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Jiànzi (毽子), Ti jiànzi (踢毽子) or Jiànqiú (毽球), also known by other names, is a traditional Asian game. Which players aim to keep a heavily weighted shuttlecock in the air by using their bodies, apart from the hands, unlike rules in similar games peteca and indiaca. The game is played on a court similar to badminton and volleyball, or be played artistically, among a circle of players in a street or park, with the objective to keep the shuttle 'up'. In Vietnam, it is known as đá cầu and is the national sport, especially played in Hanoi.

During the past decades, the game has been widely spread in Europe, the United States and some of the other Western countries.

In English, both the sport and the object with which it is played are referred to as "shuttlecock" or "featherball".

Game play
The shuttlecock, called a "Jian zi" in the Chinese game and also known in English as a 'Chinese hacky sack' or 'kinja', typically has four feathers fixed into a rubber sole or plastic discs. Some handmade Jianzis make use of a washer or a coin with a hole in the center.

During play, various parts of the body (except for the hands) are used to keep the shuttlecock from touching the ground. It is primarily balanced and propelled upwards by using parts of the leg, especially the feet. Skilled players may employ a powerful overhead kick. In China, the sport usually has two playing forms:
 * Circle Kick among 5-10 people


 * Duel Kick between two kickers.

Circle Kick uses upward kicks only for keeping the shuttlecock from touching the ground. Duel Kick has become popular among younger Chinese players, using "Flat Kick" techniques like Shooting Goal techniques in soccer sports. Therefore, the "Powerful Flat Kick" techniques are applied in Chinese JJJ games as a major attacking skill.

Formal game
Competitively, the game is played on a rectangular court 6.10 by 11.88 meters, divided by a net (much like badminton) at a height of 1.60 meters (1.50 meters for women). A brand new game of Ti Jiàn Zi called "Chinese JJJ" has been invented by Mr. John Du in 2009 by video published on website www.100helps.cn, which uses low middle net of 90 cm and inner lines of the standard Badminton Court, applying soccer's shooting goal techniques for exciting attacking each other. The book "Chinese JJJ Rules & Judgement" in Chinese has been published by China Society Pressing House in May 2010, the English version of the book is translating now & will be published before the end of 2012 by author's plan. In first 2 years from 2009 to 2010, as indicated in book "Chinese JJJ Rules & judgement", 5 formal events included in Chinese JJJ just similar as in Tennis games: Men's & Women's Single, Men's & Women's Double, Mixed Double. Then in Oct. of 2011, Team Game Rules was published on official website www.100helps.cn by Chinese JJJ Association(CJA), having 3 players on each side, and longer court as Badminton Court's Outside Bottom Line. As shown by Announcements and video published on the previously mentioned website, there are 2 formal tournaments have been played in June 2010 & Dec. 2011 named as "The 1st Beijing Invitational Tournament" & "The 2nd Beijing Invitational Tournament". The first one participated by 14 teams & "German JJJ King" Martin, a former professional Soccer player from city Potsdam & student of Beijing Language University. The 2nd one participated by 28 teams & Gabriel Patin, Vice Secretary General of American JJJ Association (AJA), a Soccer fans, either. On July 22, "2012 Chinese JJJ Grand Prix" successfully held in Beijing as a top-level, professional game with cash awards. In Dec. 2012, "The 3rd Beijing Invitational Tournament" will have place, expecting much more teams from various provinces of China to come, and asked to be registered by Sweden National Team, organized by Soccer fans & bought Shuttlecocks from CJA by mail. As an average layer's tournament, Beijing Invitational Tournament will be widely opened to all provinces & foreign countries, limited by capacity of Gymnasium only. The first 8-16 winners will have rights to register to next year's Chinese JJJ Grand Prix with cash awards. Referring to General Administration of Sport of China's official website, in city JinZhong of Province ShanXi, named by General Administration as "National Shuttlecock Model City", successfully held "The First JinZhong Invitational Tournament" on May 13, 2012, as the first JJJ tournament hosted by local government & sponsored by a big local enterprise.

The informal game
There are unlimited variations of the game, such as trying to keep the feathercock in the air until an agreed target of kicks (e.g. 100) is reached, either alone or in a pair. In circle play, the goal may be simply to keep play going. In all but the most competitive formats, a skillful display is a key component of play. There are 2 informal games in Chinese JJJ games using the same middle net: "Team game" having 3 players on each side & "Half court game" using just a half court for double player game only.

Freestyle
Freestyle discipline is very similar to freestyle foot-bag, where players perform various kicks, delays and other dexterities without touching the shuttlecock with their hands. Many foot-bag' tricks were initially inspired by Jiànzi, but later it turned the other way around and Jiànzi freestylers seek inspiration in meanwhile more developed sport of foot-bag.

