By: Khacor Tigner

In Russia there is a new sport taking the country by storm: slapping. There are competitions for all genders as they compete for a monetary prize. The rules for slapping are fairly simple: two people stand across from each other–usually on opposite sides of a table–one person leans forward while another slaps them as hard as possible. They continue until a person taps out or is knocked out. To prevent falling, there are judges behind both competitors to avoid any more serious injuries.

The reigning champion until some time ago was Vasiliy Khamotiskiy who was quoted by The Guardian saying that slapping was “a show, not a sport,” which is quite obvious to see with contestants trying to hype up the crowd with their sometimes flashy shows of power. 

Khamotiskiy was dethroned by a rookie Vyacheslav Zezulya. As reported by Yahoo! Sports, Khamotiskiy held back on his initial slap, which was his prime mistake. Zezulya then landed a critical slap giving Khamotiskiy his first ever knockout. RT.com reported that Khamotiskiy said that it was like experiencing a “mini coma.”