Belt wrestling
Encyclopedia
Belt Wrestling is one of the most ancient sports
known to man. This is proved by archaeological
excavations and research . The oldest recorded illustration of wrestling, a bronze
statuette of belt wrestling, was estimated to be created around 6,000 years ago, and was found in 1938 at Kyafaje, near Baghdad
. In the 11th Century the scholar and philosopher, Avicenna, spoke of this type of wrestling. Every country has its own kind of struggle. Originally, wrestling was intended as a means of survival for ancient civilizations. Put literally, the struggle for existence was carried on in much the same manner as Charles Darwin
’s natural selection
.
, Kuresh wrestling is popular. It is distinguished by throwing an opponent by tearing him away from the floor or from the mat without using one’s legs. Such rules are usually specific to that particular region. As a result, the rules of the game can differ between continents or even countries.
Honorary President of the International Association of Traditional Types of Sports Reef Gainanov once stated, “This type of wrestling will always be interesting. Every nation has its own colouring. One nation should not impose its own rules upon other countries and should respect other cultures and their customs”.
However, today it is necessary to understand the differences between:
1) the rules of national wrestling in every single country or region, of which there are surely thousands of variations;
2) and a common, well-defined system of belt wrestling rules, which makes it possible for athletes from around the world to come together in a competition as equals.
The sport is developing rapidly and has become so prominent that President Putin of Russia attended the 6th World Championships in Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan, from the 9th till the 13th of October, 2007.
In America and Oceania
the popularity of belt wrestling is no less than that in Iran, Turkey, Germany, Kyrgyzstan
, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania
, Uzbekistan
, Kazakhstan
, Togo
and Spain - countries which have already been the hosts of international competitions. This is how one more step towards the main aim - inclusion in the Olympic Games
– is being made. Several years ago, very few people knew anything about belt wrestling. Today, the International Association is getting applications for holding tournaments from all corners of the globe. This is no surprise as now the army of admirers of this kind of sport unites more than eighty countries of the world.
The IBWA is an organization that serves as an international platform for popularizing and developing traditional wrestling/belt wrestling throughout the world irrespective of race and political followings. The Association takes part in the exchanging of know-how, knowledge, information and data, referring to the traditional wrestling/belt wrestling which, in turn, contributes to its development and popularization on local, national, regional and international levels. Belt Wrestling as a sport is recognized by the Asian Olympic Council from 2007 and is included in the program of Asian Martial Arts& Indoors Games.
There are many types of traditional belt wrestling in the world, but by developing this sport's general rules under the leadership of Dr. Rif Gaynanov (†) former President, IBWA/IATWS became a real home for all types of traditional belt wrestling in the world and a common platform for developing and promoting new-old sport discipline – belt wrestling.
Today IBWA governs different belt wrestling disciplines: free style, classical style, female belt wrestling, beach belt wrestling, snow belt wrestling in five age group: cadets, juniors, students, seniors and veterans in 12 weight categories (7 for men and 5 for women).
All IBWA events are with the line of the IOC vision which include seven components: sport – belt wrestling competition, culture – folklore youth festival and competition on local traditional wrestling style, science – scientific conference on developing and promotion of traditional sport and game, environment – tree planting action “Plant for Planet” or beach cleaning action "Creation" with art exhibition, sport for development and peace – training seminars between border conflict/post-war countries under the slogan “Play for Peace”, healthy lifestyle promotion - Olympic mile “Fun Run”, youth – youth leadership forum “ New generation of leaderships”.
Combat sport
A Combat sport, also known as a Fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport where two combatants fight against each other using certain rules of engagement , typically with the aim of simulating parts of real hand to hand combat...
known to man. This is proved by archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
excavations and research . The oldest recorded illustration of wrestling, a bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
statuette of belt wrestling, was estimated to be created around 6,000 years ago, and was found in 1938 at Kyafaje, near Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. In the 11th Century the scholar and philosopher, Avicenna, spoke of this type of wrestling. Every country has its own kind of struggle. Originally, wrestling was intended as a means of survival for ancient civilizations. Put literally, the struggle for existence was carried on in much the same manner as Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
’s natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
.
