Ak cholmok (white shuttlecock) is a youth night game typically played by both girls and boys on moonlit nights. The unique feature of the game is that it is played on bright moonlit evenings in a flat field or area.
Ak cholmok is a fun, emotional, and active game that promotes the development of speed, agility, and the ability to navigate in the dark.
The game is team-based, with the number of players determined arbitrarily, depending on the number of participants willing to join. Thus, teams can increase or decrease in size as long as they maintain equal numbers. Each team is given a game name, such as "Cholpon," "Shumkar," etc.
Players stand with their backs to the field, facing the leader. The leader shows everyone a white cleaned bone or a relay baton and throws it strongly towards the field (the right to throw is determined by a draw). Upon hearing the bone fall, participants estimate the area of the fall and run to search for the bone. The direction of the thrown shuttlecock and the approximate location of its fall are usually determined more by hearing than by sight in the dark. Therefore, at the moment of the throw, there is complete silence, which is instantly replaced by the swift and noisy running of the players towards the target.
The objective of the teams is to find the ak cholmok and deliver it to the leader.
The finder loudly shouts the name of their team (which means that the bone has been found) and runs to the finish line. Typically, the player who finds the shuttlecock disguises their find, pretends to continue searching, and as soon as an opportunity arises, either themselves or through their partners, rushes to deliver the shuttlecock, while opponents try to block and take the shuttlecock away on the way.
The player who manages to seize the bone also shouts the name of their team and only then runs back to the starting point. Partners can pass the bone to each other (there is no need to shout the team name during this), and cover the player who found it. Taking the bone away is only allowed by grabbing it. During the game, it is permitted to take the shuttlecock from the opponent's hands in various ways, provide mutual assistance within each team, pass the shuttlecock to players of their own team, and engage in deceptive actions, where a player runs towards the target without the shuttlecock to distract opponents and facilitate their partner's task.
The rules of the game prohibit grabbing an opponent by the hands, legs, or clothing, passing, throwing the bone to each other; creating a circle to protect a partner who has found the bone from opponents; pushing attackers, etc.
The winning team is the one whose members manage to deliver the shuttlecock back to the starting circle first.
The shuttlecock is made from the white wool of a sheep or cow, has a round shape, with a diameter of 5-10 cm, and often a bone is used as a shuttlecock.
The game helps develop hearing, vision, the ability to navigate in the dark, and instills strength, agility, and the ability to act collectively in youth under conditions of darkness.
The ak cholmok game is widely spread in all rural areas of the republic.
