Japanese Gateball Grandmothers: Cheerful (but Relentless) Champions

They look like kind and loving grandmothers - until they get a mallet in their hands.... Gateball - Westerners know it as lawn croquet - is a serious sport in Japan. One day in Japan I stumbled upon an odd activity. It looks like lawn croquet played upon a hard-packed surface, but there the resemblance ends. This is serious business - each game lasts twelve minutes and players run from shot to shot. Woe betide anyone who gets tapped by an enemy ball. Croquet mallets turn into golf clubs and ball is quickly sent into the next county. After being soundly thrashed, I discovered that the average age of my opponents was 78 years old. SUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/2V4LsRa Tune in for a new video every week from the far corners of Our Human Planet!    / ourhumanplanet   Want to see all of our Japan stories? Download Japanland, the complete 4-hour PBS documentary series on Japan at http://www.japanlandonline.com/ (There’s also a book, reviewed by the New York Time and translated into 8 languages.) LET’S CONNECT! • Say hi on FB:   / ourhumanplanetcom   #Travel #Adventure #Japan Category: Travel