Explosive sport of Tejo, horseshoes with a bang
Tejo is a traditional Columbian game that has been played since ancient times. It is a sport that is similar to the Western game of horseshoes, which involves throwing horseshoes at a target a good distance away.
This is a little bit more intense than horseshoes because there is an exploding factor to this sport. Over the years this activity has become one of the national sports of Columbia and also has professional teams that play in tournaments around the country.
This sport might gain in popularity and spread to different countries because it is a very exciting and enthralling sport, both to watch and to play.
Tejo is played on a long rectangular court which measures 19.5 metres in length and 2.5 metres in width. At each end of the court is a clay filled box which has a centre area called the bocin which is the main target area. Above and below the bocin are two
small explosive charges filled with gunpowder.
The objective of the game is to get 27 points to win. A metal disc weighing 2 kg is thrown and 1 point is given for how close it lands to the bocin. A player gets 3 points for hitting and setting off one of the two explosive charges above or below the bocin.
6 points can be achieved by placing the disc in the exact centre of the bocin and a full 9 points can be achieved by placing the disc in the centre of the target area and setting off an explosive charge. It takes a considerable amount of skill and hand eye
coordination to get the disc to land right in the centre of the target area.
The modern sport originated from an ancient South American game called Turmeque, which was played with a solid gold disc. This eventually gave way to a stone disc and today the sport is played with a simple circular metal disc. It is interesting to note
the similarities between tejo and the game of horseshoes, which is very popular in America and other parts of the world.
The significant difference is the explosions that take place in the Colombian version. It seems that the explosive nature of the game was developed when the game was played in mining camps and players probably got bored so they added explosive caps to the
target area. The concept stuck and the modern game was born.
Competitions of tejo take place all over Colombia and in 2000 the game was declared one of the national sports of the country. Professional teams all over the country play tournaments and compete against each other for pride and prizes.
Tejo is played all over Colombia, from the capital to the countryside. It is a very popular game and this is a little bit surprising because most of the population of the South American nation are football crazy. Everywhere one goes in the country they will
find football being played and the football team are national heroes. In the middle of all this, tejo stands proud and proclaims its loyal fan base.
The interesting thing about this sport is that it may soon become very popular all over the world. It has not really been experienced outside of Colombia and maybe in the next few years people will bring it to America and Europe. It seems to be a very marketable
sport because of the explosives used in it.
One can just imagine tournaments taking place all over the world being broadcast on television. The explosions in a controlled environment and using pyrotechnical experts could become very large and visually spectacular. It could become a very big event
and might even gain a large audience in the years to come.
An ancient traditional sport has grown in popularity and has become a national sport. This rarely happens but when it does take place that sport should be preserved and continued in the future. Now with the sport likely to spread around the world, we might
see a tejo tournament very soon on our television screens with massive explosions and cheering fans in the thousands.
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