Japan's twelfth Robo-One championship match, where two-legged robots poke at each other, throw balloons and even sing to try win the world championship, took place on Saturday, December 2nd.

Twenty-one robots made it to the finals. To win the title of the world's strongest two-legged robot, the competitors need to be able to keep their balance, while punching and dodging blows and get up when pushed down.

The robots, which are all built by amateurs (people who do it for a hobby), are taught their moves by children, homemakers and robot fans all over the world. One robot was even programmed to sing, We wish you a Merry Christmas - unfortunately after his performance, a penguin robot toppled him - but the spectators loved the show.

Japan creates almost forty percent of the robots in the world and it is a popular but expensive hobby for a lot of amateurs. The cost of developing these robots is so high that most companies have abandoned the effort to manufacture them, so its left to amateurs and competitions like these to produce better and stronger robots.

Sources: reuters, guardian.co.uk