Sztekiel

The essence of the game:

Sztekiel is a simple punching and throwing game, which consists of knocking out a wooden pin with a wooden stick. It was a game very important for the war and post-war generation of Poles.

Parameters (playground, accessories):

Game Square: No special game square required. It can be anywhere. A certain convenience, however, may be a piece of land, which is marked with units of measurement, so that it is easier to measure the distance of the stamped wooden pin. However, this is not necessary.

Accessory: Small wooden pin sharpened on two sides, flat or rounded stick (length about 60cm), circle (It can be plastic, wooden or any circle into which a wooden pin will be inserted).

Rules:

The game consists of tapping a wooden stick in a sharpened wooden peg (dagger) placed in a circle, so that the one after tapping lifted in the air, during which the player must knock it out as far as possible. To hit the pin is used a flat or rounded stick, which measures about 60 cm. Points are awarded for knocking a wooden pin out of a circle (if an opponent in the same round fails to knock the pin out of the circle) or if it knocks the wooden pin further than the opponent. The player who first scores the established before number of points wins all game. This game leaves a lot of space for improvisation, but it should always retain its essence (i.e. hitting a wooden peg so that it can lift and then knock it out). However, the goal for which points will be allocated to individual players may change. The number of points that will result in one player (or team) winning a match or game may also change.

Variation of rules:

In the sztekiel (kiczka) you can play individually and as a team. Points can only be awarded for knocking out a wooden pin from the circle in the middle where it’s located or for more distant punching it than the opponent did. The sets (rounds) can also be divided into 5 attempts to break the peg and at the end of the round the distances from all 5 attempts can be summed – the one whose sum of distances will be greater wins.

GAME CONTEXT

Origin, distribution, history:

This game originates from war-torn Poland. Thanks to the undemanding conditions that were necessary to play it – it spread very quickly. During World War II in Poland, this game was called the „game of freedom”, because during the war it allowed at least a moment to forget about traumatic events. After the war, it was also of great importance. As Henryk Walendowski (one of the witnesses of the war and an active player of sztekiel), said: „for us it was a sport of freedom. In a city full of post-war rubble, we went to the field and played the sztekiel. It was an opportunity for us to meet and have a genuine sense of freedom after the war.”

Who and where (did) they play?

Sztekiel was played primarily by rural youth and children from Wielkopolska, but not only. Adults also participated in the sztekiel competition. They were mainly people from Greater Poland Voivodeship’s villages, but there are also signs about the presence of this game in Poznań (capital city of Greater Poland Voivodeship) itself. This occurred during and after World War II.

Further variations:

Sztekiel is a game that has its counterparts in different areas of Polish. In Malopolska, for example, the sztekiel is called ‘kiczka”.

Additional information:

Nowadays, sztekiel has been pushed into the drawer of forgotten games. However, there is a tournament in which graduates of the High School of Ignacy Paderewski in Poznań from the 1950s take part, for which the sztekiel was the main pastime.

Sztekiel reached great popularity at the 2008 TAFISA World Traditional Sports Games in South Korea.

SOURCES:

1. Blog of polish traditional sports passionate Bartosz Prabucki https://inspirowanysportem.pl/sztekiel-ciekawa-gra-powojennego-pokolenia-polakow/  (access 22.07.2021 r.)
2. Wikipedia https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sztekiel (access od 22.07.2021 r.)