WBagatelle is a billiards-derived indoor table game, the object of which is to get a number of balls past wooden pins into holes that are guarded by wooden pegs; penalties are incurred if the pegs are knocked over. It probably developed from the table made with raised sides for trou madame, which was also played with ivory balls and continued to be popular into the later 19th century, after which it developed into bar billiards, with influences from the French/Belgian game billard russe. A bagatelle variant using fixed metal pins, billard japonais, eventually led to the development of pachinko and pinball. Bagatelle is also laterally related to miniature golf.
WBalle à la main is a traditional Picard sport. It is a team sport with two teams of seven players on a called field " ballodrome ". It is a game of gain-ground as Longue paume, which takes place in Picardy. Balle à la main is played on a rectangular field of 65 meters by 12 meters. As all the ballodromes of the games of gain-ground, we find on the field a line of fire and a rope.
WThe ballon au poing is a popular team sport in Picardy (France). This game is played by teams of six. It is a game of gain-ground.
WCanne de combat is a French martial art. As weapon, it uses a canne or cane designed for fighting. Canne de combat was standardized in the 1970s for sporting competition by Maurice Sarry. The canne is very light, made of chestnut wood and slightly tapered. A padded suit and a fencing mask are worn for protection.
WCyclo-cross is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter, and consist of many laps of a short course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike while navigating the obstruction and remount. Races for senior categories are generally between 40 minutes and an hour long, with the distance varying depending on the ground conditions. The sport is strongest in the traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
WThe known history of fencing in France begins in the 16th century, with the adoption of Italian styles of fencing.
WGames of gain-ground are team sports which are played with a small ball or a balloon. They are often outdoors on a "ballodrome" but can also be played indoors.
WGouren is a style of folk wrestling which has been established in Brittany for several centuries.
WHillclimbing is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course.
WThe racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sport with more complex rules. Most rules of (lawn) tennis derive from this precursor and it is reasonable to see both sports as variations of the same game. Most historians believe that tennis was originated in the monastic cloisters in northern France in the 12th century, but the ball was then struck with the palm of the hand; hence, the name jeu de paume. It was not until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called "tennis." It was popular in England and France, and Henry VIII of England was a big fan of the game, now referred to as real tennis.
WJeu de mail or jeu de maille is a now-obsolete lawn game originating in the Late Middle Ages and mostly played in France, surviving in some locales into the 20th century. It is a form of ground billiards, using one or more balls, a stick with a mallet-like head, and usually featuring one or more targets such as hoops or holes. Jeu de mail was ancestral to the games golf, palle-malle and croquet, and, billiards.
WJeu de paume, nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or courte paume, is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, though these were eventually introduced. It is a former Olympic sport, and has the oldest ongoing annual world championship in sport, first established over 250 years ago.
WJeu provençal is a French form of boules.
WLa soule, later choule or sioule, is a traditional team sport that originated in Normandy and Picardy. The ball, called a soule, could be solid or hollow and made of either wood or leather. Leather balls would be filled with hay, bran, horse hair or moss. Sometimes the balls had woolen pompons.
WLongue paume, or jeu de longue paume, is an outdoor version of jeu de paume, an ancestor of modern lawn tennis. Hundreds of years ago it was quite popular, particularly in France. It is a game of gain-ground as Balle à la main
WParkour is a training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. Practitioners, called tracers or traceurs, aim to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without assistive equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Parkour includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, plyometrics, rolling, quadrupedal movement (crawling) and other movements as deemed most suitable for the situation. Parkour's development from military training gives it some aspects of a non-combative martial art.
WPétanque is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports, along with raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, lawn bowls and crown green bowling. In all of these sports, players or teams play their boules/balls towards a target ball.
WPowerchair Football, also known as Power Soccer, is a variant of association football for people with physical disabilities. Players use power wheelchairs in order to maneuver and kick an oversized football. The game is played in a gymnasium on a regulation basketball court. Two teams of four players use powerchairs equipped with footguards to attack, defend, and spin-kick a 13-inch (330 mm) football in an attempt to score goals.
WSavate, also known as boxe française, savate boxing, French boxing or French footfighting, is a French kickboxing combat sport that uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of English boxing with graceful kicking techniques.