cultivated by the Olmec civilization.
@@ironcladranchandforge7292 Oh, yes! My professor spoke about that last week in lecture :) it’s fascinating to learn how they were made, too! I will be tested on the Olmecs, Zapotecs, and the people from Teotihuacán next week, so thank you for refreshing my mind 🙏🏼😭
@@lilymar117 -- It's a long and great history!! By the way, the "ring" you see in some of the ball courts wasn't introduced until later on, post classical period. Good luck on the test!!
Just don't get hit in the nuts. That probably happens a lot in this game.
That’s why they have those bands around there waist and it covers their nuts
Not just in the nuts but this ball is heavy as fuck so if someone breake a bone in the game its normal
@@Xanaberta-k8r I don't think so. It's not a medicine ball
ee e it's made out of solid rubber, not even hollow inside
@@Billy-bn1rp Depends on how soft the rubber is
It cheers me up when movements like these come up. Meso-American culture is so underrated.
Dude this game was the equivalent to the Roman colosseum, and that's why the Spanish banned it lol
and so overrated at the same time being imagined romanticized as paradise on earth by any generation of "new agers".
Cool ball sports. Just no bloody sacrificing needed.
@@GabrielNavarro-bo7st If not for "Apocalypto" directed by Mel, bringing it out, no one would really give a damn about it locally ;)
@@paulobastos1774Imperialism by the Spaniards and British is to blame. Futbol /Soccer became popular in Mexico because British people took over silver mines and brought their code of football with them.
When I was growing up in Puerto Rico, me and my friends tried reviving the Taino version of this game. We played it non-stop for two summers, but then we graduated and I moved to the states. I love the ballgame though.
I'm curious what is the difference between this and the Taino version?
@@Shootmaster44 tainos played with a rock.
@@niurkaguzman48 Ouch...
@@niurkaguzman48 😂😂😂😂😂
@@niurkaguzman48...
"When I'm working, that's not me working. It's my ancestors spirit."
For any future viewer asking about the sacrifice, it was the WINNING team that got sacrificed. It was looked upon as an honor to be killed as an offering to the gods. I know its not the most practical and the equivalent would be like killing Ronaldo or Curry, but thats how it is...bless the 21st century.
living meme
Hallelujah, hallelujah praise the order of three. For they have welcomed us into the new world.
Still people sacrificing themselves, just to different gods...
living meme and wasn’t it that if an individual person fucked up they got sacrificed as well?
Mad Pierrot true that! Forgot about that
Jonathan Williams It is. The losers were sacrificed and the winners were blessed with life and wealth.
This game looks really fun despite the injurys and bruises
no it doesn't
2:58 some badass mask
Can we all come up with a good name for this game? Something cool, something hip.......
What have I done....
Cjxtreme66 it’s called Ulama in the state of Sinaloa it’s been played the forever there while it died out every where else in Mexico
This game is hip and cool
It's called ulama nowadays by people from the Mexican State of Sinaloa . The game is one of the oldest continuously played sports in the world and is notable for the fact that it is the oldest known game using a rubber ball. The word ulama comes from the Nahuatl word ōllamaliztli [oːlːamaˈlistɬi] a combination of ōllamas [ˈoːlːama] (playing of a game with a ball) and ōllei [ˈoːlːi] (rubber). Ōllamaliztli was the Aztec name for the Mesoamerican ballgame, whose roots extended back to at least the 2nd millennium BC and evidence of which has been found in nearly all Mesoamerican cultures in an area extending from modern-day Mexico to El Salvador, and possibly in modern-day Arizona and New Mexico. Archaeologists have uncovered rubber balls dating to at least 1600 BC, ballgame figures from at least 1200 BC, and nearly 1500 ancient ball courts.
You're welcome.
I’ve heard 3 other names besides ulama which r pok-a-pok, pok-a-tok, and pitz, but since I’m also Mexican I think ima also stick with ulama since I wanna learn Nahuatl too, but I jus wanted to put these out there too jus n case and ty for putting this info out~
Haha, so it litrally is "ball game". I guess when the original there werent any other "ball games" to confuse it with
Cant wait it gets to the Olympics in the future👌😄👍
It should get into the PanAmerican games at least.
