While the ancient Indian sport of kabaddi is rarely played outside of the subcontinent, one of the new stars to emerge out of the first professional kabaddi league comes from South Korea.

The 21-year-old Jang Kun Lee isn’t crazy about Indian food and doesn’t speak any Indian languages, but he loves the Indian sport. He left his home in Busan to play professionally for the Bengal Warriors, one of the eight teams in the Pro Kabaddi league which wrapped up its first tournament this week.

Kabaddi is part tag, part wrestling. Two teams each control one sides of a court. Players called raiders take turns attempting to tag opponents on the opposing half of the court and return to their own side without being tackled. If they succeed, the tagged players are out and the raider's team gets a point. If the raider is tackled, the opposing team scores a point.

The catch: raiders have to hold their breath the whole time they are in enemy territory, trying to tag players. To prove they are not inhaling, raiders repeatedly say kabaddi.

Mr. Lee’s team came in seventh, but he showed he could tag, hold his breath and grapple with the best of them. He ended the two-month kabaddi season as one of the league’s best players. He scored 55 points for his team.

“I’m better known in India than I am in Korea,” Mr. Lee said. “First, (Koreans) asked why I was playing this unpopular sport that nobody knows. Now they love that I am doing well.”

His fleet-footed skills caught the attention of the league’s founder Anand Mahindra, who called him “a superstar in the making.”

This man.Jang Kun Lee of the #BengalWarriors is a superstar in the making. Tough&Tactical #ProKabbadi — anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) August 1, 2014

Pro Kabaddi’s nationwide popularity in cricket-mad India was a surprise to many.

The league drew millions of television viewers, making kabaddi the second-most popular sport in the country.

Pro Kabaddi aired on Star TV in India. Star is owned by 21st Century Fox Inc., which until last year was part of The Wall Street Journal owner News Corp.

Mr. Lee’s ability to outsmart the opposition led him to win a handful of “best raider” awards and made him the subject of water-cooler talk.

@anandmahindra As the rules & star players become household names, this can grow. Bank treasury desk discussing Jang Kun Lee over lunch! — Jay Kotak (@jay_kotakone) August 11, 2014

Mr. Lee is one of 20 foreign players and four Koreans in the league which has representatives from more than ten countries including Kenya, Japan and Turkmenistan.

Dong Ju Hong, second from left, defends against a raid by The Telugu Titans during a match in Delhi in August. Junho Kim for The Wall Street Journal

There are dozens of Kabaddi club teams in Korea, said Dong Ju Hong who played for Dabang Delhi. He caught the kabaddi bug in 2010 while he was in college, and now plays for the national team.

One of the biggest challenges was communication in a game that relies heavily on teamwork. Only one member of Dabang Delhi spoke a smattering of English, and Mr. Hong’s command of the language is limited.

During timeouts, the Hindi-speaking coach would discuss strategy, and he would receive a broken translation. “They use simple vocabulary so I can understand it,” he said through a translator.

Mr. Lee’s challenge was more basic: diet.

“Adjusting to the food was the most difficult part,” he said.

Follow Sean on Twitter @McLainSean.