Archery
Archery was played in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It was an important part of a gentleman's education. Boys would start playing at the age of fifteen. There were different techniques they had to learn. They had to be able to shoot with enough force to break through the target. They would also have to be able to shoot three arrows accurately and quickly.
Swordplay
Unlike most Chinese sports, swordplay was also practiced by women. There was a legend about a teenage girl that was so talented with a sword that she got the king's attention. She lived in the State of Yue. The king sent her to train with the royal army. When training she was challenged to a fight by a senior swordsman. They competed with two bamboo branches. When the fight was over the woman had won in only three moves. She started competitive swordplay and was honored with name, the woman of Yue. Because of her swordplay became more popular and complicated in later dynasties.
Ancient Football (Soccer)
This sport started two thousand years ago. It is the earliest form of football (soccer). It started to become popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties. The ball was made of eight pieces of leather stitched together, which made a shell. Inside the inflated shell was animal poop. The goal was a net with bamboo sticks. It was different than normal football (soccer) because the goal was in the middle of the field. The number of players on each team did not matter as long as the teams were equally matched. There were also competitions. One of the contests was juggling the ball on your feet. There was a women's team with one hundred fifty-three players. They were said to be so good that once the game started the ball never touched the ground.
Polo
Polo is a game that important people played. The game resembled hockey. You would hit a ball while on a horse with a wooden stick. Polo was played in the Tang Dynasty. There were nineteen Tang Dynasty emperors. Eleven of the nineteen emperors were polo fans. Two emperors died in polo accident while playing polo. Polo was introduced by the Persian and Tubo Kingdoms. Unlike most of the other Chinese sports, woman also played polo. Polo would decide many things. When Emperor Xizong could not choose which of four people would be a military official, a game of polo decided who it would be.
Golf
Nobody knows the connections between modern and ancient golf. We do know some similarities. They are both played in the open country. According to Emperor Mingzong there were ten holes spread across the field. The goal of the the game was to hit the wooden ball with the the wooden stick into the hole. Every time you hit the ball into the hole you got a point. Unlike other Chinese sports anybody could play if they wanted to play. Golf was popular in the Northern Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties.
Ice Skating
Warriors needed to know how to skate because they would need to travel three hundred fifty kilometers in one day to get to their enemy. When the Qing Dynasty moved to Beijing ice skating became a traditional sport. Every winter two hundred skaters were chosen to perform on the frozen royal lake. Skaters would wear knee pads and secure shoes with leather. If you wanted to skate faster you would have one iron blade on the shoe. If you wanted to skate more safely you would wear two iron blades. The royal family would watch figure skating, ice acrobatics, and speed skating.