Dating back to pre-Columbian time depicted in paintings on pottery the blow pipe also known as blow gun have been used by many cultures for hunting, various tribes from South America, Central America and south East Asia used clay pellets and dried seed in the blow guns to hunt small animals.
Now from what I can find in my research today the blow gun is used with tranquilizers to capture or to stun dangerous animals, and of course recreational use when they are used with paint balls As far as competition goes it seems that the information found involves an Olympic event introducing the use of blow pipes in a 10 meter target shoot.
There are many competition styles practiced around the world.
Some interesting facts on this is that one style is based upon the Japanese sport Fukiya and is being pursued by the (IFA) International Fukiyado Association with national associations in the United States, France, Germany, and the Philippines.
There is also a difference with the Japanese Fukiya blow gun when it comes to the length of the dart which is approx 7.
9 inches long and unlike the modern western blow guns it uses no mouth piece and another interesting fact is that it was considered to have been the weapon of the ninja Two other styles that I found both based upon the Eastern Cherokee annual gathering blow gun competition.
This style requires more of an athletic self conditioning, and is in comparison to the winter Biathlon where the shooter must run to the starting line in the target lane then fire a blow gun dart.
This style has a course that various in size from 400m to as large as 800m and larger, and can have as many as 16 targets all in various heights with a shooting distance of 20m away to start then is moved back 2m each time a successful shot is made.
Although I found some legal issues with the blow gun for instance there are countries such as Guatemala that back in the 1930's passed a law prohibiting the use in order to save the population of small game which were becoming extinct, and in the United Kingdom have been classified as a offensive weapon and are listed in the 1988 Criminal Justice Act with antique guns being exempt.
In the United States the blow gun is illegal in the following states: California, Massachusetts, New York, and the District of Columbia.
It will be interesting to see if the laws in these countries and states will change if the 36 inch blow gun or any size is accepted into the Olympics as an event or at least modified to accommodate the players of the game.
I would believe that some type of permit would be issued to the athletes to posses and to train with.
It will be interesting to see how they work it out but I think the competition will be extremely competitive and the styles that the Olympic committee decides to use will be exciting.