Kurash is a form of upright jacket wrestling native to
UzbekistanUzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...
, practiced since ancient times. It is a
TurkicThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
wrestling art, related to the
TurkishTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
yağlı güreşYağlı güreş is the Turkish national sport. It is commonly known as oil wrestling because the wrestlers douse themselves with olive oil. It is related to Uzbek Kurash, Tuvan Khuresh and to Tatar Köräş...
and the Tatar
KöräşKöräş, also Tatarça köräş - Tatar wrestling, is the Tatar style of wrestling, related to some Central Asian styles of wrestlings, such as kurash and Turkey's yağlı güreş....
. It is an event in the
Asian GamesThe Asian Games, also called the Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The games are regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee...
.
There is an effort to include Kurash in the Olympic games.
Competitors, one wearing a green jacket and the other a blue jacket, try to throw each other to the ground. If thrown to the back, victory is declared.
Kurash is a form of upright jacket wrestling native to
UzbekistanUzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...
, practiced since ancient times. It is a
TurkicThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
wrestling art, related to the
TurkishTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
yağlı güreşYağlı güreş is the Turkish national sport. It is commonly known as oil wrestling because the wrestlers douse themselves with olive oil. It is related to Uzbek Kurash, Tuvan Khuresh and to Tatar Köräş...
and the Tatar
KöräşKöräş, also Tatarça köräş - Tatar wrestling, is the Tatar style of wrestling, related to some Central Asian styles of wrestlings, such as kurash and Turkey's yağlı güreş....
. It is an event in the
Asian GamesThe Asian Games, also called the Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The games are regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee...
.
There is an effort to include Kurash in the Olympic games.
Rules
Competitors, one wearing a green jacket and the other a blue jacket, try to throw each other to the ground. If thrown to the back, victory is declared. If thrown onto the side, points are awarded. If thrown to the belly, buttocks or weakly onto the side, a lesser point is given. The action is stopped by the referee and restarted in the standing position in bounds if either of the contestants goes down to one knee or out of bounds. Competitors are not allowed to grab the opponent's pants, but are otherwise free to grip as they please.
Origins
Turkish güreş, Uzbek kuraş and Tatar köreş are the same word in different Turkish dialects. It originally means martial art. The word exist in all Turkish dailects almost without exception, basically refers to martial arts similar to wrestling.
This Central Asian sport developed thousands of years ago as a form of training for fighting, for both self-defence and war. This is reflected in the rules, where clothing is required which mimics
armourArmour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat...
or battle-garb, and where grips on the trousers and ground fighting are banned, since bending over low or going to the ground make a fighter vulnerable to weapon thrusts. The emphasis on standing fighting develops strong balance and quick footwork, which help greatly when fighting with weapons.
Upright
grapplingGrappling refers to the gripping, handling, and controlling of an opponent without the use of striking, typically through the application of various grappling holds, choke holds, and counters to various hold attempts. Grappling forms an important part of both ground fighting and standing clinch...
was an integral part of ancient and
medieval warfareMedieval warfare is the warfare of the Middle Ages. In Europe, technological, cultural, and social developments had forced a dramatic transformation in the character of warfare from antiquity, changing military tactics and the role of cavalry and artillery. Similar patterns of warfare existed in...
because most hand to hand weapons needed several feet of space to be effective to deliver their blows, such as
swordA sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon and occasionally for clubbing...
s and spears. Once within this range, the warriors were obliged to grapple with each other. The first one thrown to the ground would, by falling down, create enough space for the sword or spear of the thrower or another soldier to do its work, and therefore the fallen fighter would be at great risk of death. This is why falling to the ground is considered a decisive loss in almost all traditional
wrestlingWrestling is an ancient martial art that uses grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, generally between two people, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
styles around the globe, including Kurash.
See also
- Köräş
Köräş, also Tatarça köräş - Tatar wrestling, is the Tatar style of wrestling, related to some Central Asian styles of wrestlings, such as kurash and Turkey's yağlı güreş....
, Tatar national wrestling
- Yağlı güreş
Yağlı güreş is the Turkish national sport. It is commonly known as oil wrestling because the wrestlers douse themselves with olive oil. It is related to Uzbek Kurash, Tuvan Khuresh and to Tatar Köräş...
, TurkishTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
oil wrestling
- Pahlavani, Iranian national grappling style
- Koshti, Traditional Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
ian wrestlingWrestling is an ancient martial art that uses grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, generally between two people, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
and grapplingGrappling refers to the gripping, handling, and controlling of an opponent without the use of striking, typically through the application of various grappling holds, choke holds, and counters to various hold attempts. Grappling forms an important part of both ground fighting and standing clinch...
- Sambo
Sambo is a relatively modern martial art, combat sport and self-defense system developed in the Soviet Union and recognized as an official sport by the USSR All-Union Sports Committee in 1938, presented by Anatoly Kharlampiev.The word "Самбо" is an acronym of , meaning "self-defense without...
, Modern martial art developed in the former Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
- Pehlwani
Pehlwani is a Martial art and a style of Wrestling that is popular in India and Pakistan...
, IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n wrestlingWrestling is an ancient martial art that uses grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, generally between two people, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
and grapplingGrappling refers to the gripping, handling, and controlling of an opponent without the use of striking, typically through the application of various grappling holds, choke holds, and counters to various hold attempts. Grappling forms an important part of both ground fighting and standing clinch...
External links