World Shin Kicking Championships starts in England

One of the most popular events in the annual Cotswold Olimpick Games, The Shin-Kicking World Championships is a bruising discipline, not for faint hearted competitors - or spectators.Organisers say its an age old fascination with pain that makes the Shin Kicking the main Olimpick event that draws the biggest crowds.There are few rules to the competition, but certain regulations have been introduced over the years to make the event safer.While the premise of the full contact sport may seem brutally simple, stamina, speed and agility are key to staying on your feet.Corfield, 32, a Civil engineer from Gloucester hadnt been looking forward to the final after collapsing from sheer exhaustion following the semi-finals, but he out-kicked his antipodean opponent in the deciding bout which lasted more than five minutes to take his victory.Attracting thousands of visitors each year the Robert Dover Cotswold Olimpicks, first held in 1612, are held annually on Dovers Hill, near Chipping Camden, Gloucestershire.