Schwingen
Encyclopedia
also known as Swiss wrestling (French ) and natively as (Swiss German
for "breeches-lifting"), is a style of folk wrestling
native to Switzerland
, more specifically the pre-alpine parts of German-speaking Switzerland.
Wrestlers wear ("wrestling breeches") with belts that are used for taking holds
. Throws
and trips
are common because the first competitor to pin
his/her opponent's shoulders to the ground wins the bout.
Schwingen is considered a "national sport" of Switzerland, alongside Hornussen
and Steinstossen
.
Schwingen and Steinstossen were included as Nationalturnen ("national gymnastics") in the Eidgenössisches Turnfest at Lausanne
in 1855.
The modern history of organized Schwingen tournaments begins with the Unspunnenfest
of 1805.
cannot be determined exactly. The modern sport was institutionalized in the 19th century out of older, regional traditions.
There are records of wrestling in Switzerland from the medieval period. A picture from the 13th century (in the Cathedral
of Lausanne
) shows the typical way of gripping the opponent.
Schwingen as a special form of grappling in Alpine culture can be traced to the early 17th century.
This form of grappling is preserved during the 17th and 18th century in the Emmental
, Haslital
and Entlebuch
regions specifically. In 18th century travel literature
, Schwingen figures as part of the stereotypes of Swiss alpine culture. The Entlebuch pastor Franz Josef Stalder in 1797 records a set of rules in his Fragmente über Entlebuch.
The modern history of the sport begins during the period of Mediation, with the Unspunnenfest
of 1805.
In the late 19th century, memorable Schwing festivals and a lively activity of educated gymnastics
teachers brought Schwingen to the big cities. Thus the original fight of the herder
s and farmer
s became a national sport that reached all social levels. The associations, headed by the Eidgenössischer Schwingerverband (national federation, founded 1895), organized the sport by integrating regional peculiarities, improving the abilities of the fighters with teaching books and practices, and creating modern tournament rules.
The match takes place in a ring, a circular area with a diameter of 12 meters that is covered with sawdust. The two opponents wear short pants made of jute
over their clothes. The wrestlers hold each other by these pants, at the back where the belt meets, and try to throw the opponent onto his back. There are several main throws, with names like "kurz", "übersprung" and "wyberhaagge", some of them very similar to judo technique
s - "hüfter" is almost identical to koshi guruma
, "brienzer" is basically uchi mata
. These throws are found in many wrestling systems that have even the slightest emphasis on throwing the opponent, and can also been seen in shuaijiao. A match is won when the winner holds the opponent's pants with at least one hand and both the opponent's shoulders touch the ground. By tradition the winner brushes the sawdust off the loser's back after the match.
The match is judged by three referee
s, one of whom stands in the ring. The referees give points, with a maximum of ten points for a winning throw. If the match ends without a clear win, the more active Schwinger is awarded the higher number of points.
At a Schwing festival, every Schwinger wrestles six opponents, or eight at the Eidgenössische. The two Schwingers with the highest number of points after five (seven at the Eidgenössische) matches get to the Schlussgang (last round). The matching of the Schwingers is done by the fight court according to arcane rules. Often there are suspicions that the matchings have not been fair, and favor one contestant over the others.
There are no weight classes nor any other categories. Usually, though, Schwingers are big men, over 180 cm tall and weighing in excess of 100 kg, and are mostly craftsmen from traditional professions that require some physical force, like carpenter
s, butcher
s, lumberjack
s or cheesemaker
s.
Regional and cantonal
Schwing festivals are held outdoors, between early summer and autumn.
The most important Schwing festival is the Eidgenössisches Schwing- und Älplerfest, which takes place every three years. The winner of this tournament is proclaimed Schwingerkönig and receives a bull as his prize.
The Sennenschwinger (members of a pure Schwing club) wear dark trousers and a colored shirt, mostly bright blue, while the Turnerschwinger (members of a sports club dedicated to other sports as well) wear white pants and a white t-shirt.
Advertising and sponsoring is shunned at Schwingen. Successful Schwingers do not receive cash prizes but natural prizes, like cow bells, furniture or live stock. These prizes may be sold for money.
The best Schwingers at a festival are given a wreath , Schwingers who receive a wreath at an Eidgenössische, are called Eidgenossen (confederates). Good Schwingers at national level are called "Böse" (wicked ones).
