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Oil wrestling

August 31, 2023

Oil wrestling (Turkish: Yağlı güreş), also called grease wrestling, is a traditional Turkish sport, where participants, called pehlivan (wrestlers) or baspehlivan (master wrestlers), wrestle while covered in oil. Competitions are held in proving grounds. One challenge of oil wrestling is that oiling the wrestlers' bodies makes it harder to grab each other.[1]

Oil wrestling
Tournament at the Kırkpınar oil wrestling festival in Istanbul, 2006
CountryTurkey
Reference386
Inscription history
Inscription2010 (5th session)

Oil wrestling was performed by ancient communities 4,500 years ago in Thrace and the Balkans. As the Ottoman Empire extended into Europe, oil wrestling competitions has been held ceremoniously until modern times.[2]

Unlike Olympic wrestling, oil wrestling matches may be won by achieving an effective hold of the kisbet. Thus, the pehlivan aims to control his opponent by putting his arm through the latter's kisbet. To win by using this move is called paça kazık. Originally, matches had no set duration and could go on for one or two days until one man was able to establish his superiority, but in 1975 the duration was capped at 40 minutes for the baspehlivan and 30 minutes for the pehlivan category. If there is no winner, play continues for another 15 minutes in the baspelivan or 10 minutes in the pehlivan category, wherein scores are kept to determine the victor.[3]

The annual Kırkpınar tournament, held in Edirne in Turkish Thrace since 1346,[4] is the oldest continuously running, sanctioned sporting competition in the world.[5] Oil wrestling festivals also take place in the Turkish-inhabited regions of Bulgaria[6] (Ludogorie and Rhodopes), as well as northern Greece in Eastern Macedonia (Serres region) and West Thrace (Rhodope Mountains).[7][8][9][10]

History Edit

The Turkish word for wrestling can be traced back to the Oghuz Turkic languages, which originate from the Eurasian steppes. After the conquest of Anatolia by Seljuk Turks, a form of traditional freestyle wrestling called Karakucak Güreşi (literally "Ground hug") was popularized, where special leather clothing was worn and wrestlers commenced the competition by pouring olive oil on their bodies. This form evolved into what is currently known as Yağlı Güreş, or Turkish oil wrestling. In the Ottoman Empire, wrestlers trained in special schools called tekke (تکیه), which were both athletic and spiritual centers.

 
A game of oil wrestling in the gardens of the Topkapi Palace

Oil wrestling can be traced back to ancient Sumer and Babylon.[11] Cognate forms of folk wrestling practiced by Turkic-speakers are found throughout Western Eurasia (i.e. Europe and Central Asia) under the names Köraş, Khuresh, Kurash, etc.. Greco-Roman traditions also point to the practice of oil wrestling.[12]

 
 
 
Oil wrestling in Alantepe

Wrestlers oil one another prior to matches as a demonstration of balance and mutual respect. If a man defeats an older opponent, he kisses the latter's hand (a sign of respect for elders in Turkey).

Matches are held all over Turkey throughout the year, but in early summer, around 1000 competitors gather in Kırkpınar for an annual three-day wrestling tournament to determine who will be the winner, or başpehlivan ("chief wrestler"), of Turkey. Evidence from Ottoman chronicles and documents indicate that the Kırkpınar Games have been held every year since 1362.[4] The Guinness Book of World Records accepts this as the world's oldest continually sanctioned sporting competition.[5] The games have only been cancelled about 70 times. In 1924, they were moved to the present location after the Balkan War, some 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the original site.

There are some organized oil wrestling competitions outside Turkey, particularly the ones regulated by the Royal Dutch Power Sport Federation (Koninklijke Nederlandse Krachtsport en Fitnessfederatie (KNKF)) in the Netherlands.