SAME XD
They had a ballgame in the Caribbean too, called batú. You could hit it with anything except the hands
This is very fascinating! I hope this game is able to go into worldwide and professional leagues!!!
Losers would get sacrificed by getting thier hearth cut out wile alive
The ball is the sun and the 5 players of a team represent the planets.
*hits blunt* Yeah man
I remember first seeing this game in The Road to El Dorado. Thiccness
It nice to see the game my ancestors created is still being played like how they use to do it I might need to take a trip to cop an to play a lil ball
“TULIO!! THE HIPS, THE HIPS”
That is great to see. You have to constantly dive down into the depths to resurrect tradition to keep it alive. Respect.
I really like that they are people who loves to preserve the game culture and bring back what was lost. its just weird that the Armando was saying football but the subtitle says soccer hahaha
Martin Tabanag soccer is futball in Mexico
Melissa Martinez i know. But they should have put football in the subtitles instead of soccer
Martin Tabanag they’re the same thing in Spanish
Alan Barboza that's cool!
When you ask your girl to show you what her hips can do
If this becomes an Olympic Sport, I’ll be surprised.
If this was a world competition. Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras may consider the giants
Gotta let Kim k know about this, she’ll be a god at this game.
I would be type of kid to start kicking the ball
And break your feet, it's solid rubber)
The ball literally punishes the players who don't follow the play rules lol
That shit is heavy af its a solid mass of rubber.
Those balls weighed 20 pounds. You wouldn't kick it far
Que orgullo, saber que estan haciendo esto.
Nel
Bringing back Culture, Tradition and Community, like this, is how we get our act together as humans. I love this!!
Dígannos cómo apoyar. Nuestra herencia debe mantenerse. Saludos desde USA!
If I played, when I threw my hip I would fall 😂
Me:truth or dare!
Friend: Dare!
Me: I dare u to revive a 3000 year old ancient ball game!
Friend: ...
that is the kid-friendly modern version. The game during the height of the aztec empire was much more brutal and bloody and the losers could be sacrificed afterwards.
I am a Cuban Italian and I have a great passion for mesoamerica to the point where I learned Nahuatl the Aztec (méxica) language. I live in America but I would live to play Pok te’ Pok or ullimaiztli!
This game looks really fun I read books about it never tried it myself I also find it funny how most of the comments are about sacrifices
try this in the USA and youll have parent trying to sue the organizers cause their kids got bruises lmao ... funny but unfortunately true
Concentrate Corner too true
lmao true... sad thing is that most kids probably won't even mind the bruises as long as they enjoy themselves. It's the parents who make the kids into little wussies.
People are not that sensitive too many negativity just gets more noticed
The crazy thing is this is safer than concussion ball. You might get a skeletal or muscle injury but don't have to worry about brain trauma from usa football, soccer, or rugby.
yeah man, its not like contact sports are incredibly popular in the U.S., fuckin get em
Olmecs, Aztecs, Mayans all played this game fact is it was all over South America and Mexico passed around from generations to generations.
Who did not need the subtitles
This isn't what my ancestors played, probably because I come from Aztec regions of Mexico. My ancestors played a game like basketball but with a little rubber ball you had to get in a net and then throw it through a goal on a wall.
Esq somos de sncestros españoles brother puro hijo de muchacha ahi
Geth No, they mainly got killed by conquistadors. But disease was a factor to.
Geth no many fled and there are still some tribes that speak dialect that derived from the old Aztec ones
its the same game
@ nah Mexicans still carry their genes
But the world is only 2018 years old.....
I’m joking 😑
Issak lopez
No, that’s the universe.
Studley D. Muffin the universe is between 13 and 14 billion years old.
Abel Ramirez bich no.
Studley D. Muffin bich no dats earth
Can everyone just click "Read more"
I look forward to the day when this cultural gem is elevated to the level of Soccer and American Football...and perhaps higher!
Años conociendo al señor armando siempre compartiendo lo que sabe ☺️
This game should hit the world wide ...natives vs natives
Hidalgo
I've heard about this ballgame, apparently it was really to die for
This game seems much more interesting than football
I'd love to get ahold of this guy, and learn the game from him, and help him share the game everywhere else!! I'm sure there is a lot to learn from his way of life.
Is there symbolic meaning to using your hips only?
