Kazakh Kuresi represents ancient form and style of Kazakh traditional wrestling, essential element of all festive events, celebrations and integral part of modern Kazakhstani national identity. Since ancient times, the beauty of this sports and strength of the hero-wrestlers “Baluans” have been reflected in folk epics, fairy legends, Kazakh literature like the poem of Iliyas Zhansugurov “Kulager” and Gabit Musrepov’s novel “Ulpan”, and archaeological findings. Wrestling of two opponents is performed on 12m.x 12m. sized mat. The opponents are matched according to their weight category ranging from 60 kg and above 90 kg. All techniques are performed above the waist – wrestlers must fight on foot, making it more difficult. Wrestling on the ground is prohibited. The purpose is to lay the opponent on shoulders. Duration of the match is 5 minutes with extra time of 3 minutes which is offered in case of even number of points. Evaluation of matches is counted by: a) “Buk” – if the opponent touches the mat with abdomen, knee or both knees; b) “Zhambas” is given for three “Buks” or when the opponent touches the mat with one side of pelvis or both; b) “Zhartylay zhenis” is awarded for the technique when the opponent touches the mat with both shoulders.

Kazakhstan 2016

The Mongolian Naadam is inseparably connected to the nomadic civilization of the Mongols who have practiced pastoralism on Central Asia’s vast steppe for centuries. Mongols’ traditional Naadam festival consisting of three manly games is considered as one of major cultural heritage elements which Mongols contributed to the nomadic civilizations. The three types of sports games – archery, horserace and wrestling – are directly linked with lifestyles and living conditions of Mongols and thus become the authentic cultural traditions among nomads. National Naadam is celebrated from July 11 to 13 throughout the country, in soums (counties), aimags (provinces), and the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Naadam represents distinct features of Mongolians’ nomadic culture and traditions, with expression of their unique cultural characteristics and images to become an identity of Mongolian people to the outside world. Thus, Mongolian Naadam has served a key factor to unite the Mongolian people and an important symbol of national solidarity. Mongolian people develop their physical strength, strong will power, patience, space and time related sensitivity and friendly hospitality from the three manly games which provides the cognitive and moral education basis. Main bearers of this cultural heritage are practitioners of the three games. i.e. those who significant part of the Mongolia population. Currently, over 100,000 people practice the traditional wrestling in various clubs and training courses, in addition to 3,000 students studying in several wrestling universities and colleges. Besides, the home schooling is considered one of most effecient forms, as it is the main traditional method to teach and learn the wrestling. Youths who practice wrestling would develop postive personalities such as being friendly, caring to the elderly and modest, besides strong will power, physical strength and courage. The main bearers of horserace appear racehorse trainers and jokey-children. Nowadays, about 400-500 horserace tournaments take place annually and altogether 200,000 horses (some recounted across tournaments) participate in them. About 100,000 racehorse trainers normally train these horses, while over 70,000 children ride and race. Besides, the audience of those tournaments would reach over 300,000 people. The Mongolian traditional home schooling provides extensive knowledge and skills, traditions and customs, culture and art elements of horserace. Compared to other two forms, relatively fewer people (about 10,000) practice and are interested in archery. Similarly, home schooling methods tend to dominate in learning and transmitting archery that family members and relatives become archers a lot. There are hundreds of thousand artisans and craftmen who make various tools and items used in the three manly games through employing meticulous skills and design to make them as collections of various art pieces. For instance, wrestling outfits – hat, boots and shorts, racehorse saddles and jokey’s outfits, and bows and arrows used in archery competitions have specific traditional technology and techniques each. These three sports games make a core blend of traditional arts and sports. Title-singing of horses and wrestlers indicate musical elements embracing songs and melodies. • Wrestling. After the wrestling site has been chosen based on the quality of the grass and the flatness of the site, the wrestling matches begin. Judges in groups of 8, 16, or 32 are divided into two groups which line up at the right and left side of the wrestling site and the wrestlers are divided into two groups at the left and right wings. To present the wrestler to the audience, judges will hold the participant's hat and sing praise songs while the wrestler performs an eagle dance before assuming the position to begin. Wrestling is not only a display of strength and bravery; it is also a competition of skill and technique. The object of the match is to make one’s competitor to fall on the ground with his elbows, knees or any other part of the body touching the ground, at which point he loses. Wrestlers who lose in each round will get eliminated from the tournament. The number of rounds differs from tournament to tournament. There are often 9 rounds at the national festival which takes place on July 11-12 annually and altogether 512 wrestlers wrestle. A half leaves after each round. From the fifth round, winning wrestlers can earn titles starting from hawk, falcon, elephant, garuda /mythical bird/, and lion, to the coveted champion. Wrestlers are divided into two groups or so-called ‘wings’ that the highest ranking wrestlers are listed at the top depending on their titles, such as first grand champions, then champions, lions, garudas, elephants, hawks, falcons etc. • Horserace. Horse-trainers choose potential race horses among horse flocks and train them meticulously, carefully adjusting their daily training and diet. Horse races are grouped in age-specific categories such as stallions, adults, 4-years old, 3-years old, 2-years old and 1-year old which race in different distance categories from 10 km to 30 km. Race horses have their mane and tails trimmed to improve their appearance while their trainers use specially crafted wooden sticks or a brush to remove the sweat from the horse after the race. These sweat-removing tools are often carved and decorated with traditional patterns and images of horses to symbolize their strength. Young riders wear special clothing including the deel and hat. Typically, children aged 6-10 years old jockey racehorses. When registration of the applicant horses is completed, the race administrator rides around the Naadam site three times, while children riding race horses sing ‘Giingoo’ to raise spirits of horses before racing. The winning horse is given the title of ‘Tumnii ekh’ (the mightiest of all), whereas the last horse in the race is given a nickname ‘Buren jargal’ “complete happiness”. The praise song is performed to congratulate winning horses and is called ‘singing titles’. • Archery. This competition is divided into two categories; Khana sur (big bow) and Khasaa sur (small bow). Men shoot from a distance of 75 meters to the target, and women from 65 meters. The target is called ‘zurkhai’, and is made of leather balls neatly lined along the flat ground in two rows. Each archer shoots 40 arrows and the one who shoots the most targets wins.