A winner of the Eidgenössische is given the title of Schwingerkönig (schwinger king) which he keeps for lifetime, including some privileges like being guest of honor at every Eidgenössische (there is no ex-Schwingerkönig).
The flow of Swiss immigration to the United States began increasing after the Civil War (1861-1865). The country’s Westward Movement brought many of these early immigrants to the West Coast. By the late 1800’s sufficient numbers of Swiss had arrived that Swiss Vereins (Clubs) were established to provide camaraderie and sharing of customs and traditions of the Heimat (Homeland). The William Tell Verein of Oakland and the Sacramento Helvetia Verein founded in the 1890’s were examples of clubs formed during this period.
Many Swiss immigrated to Imperial Valley in the early 1900’s. Our patron historian, Albert Ming (1911-2002), remembered the first Schwingfest in the “Valley” at McKim Bridge on the Von Moos and Ruchti Ranch won by Karl Von Moos in 1921. During the 1920’s Swiss immigration surged as did the number of schwingfests from Imperial Valley and Los Angeles in the Southwest, to Modesto, Newark, and San Francisco in the Central West Coast, to Portland and Tacoma in the Northwest.
One of these Swiss immigrants was Joseph L. Inderbitzin who arrived in the late 1920’s and joined the San Francisco Swiss Gymnastics Club as a turner (gymnast) and schwinger. “Joe” competed as a schwinger in various schwingfests through the 1930’s. An incident at a Newark Schwingfest in 1939 stuck vividly in his mind. Schwinger, Melch Amstalden, incurred a fatal neck injury. This event and injuries of schwingers Joe witnessed during the 1940’s and early 1950’s prompted him to conceive forming an organization like the Eidgenossischer Schwingerverband in Switzerland which does for schwinging there , what the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball Association does for our sports of football, basketball, and baseball here in the U.S.A.
Joe’s primary concerns were to provide assistance to injured wrestlers and standardize the schwinging rules and regulations which varied somewhat among the sponsoring clubs. Instead of having several “Championship Schwingfests” in a given year the member clubs of the organization could designate one club’s annual schwingfest as “The Championship Schwingfest”.
So in 1955 Joe began his crusade. He contacted all the West Coast Swiss Clubs that sponsored schwingfests to initiate a discussion of ideas on how to achieve his vision of an organization to monitor Swiss wrestling on the West Coast. After numerous letters, phone calls, personal conversations with key persons at Swiss events he attracted a contingent of strong supporters. Notable among these were Hans Durrer and Kamill Omlin (Imperial Valley), Joe Zumstein and Alois Stockalper (San Diego), Hans Sulzer, Fred Burri, and Paul Aeschlimann (Los Angeles), Paul Bleisch, Joe Reichmuth, and Louie Marchy (Newark), Konrad Grass and Joe Kannel (San Francisco), Louie and Adolf Beeler (Ripon), John Irrbarren, Otto Scheiber, Fred Kaelin, Martin Steiner Sr. (Sacramento), and Arnold Inderbitzin and Karl Kuttel (Truckee).
Among all these males was one female who Joe would agree confirms the axiom, “Behind each great man, stands a woman.” Evelyn Blattler Amman of San Diego was such a woman. She did the vital secretarial chores for fourteen years which enabled the fledging organization to get on its feet.
After two years of diligent effort, many communiquésés, and meetings with club delegates Joe’s dream came to fruition with the official incorporation of the West Coast Swiss Wrestling Association on January 12, 1957. The first officers were:
In 1960, Joe made a serious effort to include the Portland and Tacoma clubs in the W.C.S.W.A. But like the Swiss in Switzerland when it was in the process of becoming a confederation, they were leery of giving up some provincial control. So Joe’s vision of all West Coast clubs being included in the Association fell short. But to Joe’s credit, he showed sincere respect for their point of view.
Now, fifty years later, the W.C.S.W.A. continues to serve as a forum for Swiss Wrestling, providing aid to injured schwingers, arranging for American schwingers to compete at schwingfests in Switzerland, and advertising American schwingfests to the Swiss in Switzerland, enabling some schwingers of the Heimat to compete in American events.
Written by Paul Kiser - San Joaquin Valley Swiss Club.
