turbo-1 said:
When I threw myself into white-water kayaking, I wound up being black and blue with some regularity.
Another way to get black and blue involving water - the annual "football" game played every Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) and the following day in a local town.
The tradition is that this has been played for about 1000 years, though all the historical records was destroyed in a fire in about 1890, so nobody is quite sure. There are reliable accounts of it being played in the 17th century.
The population living either side of the river flowing through the middle of the town form the two teams. The ball is solid (a leather casing whcih is elaborately painted, and stuffed with cork chippings), and weighs about four pounds. The goals are two bridges over the river, about 3 miles apart. Each day's game lasts a maximum of 8 hours, finishing well after dark.The first team to score a goal wins, but if the game is won in less than 4 hours, a second game is started.
There are very few rules. It is basically an 8-hour scrum-down, with anything up to 500 people taking part. When somebody dies while playing, there is a one-minute silence before the start of the next game in their memory.
All shop windows etc in the center of the town are boarded up as protection, except for the pubs and bars which are open all day. Anything which gets in the way of the game does not survive. The police block roads as necessary to stop unsuspecting motorists having their cars torn apart, but otherwise keep a low profile!
2011 was one for the record books - the first time in 75 years that 4 goals were scored in one year.
See
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/derby/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9419000/9419123.stm, and the links on that page.
Good lord...