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Brief history of Kurash
Kurash - the traditional upright jacket wrestling which
originated in Uzbekistan more than 3500 years ago. The
original translation of the word "Kurash" from the Uzbek
language is grappling or wrestling. Kurash as a type of
martial art or public sport entertainment is mentioned in
many ancient oriental historical sources. The legendary 1000
years old Central Asian epos Alpomish describes Kurash as
one of the most respected and beloved sports widely
practiced by ancient people in Central Asia. Many ancient
and Medieval philosophers and historians mention Kurash in
their manuscripts and books. The great oriental scientist
and philosopher Avetsena writes that practicing Kurash is
one the best ways to keep the human body and mind healthy
and sound. Still there is no exact information when, where
and by whom Kurash was first practiced. But most of the
scientists agree on that Kurash is one of the most ancient
forms of martial arts people had ever practiced.
The new wave of Kurash development started in IX century AD.
At that time people of Central Asia enjoyed Kurash as a form
of public entertainment and recreation during major social
events, like traditional holidays, wedding parties and
feasts. Later Kurash emerged from entertainment to become a
sporting competition and a form of physical training. The
names of the strongest Kurash players became legendary, like
the Pahlavan Mahmud who lived in XII century. His grave
located in one of the regions of Uzbekistan is still
considered by people of Central Asia as a holy pilgrimage
place. In XIV century one of the greatest conquerors and
statesmen in human civilization Timur used Kurash to train
and to improve the physical condition of his soldiers. Its
well known that the army of Timur was unbeatable and the
strongest in the world at that time.
Years passed by and Kurash became one of the most respected
and popular traditions in Central Asia, especially in
Uzbekistan. Its true to say Kurash is in the bones of the
Uzbek people. Children inherit their love for Kurash from
their fathers. Presently there are at least two million
people who constantly practice Kurash in Uzbekistan itself.
The number of fans and amateur followers of this sport is
simply indeterminable.
Approximately two decades ago Komil Yusupov, well known
Uzbek Kurash, judo and sambo player and one of the activists
of Kurash revival started research to learn the Kurash
heritage, generalize techniques and draft the new Kurash
rules which could meet international standards. In the
beginning of 1990th he finished his research and aimed at
bringing Kurash to the world. He presented the new Kurash
rules developed by him to public discussion of Kurash
specialists and fans. Later the IKA's Congress approved the
rules by Komil Yusupov as the official International Kurash
Rules. The new rules incorporated all the best features of
the national sport with international sport standards like
uniform, an action field, length of competition, etc. Sport
experts acknowledge that the Kurash rules developed by Komil
Yusupov fully correspond to all international sport
requirements.
One of the advantages of Kurash rules is that they prohibit
ground wrestling. Once the knee of one of the players
touches the floor the referee stops the action and players
should restart action from the initial upright standing
position. It is also not allowed to grapple below the waist.
This makes Kurash a truly speedy, dynamic and interesting to
watch sport. Besides that the rules of Kurash strictly
prohibit players to use any armlocks, chocking and
strangling techniques. It helps players to avoid many
injuries and makes Kurash one of the safest types of martial
art to practice.
In 1991 after Uzbekistan first of the Soviet republics
proclaimed independence from Moscow the new life of Kurash
began. The new government headed by the first Uzbek
President Islam Karimov aimed to restore national values and
the traditions of the Uzbek people suppressed during the 70
years long Soviet regime. One of the priorities was to
develop the native form of grappling, Kurash. In April, 1992
President Karimov met Komil Yusupov. They discussed ways to
develop the national sport not only in Uzbekistan, but also
worldwide. The initial goal was and is to make Kurash a
truly international sport included to the Olympic program.
From that day on the initiative group led by Komil Yusupov
started Kurash promotional activity. They held dozens of
Kurash tournaments in different parts of Uzbekistan. The
success was overwhelming. Thousands of local Kurash players
participated events watched by millions of fans filling the
stadiums throughout Uzbekistan.
The activity of Kurash initiators was not limited by the
borders of Uzbekistan. From 1992 they made a number of
international Kurash presentations at different top level
sport forums and meeting in South Korea, Canada, Japan,
India, USA, Monaco and Russia. As a result the first large
scale international Kurash tournament, held in Tashkent, the
capital of Uzbekistan in September 1998, gathered sportsmen
and specialists from almost 30 countries from around the
world. The 30000 spectators who filled the open stadium in
the heart of Tashkent city and millions of TV viewers in
Uzbekistan and other parts of the world witnessed the event.
The first international Kurash tournament was a success. The
30000 seats Jar stadium, where the competition was held
could not manage to fit all the fans. The tournament was won
by the well know athlete from Turkey, Salim Tatar oglu.
