Players of an ancient Egyptian martial art are striving to revive it and turn it into a sport that aims to foster morals, respect and chivalry. Tahtib was once known as a martial art but has since changed into a stick game or dancing art. Its players now say that they want it to be an internationally recognized martial sport.

“We want to have our federation, a league, and we want the sport to be internationally recognized, as well,” Sabry Mahmoud el-Sohagi, a stick game coach, told Al-Monitor. Sohagi is a manager at the International Center for Teaching Tahtib, which is based in the Upper Egyptian city of Sohag.

The self-funded learning center was established two years ago and has taught about 50 people from Upper Egyptian governorates to play the stick game. The center’s founders are pushing ahead with efforts to spread knowledge of the sport in Egypt and abroad.

Sohagi said that the challenges are many. However, he added that he and his colleagues are feeling upbeat about the future of the game, especially after UNESCO recently added tahtib to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.