Swiss German
Swiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg...
for "breeches-lifting"), is a style of folk wrestling
Folk wrestling
A folk wrestling style is a traditional wrestling discipline which may or may not be codified as a modern sport. Most human cultures have developed their own sort of grappling style unique from other styles practiced...
native to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, more specifically the pre-alpine parts of German-speaking Switzerland.
Wrestlers wear ("wrestling breeches") with belts that are used for taking holds
Grappling hold
A grappling hold is a grappling, wrestling, judo or other martial arts term for a specific grip that is applied to an opponent. Holds are principally used to control the opponent, and to advance in points or positioning...
. Throws
Throw (grappling)
A throw is a martial arts term for a grappling technique that involves off-balancing or lifting an opponent, and tossing them to the ground in Japanese martial arts referred to as nage-waza, 投げ技, "throwing technique"...
and trips
Falling (accident)
Falling is a major cause of personal injury, especially for the elderly. Builders, electricians, miners, and painters represent worker categories representing high rates of fall injuries. The WHO estimate that 392,000 people die in falls every year...
are common because the first competitor to pin
Pin (amateur wrestling)
A pin, or fall, is a victory condition in various forms of wrestling that is met by holding an opponent's shoulders or scapulae on the wrestling mat for a prescribed period of time. This article deals with the pin as it is defined in amateur wrestling.In amateur wrestling, a pin ends the match...
his/her opponent's shoulders to the ground wins the bout.
Schwingen is considered a "national sport" of Switzerland, alongside Hornussen
Hornussen
Hornussen is an indigenous Swiss sport. The sport gets its name from the puck which is known as a "Hornuss" or "Nouss". When hit, it can whizz through the air at up to 300 km/h and create a buzzing sound.-History:...
and Steinstossen
Steinstossen
Steinstossen is the Swiss variant of stone put, a competition in throwing a heavy stone. Practiced among the alpine population since prehistoric times, it is recorded to have taken place in Basel in the 13th century. During the 15th century, it is frequently recorded to have been practiced...
.
Schwingen and Steinstossen were included as Nationalturnen ("national gymnastics") in the Eidgenössisches Turnfest at Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
in 1855.
The modern history of organized Schwingen tournaments begins with the Unspunnenfest
Unspunnenfest
Unspunnenfest is a festival held in the town of Interlaken, Switzerland, near the old ruin of Unspunnen Castle, in the Bernese Alps, approximately once every twelve years, most recently in 2006. The festival highlights traditional Swiss culture and features competitions of Steinstossen , Schwingen ...
of 1805.
History
As with other types of folk wrestling, the roots of Schwingen in SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
cannot be determined exactly. The modern sport was institutionalized in the 19th century out of older, regional traditions.
There are records of wrestling in Switzerland from the medieval period. A picture from the 13th century (in the Cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
of Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
) shows the typical way of gripping the opponent.
Schwingen as a special form of grappling in Alpine culture can be traced to the early 17th century.
This form of grappling is preserved during the 17th and 18th century in the Emmental
Emmental
For the cheese made in the region, see Emmental .The Emmental is a region in west central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the Emme and Ilfis rivers. The region is mostly devoted to farming, particularly dairy farming...
, Haslital
Haslital
The Hasli region is a historical Landvogtei or Talschaft in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, bordering on the cantons of Obwalden, Uri and Wallis...
and Entlebuch
Entlebuch
Entlebuch is a municipality in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district of Entlebuch. The area has been designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2001.-Geography:...
regions specifically. In 18th century travel literature
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
, Schwingen figures as part of the stereotypes of Swiss alpine culture. The Entlebuch pastor Franz Josef Stalder in 1797 records a set of rules in his Fragmente über Entlebuch.
The modern history of the sport begins during the period of Mediation, with the Unspunnenfest
Unspunnenfest
Unspunnenfest is a festival held in the town of Interlaken, Switzerland, near the old ruin of Unspunnen Castle, in the Bernese Alps, approximately once every twelve years, most recently in 2006. The festival highlights traditional Swiss culture and features competitions of Steinstossen , Schwingen ...
of 1805.
In the late 19th century, memorable Schwing festivals and a lively activity of educated gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
teachers brought Schwingen to the big cities. Thus the original fight of the herder
Herder
A herder is a worker who lives a possibly semi-nomadic life, caring for various domestic animals, in places where these animals wander pasture lands....
s and farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s became a national sport that reached all social levels. The associations, headed by the Eidgenössischer Schwingerverband (national federation, founded 1895), organized the sport by integrating regional peculiarities, improving the abilities of the fighters with teaching books and practices, and creating modern tournament rules.
Tournament
Jute
Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....
over their clothes. The wrestlers hold each other by these pants, at the back where the belt meets, and try to throw the opponent onto his back. There are several main throws, with names like "kurz", "übersprung" and "wyberhaagge", some of them very similar to judo technique
Judo technique
This page is a list of judo techniques. There are a variety of techniques recognized by Kodokan judo and other budō . Below is a partial list, organized by technique type and alphabetically within type....
s - "hüfter" is almost identical to koshi guruma
Koshi Guruma
,is one of the original 40 throws of Judoas developed by Jigoro Kano.It belongs to the second group,Dai Nikyo,of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo , of Kodokan Judo.It is also part of the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo....
, "brienzer" is basically uchi mata
Uchi Mata
is one of the original 40 throws of Judo as developed by Jigoro Kano.It belongs to the second group, Dai Nikyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo , of Kodokan Judo.It is also part of the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo....
. These throws are found in many wrestling systems that have even the slightest emphasis on throwing the opponent, and can also been seen in shuaijiao. A match is won when the winner holds the opponent's pants with at least one hand and both the opponent's shoulders touch the ground. By tradition the winner brushes the sawdust off the loser's back after the match.
The match is judged by three referee
Referee
A referee is the person of authority, in a variety of sports, who is responsible for presiding over the game from a neutral point of view and making on the fly decisions that enforce the rules of the sport...
s, one of whom stands in the ring. The referees give points, with a maximum of ten points for a winning throw. If the match ends without a clear win, the more active Schwinger is awarded the higher number of points.
At a Schwing festival, every Schwinger wrestles six opponents, or eight at the Eidgenössische. The two Schwingers with the highest number of points after five (seven at the Eidgenössische) matches get to the Schlussgang (last round). The matching of the Schwingers is done by the fight court according to arcane rules. Often there are suspicions that the matchings have not been fair, and favor one contestant over the others.
There are no weight classes nor any other categories. Usually, though, Schwingers are big men, over 180 cm tall and weighing in excess of 100 kg, and are mostly craftsmen from traditional professions that require some physical force, like carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
s, butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
s, lumberjack
Lumberjack
A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...
s or cheesemaker
Cheesemaker
A cheesemaker is a person who makes cheese.The craft of making cheese dates back at least 4,000 years. Archaeological evidence exists of cheesemaking by the ancient Egyptian civilizations....
s.
Regional and cantonal
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
Schwing festivals are held outdoors, between early summer and autumn.
The most important Schwing festival is the Eidgenössisches Schwing- und Älplerfest, which takes place every three years. The winner of this tournament is proclaimed Schwingerkönig and receives a bull as his prize.
List of tournaments and winners
A list of Eidgenössische tournaments with Schwingerkönig:
|
|
Traditions
Traditionally, Schwingen is a male sport. Women have only been schwinging for few years, the Frauenschwingverband, women's Schwing association, having been founded in 1992.The Sennenschwinger (members of a pure Schwing club) wear dark trousers and a colored shirt, mostly bright blue, while the Turnerschwinger (members of a sports club dedicated to other sports as well) wear white pants and a white t-shirt.
Advertising and sponsoring is shunned at Schwingen. Successful Schwingers do not receive cash prizes but natural prizes, like cow bells, furniture or live stock. These prizes may be sold for money.
The best Schwingers at a festival are given a wreath , Schwingers who receive a wreath at an Eidgenössische, are called Eidgenossen (confederates). Good Schwingers at national level are called "Böse" (wicked ones).
A winner of the Eidgenössische is given the title of Schwingerkönig (schwinger king) which he keeps for lifetime, including some privileges like being guest of honor at every Eidgenössische (there is no ex-Schwingerkönig).
WEST COAST SWISS WRESTLING ASSOCIATION HISTORY
The flow of Swiss immigration to the United States began increasing after the Civil War (1861-1865). The country’s Westward Movement brought many of these early immigrants to the West Coast. By the late 1800’s sufficient numbers of Swiss had arrived that Swiss Vereins (Clubs) were established to provide camaraderie and sharing of customs and traditions of the Heimat (Homeland). The William Tell Verein of Oakland and the Sacramento Helvetia Verein founded in the 1890’s were examples of clubs formed during this period.
