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| Focus | Wrestling |
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| Country of origin | Turkey |
| Olympic sport | Yes (asfreestyle wrestling since1904) |
Oil wrestling (Turkish:Yağlı güreş), also calledTurkish oil wrestling, is the national sport ofTurkey.[1] Oil wrestling includes oil and traditional dress, and its rules are comparable tokarakucak.[1]
InAssyria,ancient Egypt, andBabylonia, oil wrestling was performed. It spread to Iran and Turkey during theFirst Achaemenid conquest of Egypt.[1] Oil wrestling was performed by ancient communities 4,500 years ago inThrace and theBalkans. As theOttoman Empire extended into Europe, oil wrestling competitions have been held ceremoniously until modern times.[2]
UnlikeOlympic wrestling, oil wrestling matches may be won by achieving an effective hold of thekisbet, the loose-fitting leather pants worn during oil wrestling. Thus, the wrestler aims to control his opponent by putting his arm through the latter'skisbet. To win by using this move is calledpaça 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 thebaspehlivan and 30 minutes for thepehlivan category. If there is no winner, play continues for another 15 minutes in thebaspelivan or 10 minutes in thepehlivan category, wherein scores are kept to determine the victor.[3]
The annualKırkpınar tournament, held inEdirne 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 andRhodopes), as well as northern Greece in Eastern Macedonia (Serres region) andWest Thrace (Rhodope Mountains).[7][8][9][10]
Oil wrestling can be traced back to ancientSumer andBabylon.[11] It was also a popular sport amongst theAncient Greeks and theRomans.[12] Cognate forms offolk wrestling practiced byTurkic-speakers are found throughout Western Eurasia (i.e.Europe andCentral Asia) under the namesKöraş,Khuresh,Kurash and more.Greco-Roman traditions also point to the practice of oil wrestling and its spread.[13]
After the conquest ofAnatolia bySeljuk Turks, a form of traditional freestyle wrestling calledKarakucak 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 asYağlı Güreş, or Turkish oil wrestling. In theOttoman Empire, wrestlers trained in special schools calledtekke (تکیه), which were both athletic and spiritual centers. 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 inKırkpınar for an annual three-day wrestling tournament to determine who will be the winner, orbaşpehlivan ("chief wrestler"), of Turkey. Evidence from Ottoman chronicles and documents indicate that theKırkpınar 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 theBalkan 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.
• Theseaghas were awarded a golden belt.[14]
The most important of rituals ispeşrev, 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,abagüreş), but they are much simpler and don't have a developed symbolism. At the beginning ofpeşrev, wrestlers line up in rows with the mainpehlivan (başpehlivan, the winner of the previous competitions) on the right. Wrestlers then look toward theKıbla'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 tocazgır 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".[15]
A wrestler's garment comprises only leather pants below the knee calledkıspet.Kıspet is derived from the Arabic word Kiswa and adheres to the minimum modesty standard of Muslim men where the garment starts at the belt and goes down to just below the knee, covering theirawrah. The word itself came to the Ottoman language through Persian. Until the 1960s, kıspets were made ofbuffalo 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.
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'skıspet gets pulled down (revealing his genitals), he loses as well, though losing under such circumstances is unlikely.[15]
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. Currently, wrestling is limited to 30 minutes in young categories, and 40 minutes for masters. The winner of a final tournament receives the title ofbaşpehlivan and a monetary award. Apehlivan who won three years successively is awarded a Golden belt. Second and third place winners are also awarded, and all participating pehlivans receive "trip money."
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
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