The first international Kurash tournament was accompanied by
another historical event. On 6th September 1998
representatives of 28 states of Europe, Asia and America
gathered in Tashkent to establish the International Kurash
Association - the official international sport body to
represent and coordinate Kurash in the world of sport. The
first foundational Congress of the Association adopted the
Statutes of the new international sport organization,
approved International Kurash Rules, and elected the IKA's
ruling body - the Directing Committee. Mr. Islam Karimov,
President of Uzbekistan and one of the main supporters of
the international Kurash movement was unainimously elected
to the position of the IKA's Honorary President. Mr. Komil
Yusupov, the author of the International Kurash Rules, was
elected to the post of the IKA's President. There are 15
posts in the IKA's Directing Committee in total. The DC
members are elected by the Congress of the IKA by majority
of votes for years term with the right for re-election.
In the beginning of May, 1999 Tashkent witnessed another
outstanding event - the first world Kurash championship,
which gathered athletes from 48 states of 5 different
continents - Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South Americas.
It's a truly unprecedented number of participating states
for the first world championship in the sports world.
President of Uzbekistan and the Honorary president of the
IKA Mr. Islam Karimov said at the opening ceremony of the
first Kurash world championship that Kurash incorporated
features close to the spirit and character of Uzbek people,
namely courage, bravery, spiritual generosity, fairness,
honesty and humanism. And sport with such features has all
chances to enjoy support and love around the world.
The overcrowded stadiums in the capital of Uzbekistan
witnessed the historical event. Hundreds of athletes from
almost 50 states of the world competed for the top award in
the world of Kurash. The championship was held in three
weight categories - 73, 90 kg and open category. The
competition was very tough. And it's quite symbolic that in
all three categories gold medals were won by Kurash players
from Uzbekistan.
Since then the IKA holds world senior championships annually
on the regular basis. The second world championships was
held for the first time beyond the borders of the Kurash's
motherland. Mediterranean resort city Antalya in Turkey
hosted the event on July 2000, and this time for the first
time women competed at the championships as well. The third
world Kurash championships were held in Budapest city,
Hungary in August 2001.
Along with the world championships among seniors, the IKA
from the year 2000 annually holds world championships for
juniors as well. The Tver city in Russian Federation has
become the venue for the first two world Kurash junior
championships held in May 2000 and 2001.
The first international female tournament in Kurash was held
in June 1999 in Russian city Bryansk. 25 teams from 9 states
competed at the event. German player Gretta Muller won the
competition. Two Russan and one German players came second
and third.
The first continental championships in Kurash was held in
December, 1999. It was the Minsk city, capital of Belarus to
host the First European Championships. The first Asian
championships, which included men and ladies categories was
hosted by the motherland of Kurash - Uzbekistan, its capital
city Tashkent in April 2001. The first African championships
also among men and women were hosted by the South African
Republic, the venue was the town called Hurtenbos in July
2001. The capital of Bolivia - La Pas city hosted the first
Pan American Kurash championships in March 2002.
The IKA also regularly holds number of traditional
international tournaments different IKA member states. Most
importantly, the Islam Karimov international Kurash
tournament annually organized by the British Kurash
Association since the year 2000. The first tournament to
honor the IKA's Honorary President and the President of
Uzbekistan Mr. Islam Karimov was held in October 2000 in
Bedford town of Great Britain. The second tournament was
held in November 2001 in Dartford, Great Britain.
Since 2001 the IKA designates its best events and people in
12 different nominations like, "Best Kurash player", "Best
referee", "Best tournament", "Best federation" and so on.
Well known athlete from Brazil Alexander Katsuragi has
become the first "Best male players of the year" by winning
in the brilliant manner an international tournament in
Uzbekistan. Dorota Sikora from Poland was designated as the
"Best female player" by becoming the World champion in
Budapest. "The best techniques of the year" were
demonstrated by the young Kurash star from Uzbekistan
heavyweight Abdulla Tangriev - the absolute winner of two
international tournaments held in Uzbekistan.
Kurash has been accepted and cultivated virtually all over
the world. From Bolivia, Canada and USA to Holland, Turkey,
Russia and Japan. Presently the IKA unites five Continental
federations and more than 70 national Kurash federations in
Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania and America. The profile of
the IKA as the international sport organization is growing
as more meetings with the top figures in sport on
international and national level are held by the President
of the IKA and other members of the DC to ensure the stable
and continuous growth of Kurash worldwide.
Kurash is one of the most ancient types of martial arts. But
it is for sure the youngest international sport on the world
arena as only in 1998 Kurash started its international
journey. The journey which will not be easy or short. From
the very beginning the ultimate goal of that journey was
quite clear - to make Kurash - the national sport of
Uzbekistan an international one.
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