Rules Is Rules

This is not a hooligan Sport! (the rules are courtesy of Olimpick historian Francis Burns)

1. Competitors draw lots, leading to a final bout, to identify their opponents.
2. Equipment. Competitors normally wear long trousers or tracksuits and may cushion their shins by using straw or other padding. They sometimes wear smocks or white shepherd's coats. Footwear is normally trainers or shoes.
3. Stance. A competitor begins by holding his or her opponent by the shoulders with arms straight.
4. Contest. The aim is to weaken an opponent by kicking his or her shins. Once the legs have been weakened, a competitor may throw an opponent to the ground off-balance over a leg, provided that the grasp of the shoulders is kept.
5. An arbiter decides the fairness of a contest.
6. A contest is decided on the best of three throws.
7. (a) Shins must be kicked before a thrown can be achieved. Contact must be made. (b) A throw is not valid unless the thrower is in the process of kicking and has one foot off the ground. (c) If the arbiter deems that the kicker has made an intentional trip, the throw goes to the opponent. (d) If a kick is above the knee, the throw goes to the opponent. (e) The first person to hit the ground loses the throw.
8. The arbiter's decision is final.

Rules is rules!