Bamboo jacks (Choi Chuyen)-Vietnamese Folk Games

Vietnamese Folk Games
Along with the rapid development of urbanization and the invasion of Western culture is the disappearance of traditional villages and rice fields in Vietnam where people had nurtured and enriched the distinctive agriculture culture for thousands of years. Nowadays, we can only see the traditional games in some festivals and sadly, most of the kids do not even know the names of these used-to-be very familiar, healthy and exciting entertainments. This list video will show you about what and how Vietnamese people play in the past.

4.Bamboo jacks (Choi Chuyen)
One of the “girls’ games” which challenge the dexterity and quickness of the hands to catch the right number of the bamboo sticks from 2 up to 10 between each toss of a ball (a fig was used a lot but now tennis ball is more convenient) into the air. Players often recite a singsong nonsense rhyme: “Cai mot… Cai mai… Cai co… So mang… Thang chang… Con chit… Ngam nga… Ngam nguyt… Chuot chit… Sang ban doi…” during the play.

In the first round, the player picks up the slicks one by one. Next, she gathers two sticks at a time, and so forth up to ten. In these stages she plays with only one hand. The girl picks up sticks and catches the ball while reciting the rhyme. The peak of the game is the last, most animated stage with all ten sticks in a bundle. During this stage, the player losses the ball and then transfers (chuyen) the pack of sticks from one hand to the other. She must successively switch the bundle, first once, then twice, then three or even more times before catching the ball.