reverence, but for the most part have been codified into martial sport, with
much of the military application no longer practiced or obvious.
The culmination of the sporting year in Mongolia falls during the sec-
ond week of July. The festival, known as Naadam,lasts one week, during
which all three sports reach their annual competitive pinnacle.
Mongolian folk wrestling as a sport dates well back into antiquity and
holds a position of unrivaled cultural importance. Today Mongolian
wrestling is generally held outdoors on grass, with no time limits and no
weight classes. Wrestling tournaments are held during most holidays.
The objective is to get the opponent to touch any part of his back, el-
bow, or knee to the ground. Each match is supervised by two men who act
as both referees and “corner men.” These men determine the winners and
prompt the individual wrestlers to action when necessary. These individu-
als are arbitrarily appointed to each wrestler prior to each match. They also
direct the action away from the spectators and other matches in progress.
There is also a panel of judges who are solely spectators and not actively
involved with the matches. They serve as the final word in disputes about
takedowns and handle the logistics of the tournament.
Each wrestler has a rank, which is determined by the number of rounds
successively won in each Naadam festival. (A round for an individual is
made up of one match, with the winner moving to the next round and the
loser being eliminated from the tournament. The winner then waits for the
remainder of the matches to finish before the next round commences.) Rank
can only be attained during the Naadam festival, and therefore it is not un-
common for a wrestler to wrestle his whole career without rank, though he
may be successful in other tournaments throughout the year. The ranks (in
order from lowest to highest) are unranked, bird, elephant, lion, and titan.
The privilege of rank is that the highest-ranked wrestlers choose their op-
ponents in each round. In addition, after each match, the lower-ranked
wrestler passes under the right arm of the senior, win or lose.
Mongolian wrestling matches begin with each wrestler exhibiting a
ritual dance of a great bird in flight. At the end of a match the victorious
wrestler again engages in a more elaborate version of the dance. There are
two popular opinions as to the type of bird being imitated. Some say the
bird in question is a great falcon, while others say it is an imitation of the
Garuda bird from Buddhist mythology. If the dance is done correctly, it is
intended to exhibit the wrestler’s power and technique, and also serves to
loosen the muscles prior to the match. In Inner Mongolia the dance is one
of an eagle running before it flies. While performing the dance, the wrestler
is supposed to mentally focus on Tengri (sky) and gazar (earth)—sky, or
heaven, for skill and blessing and earth for stability and strength.
The attire of each wrestler is the point of most divergence between the
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