Notable pehlivans Edit

 
Oil wrestlers

Notable aghas Edit

  • Süleyman Şahin (1967–68)
  • Gazanfer Bilge (1969–70)
  • Alper Yazoğlu (1991–93)  •
  • Hüseyin Şahin (1995–98)  •
  • Seyfettin Selim (2009–13)  •

 • These aghas were awarded a golden belt.[13]

Peşrev Edit

 
Oil wrestling scene from Turkey

The most important of rituals is peşrev, a theatrical introduction to wrestling, prayer, and warm-up at the same time. Rituals like peşrev also exist in the other kinds of Turkish traditional wrestling (karakucak, aba güreş), but they are much simpler and don't have a developed symbolism. At the beginning of peşrev, wrestlers line up in rows with the main pehlivan (başpehlivan, the winner of the previous competitions) on the right. Wrestlers then look toward the Kıbla's side; they take the right hand of the competitor in their own right hand, take the competitor's left hand in their left hand, and listen to cazgır prayer. Holding each other's hands means: "You are more than a brother for me; you are my comrade in a holy war, in struggle on the way of martyrdom (şehadet). We are like heroes Ali and Selim, who became founders of Kırkpınar, we are their representatives now".[14]

Kıspet Edit

A wrestler's garment comprises only leather pants below the knee called kıspet. Kıspet is an Arabic word meaning the garment starts at the belt and goes down to just below the knee. The word itself came to the Ottoman language through Persian. Until the 1960s, kıspets were made of buffalo skin and weighed between 12–13 kg. Nowadays, they're typically made of calfskin and weigh about 1.8 kg or 2.5 kg when oiled.

Rules Edit

According to the rules of oil wrestling, the loser is the wrestler whose back touches the ground as a result of the opponent's actions ("showing belly to the stars"); sitting supported by two hands behind them; touching the ground with both elbows or elbow and hand. The winner is the wrestler who raises his opponent and either carries him three steps or spins him around. If a wrestler's kıspet gets pulled down (revealing his genitals), he loses as well, though losing under such circumstances is unlikely.[14]

Before 1975 the duration of each wrestling match was unlimited, which was highly inconvenient from the competition's organizational point of view as matches could drag on for hours. Nowadays, wrestling in young categories is limited to 30 minutes, and 40 minutes for masters. The winner of a final tournament receives the title of başpehlivan and a monetary award. A pehlivan who won three years successively, is awarded a Golden belt. Second and third place winners are also awarded, and all participating pehlivans received "trip money."

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ "Oil Wrestling".
  2. ^ "YAĞLI GÜREŞ FAALİYET TAKVİMİ | TGF".
  3. ^ "Edirne Kırkpınar".
  4. ^ a b Başaran, Fatma Nur; Guűrcűm, Banu Hatice (2011). "The Yağlı Güreş Tradition in Kırkpınar and the Last Master of Kıspet -Making". Folk Life. 49 (2): 103–124. doi:10.1179/043087711X12950015416276. S2CID 161378224.
  5. ^ a b "Oldest competition, Wrestling". Guinness World Records. 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  6. ^ Doychinov, Nikolay. "Bulgarian oil wrestlers, known as pehlivans..." Vancouver Sun.
  7. ^ 28-Ιουλ-2005 Άρθρο στην Εφημερίδα ο Χρόνος 2011-11-05 at the Wayback Machine: Στα «Χίλια» Δερίου το πρώτο επίσημο πρωτάθλημα πάλης με λάδι.
  8. ^ 7-Αυγ-2007 Άρθρο στην εφημερίδα Ο Χρόνος 2011-11-05 at the Wayback Machine: Υποτονική η προσέλευση του κόσμου στα 'Χίλια' - Πανηγύρι πάλης και ελεύθερης διακίνησης ιδεών".
  9. ^ . Ιστοσελίδα Νομαρχιακής Αυτοδιοίκησης Σερρών. Archived from the original on 2011-08-26. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  10. ^ . Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  11. ^ Kirkpinar - All about Turkish Oilwrestling, Page 75
  12. ^ Kirkpinar - All about Turkish Oilwrestling, Page 88
  13. ^ (in Turkish).
  14. ^ a b Bakhrevskiy, Eugeniy (2019). "History and actual image of oil wrestling" (PDF). International Journal of Ethnosport and Traditional Games. 2 (2). doi:10.34685/HI.2020.75.15.002.

