Early Beginnings Bygone Ball Games
Long before the modern game of football was established, ball games that echoed the sport existed in a variety of eras and regions around the world. One forefather of football comes from ancient Greece and is known as episkyros. Another variant called calcio fiorentino was played in Italy during the Middle Ages. And in China, the world’s earliest recorded form of football is known as cuju. This variation of football influenced the development of kemari, one of Japan’s earliest forms of the sport. CUJU History Originating in China, the first historical references of cuju date back to the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), where the game is mentioned in the Strategies of the Warring States and the Records of the Grand Historian – two major texts covering ancient Chinese history. During the Han…