Breakdancing Meets Soccer: Get a Load of the Latest ‘Sport’ Sponsored by Red Bull

From ice cross downhill — a mix of downhill skiing and roller derby — to sponsoring a man’s 13-mile high skydive from the edges of space, Red Bull has brought us some extreme sports.

One of the more recent sporting event sponsored by the energy drink company, which has been conducting regional competitions leading up to the world finals, is called  “Street Style” — a combination of breakdancing and soccer according to Wired.

(Photo: Red Bull)

For the last four years, Red Bull has been sponsoring this “freestyle soccer” tournament, which looks like playing hacky sack but with a soccer ball, as a world wide competition. Red Bull describes the sport as “soccer with rhythm and style” and here‘s how it’s done:

The rules of the sport that has grown incredibly popular in football bastions around the world in recent years are incredibly simple: 3 minutes, 2 players and 1 ball. Athletes go head-to-head, expressing themselves while showing off their various ball tricks with their bodies. The jury evaluates the athletes’ style, technique, creativity in combination with music. Each battle follows the same format with each freestyler having 20 seconds to impress the judges before passing the ball back to his competitor.

(Photo: Red Bull)

(Photo: Red Bull)

(Photo: Red Bull)

Watch this footage from Copenhagen’s recent regional competition:

Wired reports the unusual sport is “wildly popular” in countries that love football (soccer). It notes as an example that 300 Saudi Arabians alone competed for a qualifying spot.

The regional competition in Copenhagen recently wrapped up and the world finals where all the regional winners will compete is slated for Sept. 20-22 in Rome. The next regional competition is May 13 in Ireland.

Check out this footage from the world finals in 2010: