Köräş (also kuresh, koresh, küreş, güreş and similar variants) refers to a number of

folk wrestling A folk wrestling style is any traditional style of wrestling, which may or may not be codified as a modern sport. Most cultures have developed regional forms of grappling. Europe Britain Traditionally wrestling has two main centres in Great ...

styles practiced in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. Köräş wrestlers (Turkish:Güreş, ''köräşçelär''; , ''küreščiler'') use towels to hold their opponents, and their goal is to throw their opponents off the feet. The wrestling is the main competition at the folk festival

Sabantuy Sabantuy is a Tatar, Idel-Uralian, Bashkir and Kazakh ('Sabantoy') summer festival, that dates back to the Volga Bulgarian epoch. At first Sabantuy was a festival of farmers in rural areas, but it later became a national holiday and now is wi ...

. The sport is called ' in Azerbaijani, ' in Bashkir, ' in Chuvash, ' in Kazakh, ' in Kyrgyz, ' in Shor, ' in Tatar, ' in Turkish, ' in Turkmen, and ' in Uzbek, all derived from

Old Turkic Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating from the Second Turkic Kh ...

''küreş''.

History

The first official All-USSR koresh championship took place in

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

in 1928 and was followed by the first TASSR (Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) national championship in 1949. Since 1956, regular Tatar Köräş competitions have been organized in honor of the national hero and poet Musa Cälil. At the turn of 1950 and 1960, the Soviet ''Federation of freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, and sambo'' started to develop Tatar Köräş. Sportsmen from the neighbour regions, such as

Bashkortostan Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast ...

Mordovia Mordovia ( ),; Moksha language, Moksha and officially the Republic of Mordovia,; ; is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, situated in Eastern Europe. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of S ...

, and Ulyanovsk City came to compete in Kazan for the first time in 1959. In 1960, the capital of Tatarstan was appointed host of the first

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

(Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) national koresh championship, an event that has been repeated every year since that date. It was organized in Kazan about 15 times, but also in other cities, such as Salavat,

Orenburg Orenburg (, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, along the banks of the Ural River, being approximately southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is close to the ...

, Oktyabrsky, Tuymazy,

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...

Cheboksary Cheboksary is the capital city of Chuvashia, Russia. It is a port on the Volga River. Geography The city is located in the Volga Upland region and stands on the shore of the Cheboksary Reservoir. Its area is .Resolution #2083 The satellite city ...

, Almetievsk,

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk,, , known as Simbirsk until 1924, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Ulyanovsk has been the only Russian UNESCO Ci ...

Naberezhnye Chelny Naberezhnye Chelny (, ; , ) is the second largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. A major industrial center, Naberezhnye Chelny stands on the Kama River east of Kazan near Nizhnekamsk Reservoi ...

. Sportsmen from 36 Russian regions have participated in the Russian championships over the past years.

Events

The International Kurash Association (IKA), founded in 1998, holds championships since 1999. World Senior championships were held in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

(Uzbekistan) in 1999, in

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

(Turkey) in 2000, in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

(Hungary) in 2001, in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

(Armenia) in 2002, in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) in 2005, in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

(Mongolia) in 2007, in

Alushta Alushta (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and Russian language, Russian: ; ; ) is a city of regional significance on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula which is within the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a region internationally recognised as ...

(Ukraine) in 2009, in Termez (Uzbekistan) in 2011, in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

(Turkey) in 2013, and in

Khorramabad Khorramabad (; ) is a city in the Central District of Khorramabad County, Lorestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Situated in a scenic valley surrounded by mountains, the city lies approx ...

(Iran) in 2015. The XI World Senior Championships will be held in Istanbul (Turkey) in 2017. The International Tatar Belt Wrestling Köräş Association was founded on 9 September 2009 with the aim of popularizing Tatar traditions abroad and offer Continental and World opportunities to all sportsmen wishing to compete in Tatar Köräş. It became a member of FILA's World Traditional Wrestling Committee in 2009 and held its second World Championship during the FILA World Wrestling Games that took place in

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

(LTU) in September 2009. The third World Championship was held in

in May 2010 and attracted a participation of about 100 wrestlers from 17 countries. Kurash made its debut at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

which was held in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

and

Palembang Palembang (, Palembang: ''Pelémbang'', Mandarin: 巨港 (Jùgǎng), Hokkien: 舊港 (Kū-káng), Jawi: ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River in the ea ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. It also made its debut at the 30th Southeast Asian Games hosted by the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

in 2019.

World Kurash Championships

World Junior Kurash Championships (U20)

Kurash rules

Contestants attempt to score (and finish the match) with high amplitude throws. The trousers or legs may not be grabbed. There are three scoring points viz. Halal, Yonbosh and Chala. The player who scores a Halal wins the fight. To score a Halal you need to throw your opponent on his back with full control, force and speed. The throw that is close to Halal is given Yonbosh. Two Yonbosh throws make a Halal. The throw that is close to Yonbosh is called Chala. No number of Chala can equal a Yonbosh. There are three penalties in Kurash. The first penalty is called Tanbekh, second penalty is Dakki and the third penalty is Gʻirrom which means disqualification. The fight starts with salutation which is called Ta'zim. And to pause the bout Tokhta is used and to cancel a point Bekar is used.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

References

External links

Tatar traditional wrestling

Federation of national wrestling «Tatarcha Koresh» of Russian Federation

International Kurash Association

Canadian Kurash Webpage

Gennady Saakov, Timur Tamaschunk, Peter Ben Rozen - ''Kurash Uzbek Bukhara Wrestling Style'', Timur Tanaschuk, 2005
{{Main world championships Sport in Uzbekistan Folk wrestling styles Tatar culture Bashkir culture Traditional sports of Iran