PHILIPPINE

TRADITIONAL GAMES
(History, Materials, Mechanics)

Project in Physical Education

Patrick jay Que

Diana P. Mayormita
 SUNGKA

HISTORY:

Sungka → German. Sungka is a Philippine mancala game, which is now also played wherever
Philippine migrants are living in Macau, Taiwan, Germany, and the USA. ... Father José
Sanchez who had arrived on the Philippines in 1643 wrote that at the game was played with
seashells on a wooden, boat-like board

Sungká is a popular and traditional board game similar to Congkak and other variations of the
game in South East Asia. The board is a carved length of wood called a sungkahan and the game
involves moving shells or pebbles around the pits carved into the board.

Evidences of these boards have also been found in Ancient Sumeria. As for the origin of the
term “sungka“, historians found relics of an identical game at a stream in Indonesia. The stream,
widely known to voyagers as the Red River, is called sonka by early Asians.

MATERIALS:

PEBBLES/ SHELLS, SUNGKA

RULES:

Sungka (pronounced SOONG-kah) is a game played on a solid wooden block with two rows of
seven circular holes and two large holes at both ends called "head".
The game begins with 49 game pieces (shells, marbles, pebbles or seeds) equally distributed to
alternate holes - seven pieces in every other hole - except "heads" which remain empty. Sungka
requires two players. Each player controls the seven holes on his side of the board and owns the
"head" to his right. The goal is to accumulate as many pieces in your own "head".

The first player removes all pieces from the hole on the extreme left of on his side. He then
distributes them anti-clockwise --- one in each hole to the right of that hole --- omitting an
opponent's "head" but not a player's own "head".

If the last piece falls into an occupied hole then all the pieces are removed from that hole, and are
distributed in the same way (to the right of that hole) in another round. This player's (current)
turn ends when the last piece falls into an empty hole on the opponent's side.

 If the last piece distributed falls into a player's own "head" then ...

... the player earns another turn, which can begin at any of the seven holes on his side.

 If the last piece distributed falls into an empty hole on his side then ...

... the player captures all the pieces in the hole directly across from this one, on the
opponent's side and put them (plus the last piece distributed) in his own "head". If the
opposing hole is empty, no pieces are captured.

The other player chooses which hole he wishes to start from, removes the pieces and distributes
them - one in each hole to the right of that chosen hole. If a player has no pieces on his side of
the board when it is his turn, then he must pass.

The game ends when no pieces are left in any hole on both sides of the board. The players now
count the number of pieces in their own "head" and see who has won.
This game (with variations) is also played in other Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia
and Malaysia where it is known as "Congkak"

PATINTERO

HISTORY:

Etymology. Patintero also known as harangang taga, derived from Spanish word tinte ("tint" or
"ink") in reference to the drawn lines. Another name for it is tubigan, tubiganay, or tubig-tubig
("water [game]"), due to the fact that the grid lines are also commonly drawn by wetting the
ground with water.

MATERIAL:

The equipment needed is chalk or paint, scoreboard, whistle, stop watch and powder.

MECHANICS:

o Played by two teams, passers and guards

o Passers position themselves at a starting line.
o Guard must be positioned on the lines they cannot step inside the squares.
o Guards can tag a passer inside the square if she/he is within reach.
o Passers cannot stay inside the squares for more than 3 minutes (time can be changed).
They have to try to cross the line.
o If a passer is caught, she/he will be eliminated.
o Once all passer is caught, the groups will exchange places.
o Once a player crosses the lines and returns without getting caught, her/his group gets a
point.

GOAL:
o Passers are supposed to cross the lines from the starting point and back.
o Guards will prevent them from crossing the lines.
o Once one passer crosses the lines and gets back without being caught, the group gets a
point.
o The group with the most number of points wins.

CHINESE GARTER
HISTORY:

Chinese garter is called “Chinese Jump Rope” in other countries. - It originated from China in
the 7th century. They play it before during the celebration of Chinese new year. - It was passed
from generation to generation and has become popular even in other countries.

MATERIALS: RUBBER BAND

MECHANICS:

o Players are divided into at least two groups, with a base number of two individuals for
every group. Amid the game, two individuals from the "it" group will fill in as "game
posts" as they remain inverse each other and hold each end of the garter. The goal of the
game at that point is to have the capacity to effectively bounce over the garter as it is step
by step held higher by the “game posts”. Much the same as in the game ten – twenty,
each group likewise has its own team leader, all the more ordinarily known as the
"Mother". Once a colleague either contacts the strap or neglects to seize a specific level,
the Mother can even now spare her group by taking her colleague's turn. Inability to do as
such will prompt the group's end by making them the new “game posts” and will take the
game back to the primary level.
o Two people hold both ends of a stretched garter horizontally while the others attempt to
cross over it. The goal is to cross without having tripped on the garter. With each round,
the garter's height is made higher than the previous round (the game starts with the garter
at ankle-level, followed by knee-level, until the garter is positioned above the head). The
higher rounds demand dexterity, and the players generally leap with their feet first in the
air, so their feet cross over the garter, and they end up landing on the other side. Also,
with the higher levels, doing cartwheels to "cross" the garter is allowed.

