Kurash is a variant of folk wrestling, primarily practised in the regions of Central Asia. The English name has emerged from the term for "wrestling" in Turkic language. The FILA World Wrestling Game is the only major event for the sport, as part of the International Kurash Association (I.K.A.), founded in 1998. I.K.A. is the major governing body of Kurash. Kurash is a sport of strength and endurance which is played by both men and women.
To hold the opponents from the waist and throw them with their back, lying on the ground. Kurash wrestlers are required to use towels so that they can hold their opponents, and their goal is to throw their opponents off the feet. Kurash wrestling is the main competition at the folk festival of Sabantuy. There are three different ways in which points can be scored -
- Halal - It's the act of throwing down the opponent on his back furiously with the required control pace. A player who performed a halal on his opponent directly wins the match.
- Yonbosh - It refers to the throw that is not considered as halal, but quite similar to it. Two Yonboshes count as a single halal.
- Chala - Throws that are close to yonbosh are called Chala. These are independent moves, and no number of chalas count as a yonbosh or halal.
History of Kurash
The first official Kurash Championship took place in 1928 in Kazan. With the victory and massive popularity of the Kurash championship, the first T.A.S.S.R. (Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) national championship was held in 1949. From 1956 afterwards, regular Tatar Koras competitions have been organized in honour of their national hero and poet Musa Calil.
In 1960, the capital of Tatarstan was chosen to host the first Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (R.S.F.S.R.) national Koresh championship, an event that has been repeated every year afterwards.
Athletes from 36 different Russian regions have participated in this championship, over the past years. The International Tatar Belt Wrestling Koras Association was founded on 9th September 2009 to popularize Tatar traditions abroad and offers the sportsmen with national and international opportunities. In 2009, Kurash became the member of FILA's World Traditional Wrestling Committee. Later, they organized the second World Championship during the Fila World Wrestling Games, held in Siauliai (L.T.U.) in September. During the third World Championship, held in Kazan in May 2010, it has attracted massive participation of about 100 wrestlers from 17 countries.
Kurash made its successful debut at the 2018 Asian Games, held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia. In 2019, it also made its official debut at the 30th Southeast Asian Games, hosted by the Philippines. The event was also a huge stepping stone for the sports and proof of its vast fanbase.
Variant
Alysh
This is also a kind of folk wrestling or belt wrestling other than Kurash. It is an upright wrestling style where the wrestlers are required to hold their opponent's belts at all time during the match of wrestling.
