Pokatok
TWINS In the sacred Maya book the Popol Vuh, there's a story of two brothers, Xbalanqué and Hunahpu who were so good at the ballgame that they were invited by the Lord of the Underworld to play there. The Lord of the Underworld wanted to trick the boys, but the boys were too clever and defeated the Lord of Xibalba.	WINNERS or LOSERS In most texts about the ballgame it is said that the losers were being sacrificed to the Gods, but as I learned in Mexico itself, it is much more likely that it was the captain of the victorious team that was sacrificed, since this ritual was seen as an enormous honour and it guaranteed the "victim" a place in one of the heavens... it is said that this is the reason why the Mexican football team never wins a match... *S	THE COURT The ballcourts that can be found in Mexico differ greatly in size, especially the one in Monte Alban, which is so tiny that it's likely that the game was played here with only two players and it may have looked like a game of squash, since there were no scoring rings, only sloped walls on either side. The general opinion is that on larger courts, the game was played with 4, 6 or 8 players and one referee.
YOKE In many books I've found that the players were wearing a stone hip-belt (yoke), but after having seen one or two of these belts, I cannot imagine that they were actually used during the games .... they were huuuugeeeeee and must way about 30 kilograms... if not more, so Dinn and I have come to the conclusion that it is more likely that they were worn by the victorious captain, on his way to the sacrificeblock
Fantastic site
CELEBRATING THE EQUINOX The virtual ballgame of MP We will start saturday, the 21st of March at 0.00 GMT The finals will be held on sunday, time will depend on the timezone of the finalists.		Subscriptions It's necessary to subscribe, since we have to work out a schedule for the different timezones. send an email to with AW-name and RL timezone: chanchan@hetnet.nl
Explanation of the game: The game looks a little bit complicated, but it takes a lot of explaining to make it an interesting virtual event, so please read and if there's things that are unclear, please report this prior to the 21rst of March. The referee will start the game by introducing the ball on one of the short sides of the field Only the teamcaptains start off in a position where they can hit the ball. The captain who posts before the other captain, has a hit (Wait on decision of the referee!) The captain who has been classed to have hit the ball, describes the hit (scoring is not possible from this point, because the angle is simply impossible) and tells us to which player he/she has send the ball to. If he/she fails to post within two minutes, this means that there was no hit and the captain of the opposing team has the chance to hit the ball within the next two minutes. In case both captains fail, the game ends inmediately with as result: a zero- zero score. In the meantime: All the other players have to write within 2 minutes, where they are standing or have moved to: if there's no position mentioned, this means that this player in question is either sleeping, focusing on someone in the audience, has fainted or is too drunk to or drugged pay attention ... and will be seen as a "still" player If the ball is played to a "still" player, he/she won't be able to hit it, so the ball will hit the ground: free hit for the opposite team. If members of the opposite team are not posting their position and or actions it means that they have not moved from their previous position. They won't be able to reach the ball. So unless the ball hits the ground, this means a free hit for the team that is in possession of the ball. After two minutes the referee will state the name of the player who has ballcontact and all the players will have the next two minutes to describe their actions. The player who has had ballcontact describes his/her hit and in which direction he/she has played the ball. And the other players will state their movements.
Rules
Posting	Each player is allowed only one post every two minutes (more posts means: disqualification)
Play time	Each game lasts for 2x 20 minutes with a break of 15 minute
Official	Each game has one independent/objective referee who has the final word
Players	Both sexes of the human race are allowed in one team (sorry Heraklia, no llama's allowed in this game*s*) Those who are gifted with supernatural powers to control either the ball or other peoples minds or with the power to take out a person's heart without some kind of weapon are not allowed to play
Weapons	There are no weapons allowed, neither objects that can be classed as such. This also goes for the public!
Outfit	There are some rules concerning the outfits of the players: One hand should have a protective cover Every player should have some kind of headdress that has a minimum weight of one kilogram and a height of half a meter (measured from above the eyebrows) Waist-belts or other protective accessories of stone, are not allowed Protective accessories and waist-belts may be used if there are not sticking out more than 3 centimetres from the bodypart to which they are attached Good protection of the weaker parts is strongly advised!
Teams	Depending on the amount of players we will decide how many players there are in one team.
Postition in the field	Each player will be getting a startposition. This will be assigned to him/her when the schedules are made.
Scoring	When the ball goes through one of the ballrings that are placed on top of the sloped walls on either side of the ballcourt one scores a point
Allowed bodyparts to hit the ball with	The ball may be played with all bodyparts, except for hands, feet or head.
The ball may not hit the floor	In case it does hit the floor, this means a free hit for the opposing team
Free hit	The referee will introduce the ball into the game again, by throwing it to one of the players of the team who urned this free hit
Hands, Feet and Head	In case these bodyparts are used (accidently or not) it means a free hit for the opposing team. In case of a shot that hits unallowed bodyparts of one of the members of the opposing team, this is seen as foul play: The shooter gets a yellow feather. (see feather penalty's). If the ball hits someone on the head, this means that this player suffers from a slight dizziness and he/she will automatically be classed as a "still" player for two minutes.
ALLOWED Physical contact	sliding tackles pushing lifting full-body tackles (rugby or American football style) hiting with the protected hand athletics (climbing on other team-members) holding kicks under the waist tickling nose-tweaking without it being followed (within two minutes) by an ooyah from the recipient (remember the ONE post rule!)
NOT ALLOWED Physical contact	Action	Penalty
	pulling or holding back by the opponents clothes	yellow feather
	hits/kicks or touching of the intimate parts of the opponents nether regions wether this person objects or not	red feather
	pulling hair/headresses/wigs or any other head adornment	green feather
	gouging (poking eyes)	red feather
	biting	yellow feather
	spitting into an opponents face	red feather
	climbing (climbing on people NOT on your team)	yellow feather
	kicks above the waist	red feather
	punches or elbow strikes to the head	red feather
	nose-tweaking being followed by an ooyah from the recipient in the two minute time allocation	yellow feather
	tying together laces of opponents footware	green feather
Feather penalty's	1 green feather (warning) 2 green feathers = 1 yellow feather 1 yellow feather = two minutes "still" penalty (player is not allowed to move or undertake any action for two minutes) 2 yellow feathers = 1 red feather 1 red feather = send off 3 red feathers in one team: game over: other team wins* * this number is subject to change, depending on the amount of players
In case of system failures, the referee will decide wether more time is granted or if the worst comes to the worst wether the game should be played over.

 
    ~ ChanChan Tupac

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