Luksong Tinik: Jumping Over Thorns

Luksong Tinik (“jumping over thorns”) is one of the famous native street games of children in 70s to 80s in the Philippines. The mechanics here is dividing the players into two groups and choosing a leader for each group called “Nanay” (mother). The team makes “bato-bato pick” or jack en poy to choose who will start first and who “taya” (base team) is. The start is made by two base players serving their feet together and let the other team players to jump over without touching their feet. After they all successfully jump, the difficulty will increase by putting base player hands on top of their feet making it high and difficult to jump over. An additional hand from other base player will put on top to make it more elevated if they successfully pass from the previous height until one of the serving players will make touch the spread fingers on top (called thorns). If this happen, the “Nanay” or mother needed to redeem the other player who missed the earlier jump. If the “Nanay” misses the jump, the team exchange in place and the games starts anew.

this game makes our children more physically fit

it involves personal development and interaction with other kids

Its free and helps "green environment"-
no need for gadgets, electricity, no toxic waste

Actually this is no "age limit"

I remember myself playing this game in rice field, playing also other  games like
 "Luksong Baka",  "Saranggola" and  "wresling-wreslingan in rice hulls". ^__^

This game is popular during my teenage days in Elementary school, rough road streets, and rice fields after post-harvest way back 1980s in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. Sad to say that this native game that makes children physically fit is now seldom seen or even not practice anymore after the evolution of technology that introduces PC, celphones, PSP, PS3, WII, Xbox etc.