Scotland The initial regulations were developed in Scotland and legally recognized as the "Rules in Curling" by the Grand Caledonian Curling Club, which was founded in Edinburgh in 1838 and became the sport's governing body. The rules include specifications for the size of the ice surface and the type of stone used by the player to sweep the ice in order to knock over frozen balls of wool with a hammer. Curling is now played worldwide in many different languages. It is known by various names including "assal" in Afghanistan, "burns" in Australia, "brandywine" in Canada, "caupona" in Italy, "chablonki" in Poland, "kurling" in Sweden, and "Nippon kōi" in Japan. The first recorded match of modern curling was played at the University of Cambridge on January 11, 1653. Two stones were used instead of four, and the object was not to get all your own rocks in but rather to prevent your opponent from doing so. The winner was decided by throwing a pebble into a pond to determine who would be master of ceremonies at a wedding the next day. Although this early version of the game was quite similar to what we know today, it wasn't called "curling" then and there were no rules other than not to hit your opponent's rocks.