History
The first known version of Jiànzi was found in China 500 BC. The name Ti Jiànzi, means simply 'kick shuttlecock' ('ti' = kick, 'Jiànzi' = little shuttlecock). The game is believed to have evolved from cuju, a game similar to football that was used as military training. Over the next 1000 years, this shuttlecock game spread throughout Asia, acquiring a variety of names along the way.

Jiànzi has been played since the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), and was popular during the Six Dynasties period and the Sui and Tang dynasties. Thus the game has a history of two thousand years. Several ancient books attest to its being played.



Modern history
Jiànzi came to Europe in 1936, when a Chinese athlete from the province of Jiangsu performed a demonstration at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. In Germany and other countries people began to learn and play the sport, now called 'shuttlecock'.

In June 1961, a film about the sport called The Flying Feather was made by the Chinese central news movie company, winning a gold medal at an international movie festival. In 1963, Jiànzi was taught by teachers in elementary school so that it became even more popular.

Well known in Asia, the game has been gaining popularity in Europe. The International Shuttlecock Federation (ISF) was founded in 1999. The first world championship was organized by Hungary in Újszász in 2000. Until then, various countries took turns organizing championships.

The sport continues to receive greater recognition, and was included as a sport in the 2003 Southeast Asian Games and in the Chinese National Peasants' Games. Among the members of ISF are China, Taiwan, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, Laos, Vietnam, Greece, France, Romania, and Serbia. Vietnam and China are generally considered best, while in Europe, Hungary and Germany are strongest. On August 11, 2003, delegates from Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia founded the Shuttlecock Federation of Europe (S.F.E.) in Ujszasz (Hungary).

After being invented in 2009, Chinese JJJ got much faster spreading all over China due to its techniques similar to soccer sport, its simple skills friendly to beginners and its fun for skilled players. In June 2010, Chinese JJJ's "The First Beijing Invitational Tournament" held successfully, having participation by foreign players such as "German Shuttlecock King" Martin, who was a former professional soccer player before studying in Beijing. In 2 years till May 2011, there were foreign players of more than 10 countries played the game, proving firmly the game's attractiveness to soccer players. In 2011, the first formal Chinese JJJ Championship will hold in province ShānDong, and a couple of other provinces are planned to follow.

In August 2011, an American company released a toy called Kikbo based on jianzi.

Health benefits
Playing shuttlecock is vigorous aerobic exercise, and provides the health benefits of any aerobic exercise. It also helps to build hand-eye coordination which good for the health of the brain.



Official jianzi for competitions
The official featherball used in the sport of shuttlecock consists of four equal-length goose or duck feathers conjoint at a rubber or plastic base. It weighs approximately 15-25 grams. The total length is 15 to 21 cm. The feathers vary in colour, usually dyed red, yellow, blue and/or green. However, in competitions a white featherball is preferred. The Official Jianzi for Competitions The Shuttlecock uses in Chinese JJJ games weighs 24-25 grams. The height from the bottom of rubber base to top of the shuttlecock is 14–15 cm, the width between tops of 2 opposite feathers is 14–15 cm.

Other names

 * USA - Chinese hacky sack or kikbo
 * Canada - kikup
 * Vietnam - đá cầu
 * Malaysia - sepak bulu ayam
 * Singapore (and SE Asia) - chapteh or capteh or chatek
 * Japan - Kebane (蹴羽根)
 * Korea - jegichagi or jeigi (to most Koreans known as sports only for children)
 * Indonesia - bola bulu tangkis or sepak kenchi
 * Philippines - larong sipa
 * Macau - chiquia
 * India - poona (forerunner of badminton) (unknown to most Indians)
 * Greece - Podopterisi
 * France - da câu or plumfoot or pili
 * Poland - zośka
 * The Netherlands - "Voetpluim" or "voet pluim" or "Jianzi"
 * Cambodia - Sey
 * México - Gallito
 * Sweden - Spunky or Adde-boll

Related games, derivatives and variants
Sepak takraw is popular in Malaysia, using a light rattan ball about five inches in diameter. (Sepak means "kick" in Malay, and takraw means "ball" in Thai.)

Indiaca or featherball is played with the same shuttlecock as jianzi but on a court, similar to a badminton court, and played over the net using the hands.

Kemari was played in Japan (Heian Period). It means ‘strike the ball with the foot’.

Chinlone is a non-competitive Burmese game that uses a rattan ball and is played only in the circle form, not on a court.


 * Cuju or tsu chu, the possible forerunner of both football and jianzi
 * Myachi
 * Sipa
 * Ebon (game)
 * Footbag and footbag net
 * Hacky Sack
 * Footvolley
 * Bossaball
 * List of circle kick variants