Mongolian wrestling

We were talking about the Sanda champion Baoligao which I posted a clip of him against a Muay Thai fighter earlier in my blog. I mentioned Baoligao is very different to the typical Sanda fighter in that he is very power orientated and particularly very strong in the clinch. This is because he is not ethnic Han Chinese (the group most Chinese belong to) but rather ethnic Mongolian. Mongolians have a very strong wrestling culture as is typical of all horse nomad tribes. They were brought up on wrestling. Even today wrestling champions are well respected and can earn a good living in Mongolia.

Every year in Mongolia they have what they call the naadam festival where they have archey, horse riding and wrestling competition. Above is a footage of the wrestling competition. The rules are no ground wrestling, first one to touch the ground loses with three points of the body loses, there are no rounds and no weight divisions. They were the special costumes reminiscent of the undergarment the Mongolians used to wear as calvary warriors. You may have seen the Mongolians in these costumes during the Olympic ceremonies as they walk in. If not, look up for it. They always make people's heads turn!

In north China, wrestling is or was a strong tradition. Mongolian wrestling is considered one of the four main branches of Chinese wrestling.