What Will the Next Extreme Be?

Handcuffs?
What turns a series of events and actions into a sport?
Where will the next generation of extreme sports come from?
What turns someone doing something reckless into the next Tony Hawk?

There are many people around the World right now who are asking these questions. They are not just the fans of underrated sports but also the advertisers, and the marketing men and women who take obscure events and link their own brand to it, thus making their own market share of a niche market so much greater.

One such sport that in the next twenty years could become bigger than most is the often under-rated performance art of Escapology.

Now some of you may only know the name Escapology from Robbie Williams album. Alas there are no major clues in any of his lyrics as to the nature of the sport or the art itself.

Escapology is, in case there is anyone reading this that is unfamiliar with the term, the art of escaping from a restraint, be it chain, handcuffs, leg irons, rope or a straitjacket. From the turn of the 20th Century with the work of Houdini to modern escape artists such as Santini, Cannon and Bigelow there has been a combination of physical effort and the ability to entertain.

And that is the problem.

Like all Extreme Sports, such as Snow Boarding, there is the ability to entertain to gain points and out score an opponent, yet paradoxically, because of its history as entertainment, very few people in the sporting world are willing to accept that escapology is equally about competition.

Put two skate boarders on a ramp and have them compete, and you are entertained and marvel at their gift to enthrall. Put two escape artists into identical straitjackets and let them try and get out, you are equally entertained and also marvel at how they do it. To my mind and to the minds of the next generation starting in the sport there is no difference. Both activities run the risk of injury and both have their own high dose of adrenalin for both the seasoned artist and the newcomer.

The main issue has been to distance what the Escape Artist does from the world of Magic. Creating a series of uniformed rules and equipment that makes sure that when one person in Ohio competes he is on a level playing field with a guy on the other side of the world in Essex.

Will the sport take off?

Will the uniformed rules be enough to drag the art form away from side show magicians?

Currently there are three Guinness World Records that rely on uniformed equipment.

One for the fastest escape from a single pair of Smith and Wesson type 100 handcuffs. One for the most escapes in one hour from Smith and Wesson Handcuffs. One for the most escapes in eight hours from a regulation straitjacket.

Also a branch of Escapology exists where, using a non-branded style of handcuff not used by Bounty Hunters of Law Enforcement Agencies, a member of the public can start from scratch and learn how to escape and compete against his or her peers.

Will these innovations be enough to make this Sport stand out beyond Robotic Combat and Free Running as the new extremes of the new millennium?

Will we one day see Escapologists being respected, as opposed to derided?

Only time and the efforts of the advertisers will tell.

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