The History of Mudoball

(This was one of John Lennoxs favorite games)

 

Mudo-Ball (Warrior-Ball) No one even remembers where the small sport ball came from.   One day in the late 1970’s Sensei John Lennox walked over to the bleachers in the Mudokwan and picked up a small rubber sport ball. Within minutes the entire class was involved in the effort of seeing how many times we could kick the ball and not let it hit the ground. The rules were simple. You could use anything but your hands. Feet knees head and the occasional elbow. 15 to 20 hits before touching the floor became the norm. and a few times we almost got to 50. After a few weeks of doing this we began to experiment with different games and eventually Mudoball was born.

Mudo-ball was to us the prefect name since we were students of the Mudo-kwan school.

Mudokwan in Korean is the same as Bushido in Japanese. Way of the warrior or warrior way.

The Mudokwan was and still is primarily a Judo School. So we were blessed with custom made judo mats. Prefect for mudoball! Since the game as it was first played had the defenders close to the net playing from a kneeling position. This allowed many balls to be hit back using mawashi geris. With the mats, often an opponent would reach across the net onto the opposite side at this point he was fair game and the attention went from hitting the ball to attacking the person who had encroached onto your side. This was of course all done in fun,

This game has continued for over 30 years. It was a favorite of Sensei Lennox and continues to be a favorite with students who have roots from the Mudokwan. It is a game we look forward on special occasions, such last day before Our Christmas break, Last day of Summer etc. 

After many years the rules evolved into what they are today.

Mudoball Basics

 

Similar to volley ball except there are no volleys and no nets. The game is played with a small cheap often unbalanced sport ball. Typically (3 or 4) 6 foot Bo’s (Staffs) are laid end to end and that serves as the net. The game can be played with a center line taped or painted to the floor. You serve the ball from the back right hand corner. The serves must be hit underhanded. On the serve the opposing team must let the ball bounce one time before hitting it. All other times the ball can be hit in the air or after one bounce. One hit only no volleys as in volley ball. All hits other then the serve can be underhand – overhand – feet – or any part of the body including the head.   

The serve goes to the side winning the point. You can only score a point if you were the serving team. If you were not the serving team, you win the serve, not a point.

 

Points; The game can be played to any pre-determined score or time period. We normally plat to 11 or 21 points depending on the time allowed.

More important then points is just having a little fun.

 

Mudoball Rules

(More like guidelines)

Court Size; The size of the court in usually determined by the area you are playing in, but a good rule of thumb is 24’ wide and 48’ long. A dividing line across the center, this gives each team a 24x24 foot area. The center net consists of (4) 6 foot Bo’s (Staff’s) laid end to end giving you a 1 ¼ inch net. A smaller court sometimes 18’ x 40’  wide, will use only (3) Bo’s. Tape can be used in place of the Bo’s. In the case of tape and no net the ball touching the line is foul and out of play.  Boundaries the inside of the line is out. Any ball touching the line is therefore out.

 

 

The game;

The team consists of 6 to 8 players using a clockwise rotation each time a new person on that team serve’s the ball.

The ball can be hit with any part of the hands, feet, legs, body, or head.

The ball can bounce one time only. The ball can be hit before bouncing.  Except on the serve. The ball must bounce once on the serve.

The ball can be hit only one time. (No set up hits)

 

Serving the ball;

The ball must be hit underhanded on the serve.

One attempt only.

No net ball on the serve.

The serve must land in bounds on the opposite side..

On a serve the defender must allow the ball to bounce once before hitting the ball.

 

 

Ball in play after the serve;

Net balls are still in play.

No volleys each exchange is one hit only

The ball can be hit directly as it comes over the net, it does not have to bounce.

 

 

Scoring;

Score 21 or 11. The game is scored similar to Volley Ball.

You must be serving to score.

Winning the point if not serving, gives your team the next serve.      

 

Official ball. The cheap sport balls that are lightweight approx. 8 inches in diameter and slightly off balance, The ball being off balance livens the game, since that adds some unsuspected curves to the ball.