All About Darts

I guess every one of you is familiar with the game of darts. You probably have a friend who loves to play dart or you probably have played it once or twice. Well, darts is a fun social game that has been around for centuries. It is popular in almost every corner of the world as many people played it in tournaments and leagues. And, its continuing popularity shows it to be a sport that holds talent, skill, and even a bit of luck combined into one.

The Early Days

The game of darts began as training in the martial arts, particularly on the martial art of archery. It was born in the Medieval England where archery teachers shortened some arrows and have their students throw them at the bottom of an empty wine barrel. It is thought that the soldiers at that time took their shortened arrows with them to the local drinking establishment to exhibit their skill in shooting the arrows as well as to have fun at the same time. And, when the base of wine barrels proved to be inconvenient or in short supply, many of the imaginative darters brought in a cross-section of a moderate sized tree to serve as a “board”.

The early darts board was noted to have featured some rings on it, and when it dried out the cracks gave further segmentation. It is actually this cracked and dried board that started to evolve into what is known today as the current darts board.

The sport of darts was not only enjoyed by the lower classes in the Medieval England. In fact, the oft married Henry VIII was reputed to enjoy darts extremely. It was with his great passion in darts that Henry VIII was given by Anne Boylen a beautiful ornate dart set.

Dart Enters America

The root of darts in America can be traced back to the pilgrims where the hardy colonizers were reputed to have played the game on the Mayflower as it made its ocean crossing. Since that time, dart was played and very much enjoyed in America whenever spare time was available. However, the coming of darts in the American continent remained largely as an Anglo-American sport until the beginning of the Victorian Age when darts was introduced worldwide by the great expansion of the British Empire. Since the expansion, the game of darts was exposed to the people and the native population even found great enjoyment in it.

The Game of Darts Today

Around 1900, the rules of darts were revised into what it is today. Certain standards of the game were set. In fact, the size of the dart board, the throwing distance, and even the size of the darts were standardized. And, as more and more people came to enjoy the sport of darts around the cosmos, a number of teams were then organized. Professional darts leagues came to emerge and even populate the world, and it is these teams that play darts for trophies nowadays.