External links Edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oil wrestling.
  • .
  • Kırkpınar News (in English)
  • Kırkpınar (in English and Turkish)
  • Tarihi Kırkpınar Yağlı Güreşleri - Turkish Greased Wrestling 2016-05-30 at the Wayback Machine
  • See video Oil Over Europe I
  • Turkish Wrestling
  • allaboutturkey.com
  • bashpelivanns.com
  • Nomad's Guide to Turkey

August 31, 2023
wrestling, turkish, yağlı, güreş, also, called, grease, wrestling, traditional, turkish, sport, where, participants, called, pehlivan, wrestlers, baspehlivan, master, wrestlers, wrestle, while, covered, competitions, held, proving, grounds, challenge, wrestlin. Oil wrestling Turkish Yagli gures also called grease wrestling is a traditional Turkish sport where participants called pehlivan wrestlers or baspehlivan master wrestlers wrestle while covered in oil Competitions are held in proving grounds One challenge of oil wrestling is that oiling the wrestlers bodies makes it harder to grab each other 1 Oil wrestlingUNESCO Intangible Cultural HeritageTournament at the Kirkpinar oil wrestling festival in Istanbul 2006CountryTurkeyReference386Inscription historyInscription2010 5th session Oil wrestling was performed by ancient communities 4 500 years ago in Thrace and the Balkans As the Ottoman Empire extended into Europe oil wrestling competitions has been held ceremoniously until modern times 2 Unlike Olympic wrestling oil wrestling matches may be won by achieving an effective hold of the kisbet Thus the pehlivan aims to control his opponent by putting his arm through the latter s kisbet To win by using this move is called paca kazik Originally matches had no set duration and could go on for one or two days until one man was able to establish his superiority but in 1975 the duration was capped at 40 minutes for the baspehlivan and 30 minutes for the pehlivan category If there is no winner play continues for another 15 minutes in the baspelivan or 10 minutes in the pehlivan category wherein scores are kept to determine the victor 3 The annual Kirkpinar tournament held in Edirne in Turkish Thrace since 1346 4 is the oldest continuously running sanctioned sporting competition in the world 5 Oil wrestling festivals also take place in the Turkish inhabited regions of Bulgaria 6 Ludogorie and Rhodopes as well as northern Greece in Eastern Macedonia Serres region and West Thrace Rhodope Mountains 7 8 9 10 Contents 1 History 2 Notable pehlivans 3 Notable aghas 4 Pesrev 5 Kispet 6 Rules 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksHistory EditThe Turkish word for wrestling can be traced back to the Oghuz Turkic languages which originate from the Eurasian steppes After the conquest of Anatolia by Seljuk Turks a form of traditional freestyle wrestling called Karakucak Guresi literally Ground hug was popularized where special leather clothing was worn and wrestlers commenced the competition by pouring olive oil on their bodies This form evolved into what is currently known as Yagli Gures or Turkish oil wrestling In the Ottoman Empire wrestlers trained in special schools called tekke تکیه which were both athletic and spiritual centers A game of oil wrestling in the gardens of the Topkapi PalaceOil wrestling can be traced back to ancient Sumer and Babylon 11 Cognate forms of folk wrestling practiced by Turkic speakers are found throughout Western Eurasia i e Europe and Central Asia under the names Koras Khuresh Kurash etc Greco Roman traditions also point to the practice of oil wrestling 12 Oil wrestling in Alantepe Wrestlers oil one another prior to matches as a demonstration of balance and mutual respect If a man defeats an older opponent he kisses the latter s hand a sign of respect for elders in Turkey Matches are held all over Turkey throughout the year but in early summer around 1000 competitors gather in Kirkpinar for an annual three day wrestling tournament to determine who will be the winner or baspehlivan chief wrestler of Turkey Evidence from Ottoman chronicles and documents indicate that the Kirkpinar Games have been held every year since 1362 4 The Guinness Book of World Records accepts this as the world s oldest continually sanctioned sporting competition 5 The games have only been cancelled about 70 times In 1924 they were moved to the present location after the Balkan War some 35 kilometres 22 mi from the original site There are some organized oil wrestling competitions outside Turkey particularly the ones regulated by the Royal Dutch Power Sport Federation Koninklijke Nederlandse Krachtsport en Fitnessfederatie KNKF in the Netherlands Notable pehlivans Edit Oil wrestlersKel Alico Koca Yusuf Adali Halil Hergeleci