I wanna learn too anybody else tryna stalk him down and annoy him into teaching us? cuz I’m down(jus kno I’m not serious abt the stalking thing but I do want him to teach me)~
Cool
This channel is amazing! The best one. Keep up the amazing videos!❤️
That's awesome!! Wish you could play in an original ball court though, or a reproduction of one.
Use your *ball* to knock the *ball*
Damn,you really need *ball* of steel to play this ancient *ball* game
SkullGM lol balls to balls 😄😄😄😄
Holy shit... I want to try this
This looks like fun.
so this is what my ancestors played
This sport should be more famous than soccer if the Holy Inquisition does not ban it......
Nobody expect the Holy Inquisition !!!
Sin matar, parece chido. Quiero probarlo.
Sin matar 😂
Fucking cool. I love my culture and learning about the ancient ways
Incredible production. This is my favorite RUclips channel! Bravo!
Aho I remember my friend from yucatan taught me this game I was really doing good job
hey mrs farewell’s class
T- Sami farewells?
This is sick
My own impression: this game was probably created to toughen up the young people in preparation of any war.
Wasn't there, like, a vertical stone hoop that they're supposed to put the ball in to score?
Zulhilmi Ghouse it's another game from another culture.
LagiNaLangAko23
In the Postclassical period, the Maya began placing vertical stone rings in the center of each of the side walls, an innovation that continued into the later Toltec and Aztec cultures. Any player who succeeded in passing the ball through the stone ring was immediately declared the winner. As the holes in the ring were not much bigger than the ball this must have been a very rare event and most games were likely won on points.
This was very interesting and I for.one applaud them for envisioning the continuation of this sport. I am a retired roller derby player and if derby can revive itself I don't see why this can't get started
Can't wait to see this in the Olympics
The ricardo tribe specializes with there hips
Awww they don't sacrifice the losing team?! So much for tradition.
Josh Cade it was the winning team that got sacrificed back in the day
living meme damn that's crazy
Josh Cade that be cool and weird though lol
osama bin laden
It was considered an honour. However it cannot be proved that human sacrifice occurred due to the game. But it's plausible...
both were sacrificed, the winner as honor and the loser to the down bellow (like hell if i remember)
I’m supposed to believe this is the first instance of people playing with a round object. Every other historical channel, including those from Hispanic producers say it was played with ‘the bones’. Elbows, knees and hips
I learned this at my school wow!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this the one where if people lost they got sacrificed?
Yup just looked it up:
www.ancient-origins.net/news-history/ulama-mesoamerican-ball-game-deadly-sport-ancient-americas-003156
Safi Rouhi Metal af
Im Mexican and I THINK that the one with the sacrifices is either different or more ancient because the one I know has as an objective to hip-push the ball into a stone ring...sorta like a weird basketball game. Still find it weird how the winners were sacrificed tho...
Yea and golf and polo were played with severed human heads, so what?
Gwyn justice source plz?
Omg this reminds me of the Road to Eldorado cartoon
Seeing as how the team who loses the match would have been sacrificed I think it belongs in the history books nowhere else
Nah
That game looks hard
Viva a Mexico, Hablo espanol. I can understand every word they are saying
Yo también
I bet Ricardo Milos plays this too...
Its great the ancient game is being honored. Its also important to acknowledge how misguided the ancient culture was about human sacrifice. If sacrifice worked the ancient culture would have survived. It didn't stop a generational drought. It didn't stop crops failing. It didn't stop the Spaniards from conquering them.
I had the opportunity to sit in the stands and watch a game it was so interesting and exciting to watch
Exactly 2,125 years ago :
Qzsdrechodtotlllll: Hey Wezewsdfhsdfeltllll, anyone for a pickup game of mesoamerican ball game?
Wezewsdfhsdfeltlll: Where's Mesoamerica? Is that near Italy?
It's a little-known fact that Cortez bankrupted the Aztec empire by selling them Chinese-made hula hoops at jacked-up prices.
Nicki Minaj would be the Lebron James of this sport😏🍑
This looks really fun.
The ball must have *HURT!!!*
didnt like they use the loser's head as the ball of something
edit: not currently, but thats what i heard back then, the Mayans i think played the game, and the whole time or the coach will be sacrificed.
