Mongolian wrestling
Mongolian wrestling ( Mongolian Бөх , Boch ) is a centuries-old traditional martial art of men in Mongolia ( Outer Mongolia ) and in northern China ( Inner Mongolia ). Alongside horse riding and archery, it is one of the three “male disciplines” of the Mongols.
Rules and customs
The aim is to get your opponent to touch the ground with their back, knees or elbows. In the variant from Inner Mongolia, it is sufficient to touch the floor with any part of the body except the soles of the feet. Weight classes are unknown, the fight is based on the knockout system .
While the outer and inner Mongolian version of wrestling are similar in many techniques and both prohibit choking and hitting the opponent, there are further deviations in the details. For example, the rules of the Inner Mongolian game do not allow you to touch the opponent's legs with your hands.
The most important tournament takes place on the national holiday festival Naadam , which is celebrated every July. Ulaanbaatar hosts the largest and most famous, but other cities also have their own celebrations. Only at these festivals can the wrestlers fight for ranks in ascending order: rankless, “bird” (or “eagle”), “elephant” (or “camel”), “lion” (or “wolf”, “dragon”) ")," Titan "(or" Batjier "," Knight ").
The fighters wear a special type of jacket with long sleeves and an open chest when fighting. According to one story, the chest was originally closed. But after a woman in disguise allegedly defeated all male wrestlers, the costume was modified to prevent such events in the future. Gutul , the traditional Mongolian boots , are also often worn.
The fight also includes a short ritual in which the wrestlers stretch out their arms like birds' wings. The loser must pass under the arms of the winner at the end of the fight as a sign of inferiority.
Similar sports
There are comparable celebrations and wrestling matches everywhere in the former khanates (partial empires ) of the former Mongolian empire . B. in Kazakhstan ( called Kara kuresch there), in Kyrgyzstan , in Turkey ( called Yağlı güreş there) and among the steppe peoples of southern Siberia . Mongolian wrestling has also influenced the Chinese Shuai Jiao (Shuai Chiao) and the Korean Ssireum .
The family of Asashōryū Akinori , a successful sumo wrestler in Japan, has produced many well-known athletes in this sport. In recent years a number of Mongolian athletes have established themselves in this discipline. This commitment is certainly also due to the fact that, in contrast to the high salaries and bonuses of the Japanese sumo wrestlers in Mongolia, only comparably small bonuses or natural products (cattle) can be earned. Mongolian wrestlers have also achieved remarkable achievements in western wrestling and judo internationally .