Ibrahim Kizilcikli Mahmut Kurtdereli Mehmet Bandirmali Kara Ali Tekirdagli Huseyin Ibrahim Karabacak Ahmet Tasci Recep Kara Ali Gurbuz Ismail Balaban Orhan Okulu Fatih Atli Mehmet Yesilyesil Osman Aynur GubbykinsNotable aghas EditSuleyman Sahin 1967 68 Gazanfer Bilge 1969 70 Alper Yazoglu 1991 93 Huseyin Sahin 1995 98 Seyfettin Selim 2009 13 These aghas were awarded a golden belt 13 Pesrev Edit Oil wrestling scene from TurkeyThe most important of rituals is pesrev a theatrical introduction to wrestling prayer and warm up at the same time Rituals like pesrev also exist in the other kinds of Turkish traditional wrestling karakucak aba gures but they are much simpler and don t have a developed symbolism At the beginning of pesrev wrestlers line up in rows with the main pehlivan baspehlivan the winner of the previous competitions on the right Wrestlers then look toward the Kibla s side they take the right hand of the competitor in their own right hand take the competitor s left hand in their left hand and listen to cazgir prayer Holding each other s hands means You are more than a brother for me you are my comrade in a holy war in struggle on the way of martyrdom sehadet We are like heroes Ali and Selim who became founders of Kirkpinar we are their representatives now 14 Kispet EditA wrestler s garment comprises only leather pants below the knee called kispet Kispet is an Arabic word meaning the garment starts at the belt and goes down to just below the knee The word itself came to the Ottoman language through Persian Until the 1960s kispets were made of buffalo skin and weighed between 12 13 kg Nowadays they re typically made of calfskin and weigh about 1 8 kg or 2 5 kg when oiled Rules EditAccording to the rules of oil wrestling the loser is the wrestler whose back touches the ground as a result of the opponent s actions showing belly to the stars sitting supported by two hands behind them touching the ground with both elbows or elbow and hand The winner is the wrestler who raises his opponent and either carries him three steps or spins him around If a wrestler s kispet gets pulled down revealing his genitals he loses as well though losing under such circumstances is unlikely 14 Before 1975 the duration of each wrestling match was unlimited which was highly inconvenient from the competition s organizational point of view as matches could drag on for hours Nowadays wrestling in young categories is limited to 30 minutes and 40 minutes for masters The winner of a final tournament receives the title of baspehlivan and a monetary award A pehlivan who won three years successively is awarded a Golden belt Second and third place winners are also awarded and all participating pehlivans received trip money See also EditKirkpinar Karakucak Wrestling in Turkey Kurash KhureshReferences Edit Oil Wrestling YAGLI GURES FAALIYET TAKVIMI TGF Edirne Kirkpinar a b Basaran Fatma Nur Guurcum Banu Hatice 2011 The Yagli Gures Tradition in Kirkpinar and the Last Master of Kispet Making Folk Life 49 2 103 124 doi 10 1179 043087711X12950015416276 S2CID 161378224 a b Oldest competition Wrestling Guinness World Records 2021 12 03 Retrieved 2022 07 02 Doychinov Nikolay Bulgarian oil wrestlers known as pehlivans Vancouver Sun 28 Ioyl 2005 Ar8ro sthn Efhmerida o Xronos Archived 2011 11 05 at the Wayback Machine Sta Xilia Derioy to prwto epishmo prwta8lhma palhs me ladi 7 Ayg 2007 Ar8ro sthn efhmerida O Xronos Archived 2011 11 05 at the Wayback Machine Ypotonikh h proseleysh toy kosmoy sta Xilia Panhgyri palhs kai eley8erhs diakinhshs idewn Laikos Politismos Nomoy Serrwn Istoselida Nomarxiakhs Aytodioikhshs Serrwn Archived from the original on 2011 08 26 Retrieved 2011 09 12 09 09 2011 Palh me ladi sto oropedio toy Alan Tepe Archived from the original on 2016 09 20 Retrieved 2011 09 12 Kirkpinar All about Turkish Oilwrestling Page 75 Kirkpinar All about Turkish Oilwrestling Page 88 in Turkish a b Bakhrevskiy Eugeniy 2019 History and actual image of oil wrestling PDF International Journal of Ethnosport and Traditional Games 2 2 doi 10 34685 HI 2020 75 15 002 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oil wrestling Award winning photo documentary by Michael Craig Kirkpinar News in English Kirkpinar in English and Turkish Tarihi Kirkpinar Yagli Guresleri Turkish Greased Wrestling Archived 2016 05 30 at the Wayback Machine Yagli Gures and Kirkpinar See video Oil Over Europe I Turkish Wrestling allaboutturkey com bashpelivanns com Nomad s Guide to Turkey Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Oil wrestling amp oldid 1163277281, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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