Many Swiss immigrated to Imperial Valley in the early 1900’s. Our patron historian, Albert Ming (1911-2002), remembered the first Schwingfest in the “Valley” at McKim Bridge on the Von Moos and Ruchti Ranch won by Karl Von Moos in 1921. During the 1920’s Swiss immigration surged as did the number of schwingfests from Imperial Valley and Los Angeles in the Southwest, to Modesto, Newark, and San Francisco in the Central West Coast, to Portland and Tacoma in the Northwest.
One of these Swiss immigrants was Joseph L. Inderbitzin who arrived in the late 1920’s and joined the San Francisco Swiss Gymnastics Club as a turner (gymnast) and schwinger. “Joe” competed as a schwinger in various schwingfests through the 1930’s. An incident at a Newark Schwingfest in 1939 stuck vividly in his mind. Schwinger, Melch Amstalden, incurred a fatal neck injury. This event and injuries of schwingers Joe witnessed during the 1940’s and early 1950’s prompted him to conceive forming an organization like the Eidgenossischer Schwingerverband in Switzerland which does for schwinging there , what the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball Association does for our sports of football, basketball, and baseball here in the U.S.A.
Joe’s primary concerns were to provide assistance to injured wrestlers and standardize the schwinging rules and regulations which varied somewhat among the sponsoring clubs. Instead of having several “Championship Schwingfests” in a given year the member clubs of the organization could designate one club’s annual schwingfest as “The Championship Schwingfest”.
So in 1955 Joe began his crusade. He contacted all the West Coast Swiss Clubs that sponsored schwingfests to initiate a discussion of ideas on how to achieve his vision of an organization to monitor Swiss wrestling on the West Coast. After numerous letters, phone calls, personal conversations with key persons at Swiss events he attracted a contingent of strong supporters. Notable among these were Hans Durrer and Kamill Omlin (Imperial Valley), Joe Zumstein and Alois Stockalper (San Diego), Hans Sulzer, Fred Burri, and Paul Aeschlimann (Los Angeles), Paul Bleisch, Joe Reichmuth, and Louie Marchy (Newark), Konrad Grass and Joe Kannel (San Francisco), Louie and Adolf Beeler (Ripon), John Irrbarren, Otto Scheiber, Fred Kaelin, Martin Steiner Sr. (Sacramento), and Arnold Inderbitzin and Karl Kuttel (Truckee).
Among all these males was one female who Joe would agree confirms the axiom, “Behind each great man, stands a woman.” Evelyn Blattler Amman of San Diego was such a woman. She did the vital secretarial chores for fourteen years which enabled the fledging organization to get on its feet.
After two years of diligent effort, many communiquésés, and meetings with club delegates Joe’s dream came to fruition with the official incorporation of the West Coast Swiss Wrestling Association on January 12, 1957. The first officers were:
|
In 1960, Joe made a serious effort to include the Portland and Tacoma clubs in the W.C.S.W.A. But like the Swiss in Switzerland when it was in the process of becoming a confederation, they were leery of giving up some provincial control. So Joe’s vision of all West Coast clubs being included in the Association fell short. But to Joe’s credit, he showed sincere respect for their point of view.
Now, fifty years later, the W.C.S.W.A. continues to serve as a forum for Swiss Wrestling, providing aid to injured schwingers, arranging for American schwingers to compete at schwingfests in Switzerland, and advertising American schwingfests to the Swiss in Switzerland, enabling some schwingers of the Heimat to compete in American events.
Written by Paul Kiser - San Joaquin Valley Swiss Club.
Literature
- Urs Huwyler: Könige, Eidgenossen und andere Böse: Schwingen - ein Volkssport wird trendig, (Kings, Confederates and Other Wickeds - a Folk Sport Becomes Trendy) AT Verlag 2010, ISBN 978-3038005506
External links
- Eidgenössischer Schwingerverband
- Schwingerverband Rapperswil
- http://www.jabderhalden.ch/ (J. Abderhalden, Schwingerkönig 1998, 2004, 2007)
- San Joaquin Valley Swiss Club (California, USA)