Lol
A tv show called Museum secrets did a documentary on it, and the researcher believed that there may have be skulls inside them based on some drawing which had a basic painting of a skull inside the rubber, but most people now seem to think it was an exaggeration or meant to be figurative.
www.aztec-history.com/aztec-ball-game.html could be from this also
"It is said that the ball represented the head of a sacrificed victim. In Tenochtitlan, the ball court was at the foot of the blood stained stairs of the temple, and the ball game itself would often be a scene of sacrifice. It is believed that the losing coach, or even the whole team, might be sacrificed. Some historians have disputed this - because it was an honour to be sacrificed, it may have been the winning team that lost their lives."
Most likely, there was death for the winners, or perhaps no death at all. The ball was pure rubber.
You know there was a lot propaganda from the Christian missionairies to discredit their culture so you should always be sceptic about stories like this
Should be speaking ancient mayan instead of conqueror's language...
kek this
UnitedEarthEmpire See, there's something we call Europe.
UnitedEarthEmpire They probably do, but for the purposes of this video, it's more convenient to use Spanish, a language where many translators to English are available. One thing that does confuse me though is that they were in Hidalgo, Mexico, which is not the ancient home of the Maya. Where they were is the ancestral home of the Nahua, who speak Nahuatl, a language still spoken in Mexico today. If they're Mayan though, they most likely speak one of the Maya languages. Most Mayan people do speak one of the Mayan languages, probably Yucatec Maya in this case.
UnitedEarthEmpire The Mayans were gone before the Spanish came to America. By the time Columbus' came, the only people left were descendants of the culture and other indigenous tribes.
That's like saying to speak some native American language instead of english. Spain wasn't nice to native either.
Man, if this was a professional sports. I can't imagine players playing longer than 10 years.
You are right
Back in the Mayan civilization, after the game someone gets sacrificed
You only lasted one game unless you won or else you were killed however we did sometimes just kill the winners
Looks fun! Haven't seen a beheading yet though. 8/10
I understand the fascination about old civilizations but to revive such traditions by this generation doesn’t appeals to me.
And though Mayans were in Mexico, there are no Mayan bloodline in Mexico.
So it is not exactly their history or tradition.
007Chakochi What are you talking about, there is still Mayan Bloodline in Mexico. Mexico has a ton of places where native Mayans still lives, isolated from society.
Clearly you´ve never been to México, right? Just go visit the southern states and you´ll see all the Mayan decendants. They still look pretty much the same; if you pay attention to their faces you´ll notice, they look like the gorgeous girl who speaks in this video.
The Mayan bloodline still runs on the southeastern states of Mexico, and even though it may not be a huge population its still there.
No Mayan bloodline? Uhhh, where do you think the woman in this video with the beautiful cheekbones came from? Europe? Africa? Asia? LOL. Mayan descendants clearly still exist.
More popular than soccer, ha, that guy is on something. Why would billions of people think this is better? Don't get me wrong, it's interesting, but it's not soccer level interesting.
Matthew Spencer he said if the conquistadors or invaders didn't invade them back then it could have been popular than soccer.
osama bin laden I realize that. My comment still stands. What is so interesting that people would love it more than soccer?
Matthew Spencer not today these day obviously but back then it could have probably had a good chance
Matthew Spencer its interesting i mean soccer is with a ball you chase with you your legs and shoot it in the goal this is with the hips and probably if it was still around back then it would been the other way around
osama bin laden you find it interesting, not most people. Yes soccer is, basically, people running to a ball and trying to kick it in a net, but acting like its less interesting than this is silly. I'm assuming you have Mayan heritage and you're defending the sport because of your lineage, but assuming that people outside your culture would like this is, frankly, arrogant.
This made me cry
GAMER BOY CREEPER
Cry out of fear...joy....or what?
eliza zal joy
eliza zal and it talking about his ancestors
Oufff I kno wht u mean I didn’t cry bcuz I’m n front of my family rn but I felt lil goosebumps while watching🥺 I’m happy we’re bringing bac lost traditions
Now this is interesting
From kids cartoon ballgame:
eh it's fine
Real ballgame:
Shoot it's a trap
Mind Blowing
I loved cherish the opportunity to attempt to play this game.
this like actually looks so fun but looks like it will mess with your hips in 3 days flat
good job guys, you hugs you're traditional roots.
sports don't mean football or baseball