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Today however, striking is no longer permitted in this form of
stick-fighting, references to which were discovered written
inside ancient Egyptian tombs.
In the city of Sohag which lies on the banks of Nile in central
Egypt, one martial arts school is working to keep the ancient
sport alive.
"Long ago, this game was violent, and about 60 or 70 years ago,
it was similar to fighting games, because that was the era known
as one of manhood," said Sabry Mohamed, who founded the
International Centre for Tahteeb in 2012.
Tahteeb requires a great deal of skill and control, and there
are rules which govern how to hold the stick and the kinds of
blows permitted, some of which were aimed to be deadly before
the martial art became a no-contact discipline.
Sabry has set his sights on organizing international
championships for the martial art.
"We can make use of tahteeb by forming an international body
that can organize international championships and we'll benefit
from this a great deal, monetarily, and also by spreading our
culture and heritage to other people."
(Reporting by Abd Mohamed El-Ghany; Writing by Mark Hanrahan in
London; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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