Instructions for playing Chapteh

1. Kick the weighted feather vertically, while making sure it stays in the air.

2. One can only use any body part except their hands to keep the chapteh in the air.

The objective is to keep this going for as long as possible.

This game can be played both individually or as a group

When played individually, the objective of the player to keep the shuttlecock in the air as many times

When played in groups, the play area is marked with a circle drawn on the ground . The game begins with the first player attempting to keep the chapteh in the air until it falls to the ground within the circle. The next team member continues the count while playing in the circle. This continues until all team members have taken a turn in the game. The winning team is the one that scores the highest number of total kicks.

History of Chapteh

The earliest reference to a game of kicking a feathered object dates back to the 5th century BCE in China. Later known as 踢毽子, the game was used to train military men. During the Tang Dynasty, Shaolin monks in Henan were known to have played the game to strengthen their martial art skills. This game was popular from the Han dynasty (206 BCE–200 BCE) until after the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE). Since the Song dynasty (960 CE–1278 CE), the game has been known as 毽子 or 毽球, with reference from the Chinese word “arrow”

Chapteh is known as da cau in Vietnam and was a competitive sport at the 22nd Southeast Asian Games, which were hosted by Vietnam in 2003. Internationally, the game is known as shuttlecock kicking, and there is an International Shuttlecock Federation which was founded in 1999 dedicated to chapteh.

The playing of chapteh is still common in Singapore with places such as museums, retail outlets and vintage cafes promoting the game.