Level 1 – The garter is being held by the posts closer to the ground.
Level 2 – Knee high
Level 3 – Around the height of their hips
Level 4 – Waist high
Level 5 – Chest high
Level 6 – Shoulder high
Level 7 – Head high
Level 8 – At the tip of the head
Level 9 – A couple of inches over the head
Level 10 – Also known as the Father/Mother Jump, as high as a child raising his arms high on tip
toes.
Along these lines, in the wake of knowing the background and the Mechanics or Rules of the
game, we should make sense of by what means will this game end.

All things considered, the game normally closes after the most astounding bounce. Be that as it
may, a few children would keep playing the game in reverse. Rather than raising the garter
higher, the posts will keep the strap down to its lower position. The game currently has another
goal: to have the capacity to achieve the garter by bowing in reverse. The game proceeds with
along these lines until the point when the player comes to back to the least level.

GUNNY SACK RACE

HISTORY:

o The sack race or gunny sack race is a competitive game in which participants place
both of their legs inside a sack or pillow case that reaches their waist or neck and hop
forward from a starting point toward a finish line. The first person to cross the finish line
is the winner of the race.
 o This really simple game started in 1967. Potato sack racing was invented by the very
poor parents of a young farm boy, since they couldn't afford any equipment for games on
his birthday they emptied potato sacks and made the guests stand in them to race.

o Two teams race each other using a sack around a designated area. All team members
must go around the designated area with their feet inside the sack in order. The team who
completes the round in order wins the race.

MATERIALS:

Sacks (sako), whistle

RULES:

1. When the whistle blows, players rush about 5 to10 feet to the line of burlap sacks.
2. Pull the sack over both feet and hold about waist to mid-chest height.
3. Hop toward the finish line (about 20-30 feet depending on the age of the participants).
4. The first participant to reach the finish line WINS!

Remember:

1. Both feet must remain in the sack at all times.

2. At least one hand must be on the sack at all times.
3. The sack must remain as close to the waist as possible and cannot fall below the knees.

HOPSCOTCH (PIKO)

HISTORY:
This traditional game of "Piko" or "Hopscotch" is among the popular streetgames during my
early age in 80's. Usually played by girls in elementary school or after the school in streets. I
remember almost all of my girl classmates playing "piko" during recess or break-time, while
some of us are busy in playing other traditional games like "agawan base", "sipa", "teks", "goma"
and many others depending what is "in" (uso) that time. Even me and some boys have tried this
kind of game and its enjoyable. After school, some students still playing this game for hour
before going home. In street, it’s a common scene to see small girls playing this kind of game
like my sisters and girl friends. This is how much popular "piko" or hopscotch during 80's.

Playing "piko" is very simple. All you need to have is marker usually "chalk"or "crayola" or
anything than can be use to draw lines in the concrete ground. Some plays in plain ground, a
sandy loam soil, and draws the mark using a stick. You need also a "pamato" or pucks for this
game, this is usually a flat stone or part of broken pot.

MATERIALS:

Chalk/ crayon, (Pamato)

MECHANICS:

The mechanics for this game is easy and can be played by single or by group. By group, it should
be started by finding out who will play first usually by jack-en-poy. The first step is by
throwing your pucks in 1st box then jumping with one leg for 2nd and 3rd box, with left leg on
4rth box and right leg on 5th box, one leg on 6th box, with left leg on 7th box and right leg on
8th box, one leg in 9th box, and two legs on 10th box. In the 10th box you need to make pivot
and repeat the process going back, making a pause in 2nd box while getting your pucks in 1st
box by bending your body down with single leg then jumping out of the box. The next steps is
throwing your pucks in 2nd box up to 10th box and follow the same procedure in first step. If the
player's pucks or her body touches the line, it will be a turn for another player. The one to
complete until 10th box will declare winner of this game.

Other variation of this game is done by the player looking towards the sky then throwing his
marker on the diagram. Without looking, he must walk across the diagram to fetch his marker
without touching any lines. This stage is intentionally more difficult to give the other players a
chance to catch up.