Kabaddi is the only sport that I know of to require the holding of one's breathe. The rules are simple: one player approaches the other team, holding his breathe and continuously speaking the word, "kabaddi." When he runs out of breathe he must return to his end. He may score by first touching an opposing player and then escaping to his end before being touched in return. That's touching and escaping before running out of breathe.
Kabaddi is popular in India, Pakistan and Iran, and who knows where all else. It's a game that requires very little space, and zero equipment of any kind. Any number of children could organize a game with only a small area of hard packed dirt and a stick to draw the lines. Shoes? Optional.
That angle is important. Equipment intensive games cannot catch on in poor countries. Baseball, for instance, is far beyond the means of children in most countries. All of those gloves, and bats, and mitts! And the balls don't last very long either, even if you buy the good ones. It's all terribly expensive. Soccer is a little easier on the budget. Kabaddi is free.
Free, and fascinating.
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