The Russian Federation
The modern drive and popularity for the sport comes mainly from the Russian Federation where several indigenous variations are still practised. To accommodate the many variations of belt wrestling throughout the world, the philosophy of the new International Belt Wrestling Association (IBWA) has been simple and logical; it has adopted two sets of standard rules and a standard costume. Their reasoning is that some styles do not permit trips and some do. However, according to the new association, to compete without trips is called ‘classical style’ and with trips is called ‘free style’. The standard costume is an attractive feature, which allows for all styles to be completed so that no participant can conclude that his or her national style or costume has been slighted. IBWA unites all belt wrestling lovers in the world.The rules and variation of the rules
Different parts of the world have different variations on certain rules in the sport. As the name suggests, the central component to the sport is a simple device, such as a belt, ordinary towel, or girdle. For example, within Central AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Kuresh wrestling is popular. It is distinguished by throwing an opponent by tearing him away from the floor or from the mat without using one’s legs. Such rules are usually specific to that particular region. As a result, the rules of the game can differ between continents or even countries.
Honorary President of the International Association of Traditional Types of Sports Reef Gainanov once stated, “This type of wrestling will always be interesting. Every nation has its own colouring. One nation should not impose its own rules upon other countries and should respect other cultures and their customs”.
However, today it is necessary to understand the differences between:
1) the rules of national wrestling in every single country or region, of which there are surely thousands of variations;
2) and a common, well-defined system of belt wrestling rules, which makes it possible for athletes from around the world to come together in a competition as equals.
The sport today
Today wrestling, as a national sport, cannot be ascribed to any single country. In a similar way, people generally do not refer to soccer as an English sport or basketball to be American. Belt wrestling does not have any national boundaries. It is unique, and gathering more and more fans. The circle of contestants is widening considerably. This is a spectacular and democratic sport and one that does not require much financial expenditure. An important fact is that the International Belt Wrestling Federation considerably lessened the number of injuries received by contestants since the introduction of the new rules. As it was proved, the correction of this or that wrestling rules popularized this kind of sport. Nowadays world and continental championships are being held in different parts of the world.The sport is developing rapidly and has become so prominent that President Putin of Russia attended the 6th World Championships in Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan, from the 9th till the 13th of October, 2007.
In America and Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
the popularity of belt wrestling is no less than that in Iran, Turkey, Germany, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
and Spain - countries which have already been the hosts of international competitions. This is how one more step towards the main aim - inclusion in the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
– is being made. Several years ago, very few people knew anything about belt wrestling. Today, the International Association is getting applications for holding tournaments from all corners of the globe. This is no surprise as now the army of admirers of this kind of sport unites more than eighty countries of the world.
The IBWA is an organization that serves as an international platform for popularizing and developing traditional wrestling/belt wrestling throughout the world irrespective of race and political followings. The Association takes part in the exchanging of know-how, knowledge, information and data, referring to the traditional wrestling/belt wrestling which, in turn, contributes to its development and popularization on local, national, regional and international levels. Belt Wrestling as a sport is recognized by the Asian Olympic Council from 2007 and is included in the program of Asian Martial Arts& Indoors Games.
There are many types of traditional belt wrestling in the world, but by developing this sport's general rules under the leadership of Dr. Rif Gaynanov (†) former President, IBWA/IATWS became a real home for all types of traditional belt wrestling in the world and a common platform for developing and promoting new-old sport discipline – belt wrestling.
Today IBWA governs different belt wrestling disciplines: free style, classical style, female belt wrestling, beach belt wrestling, snow belt wrestling in five age group: cadets, juniors, students, seniors and veterans in 12 weight categories (7 for men and 5 for women).
All IBWA events are with the line of the IOC vision which include seven components: sport – belt wrestling competition, culture – folklore youth festival and competition on local traditional wrestling style, science – scientific conference on developing and promotion of traditional sport and game, environment – tree planting action “Plant for Planet” or beach cleaning action "Creation" with art exhibition, sport for development and peace – training seminars between border conflict/post-war countries under the slogan “Play for Peace”, healthy lifestyle promotion - Olympic mile “Fun Run”, youth – youth leadership forum “ New generation of leaderships”.