Mongolia 2010

In Khorasan of today a special music known as the music of “Bakhshis” is widespread. It is played by a master-musician playing Dotār (the regional long-lute type instrument with two strings). The music constitutes the local music of the region, played as solo, and accompanied by improvisations. Bakhshis sing epic and Sufic poems, containing mythological and historical themes. Presently, they perform in various gatherings of the locals, both cheerful and mourning; in the past other types of celebrations were attended by them, too. They perform their Maghams in Turkish, Kurdish, Turcoman and Persian. The contents the music of Bakhshis consists of legends, and historical and ethnic narrations containing epic, religious and romantic themes, performed as singing, ordinary speech, and citation in a repetitious manner. The events of the story are cited; and the poems are sung. Accordingly, the music of Bakhshis can be considered as a combination of music (vocal and instrumental) and verbal dramatic arts. DEFINITIONS: “BAKHSHI” In Persian, the word “Bakhshi” derives from the gerund “Bakhshish” meaning “granting”, conveying the impression that the Bakhshi is an exception in character, whom God has granted a gift. Accordingly, “Bakhshis should be able to sing, play, versify, narrate and make their own musical instruments.” MAGHAM: Bakhshis play regional Maghams, and their music is known as Maghami. Magham consists of pieces of instrumental and/or vocal music, influenced by the regional locals’ culture and beliefs. “Magham” is a popular word in other regions of Iran and some neighboring countries. However, the content and performances define Bakhshis music as especial in identity, while enjoying shared roots with the traditional music of the region, and the Repertory of Iranian Traditional Music, as well. TYPES OF MAGHAMS: The common Maghams of Bakhshis Music are as follows: Navāyī Navāyī is the most widespread Magham of the music of Bakhshis. It is diverse, vocal, rhythmless, accompanied by Sufic poems. The performer shall not be known a Bakhshi, unless he is competent in playing Navāyī. Modulations are observed in variations of Navāyī. Tajnīs A Turkish Magham, Tajnīs enjoys many intricacies which mark competent Bakhshis once performed. Tajnīs is vocal and rhythmless, accompanied by Sufic poems. In comparison with Navāyī, Tajnīs is poorer in its varieties Modulation in variations of Tajnīs are also popular. Gerāyelī/Gerye-ye Leylī (Leyli’s cry) Gerāyelī is a sorrowful Turkish magham, with poems narrating breakaways. The chanson enjoys rhythmic and rhythmless parts. Shākhatāyī A Turkish vocal and rhythmic magham, with sorrow in the vocal section, and cheer in the rhythmic one. Shākhatāyī embraces many varieties; and its long poems present religious themes. Loy Loy is an antique magham, belonging, specifically, to Kormanj Kurds of Northern Khorasan. It is a vocal and instrumental magham, with romantic and describing content. THEMES: The following provide Bakhshis Music with its common themes: (EPIC): “Kūroghlī”: An epical-historical story, narrating the gallantries of a hero named Kūroghlī in his battles against the rulers of his time; (HISTORICAL): “Shah Esmail”, narrating the gallantries of Imam Ali, the first among the Imams, utilizing the life story of Shah Esmail, founder of the Safavid Dynasty; (RELIGIOUS): “Ebrahim Adham”, the religious-Sufic life story of the Sufist, Ebrahim Adham; (ROMANTIC): “Leyli & Majnoun”, the love-story of Majnoun, and his beloved, Leyli. DOTĀR The only musical istrument accompanying the music of Bakhshis Dotār: a long-lute with two strings. (“Dotār”, in Persian, means an instrument with two strings). Traditionally, the strings were made of silk; and Bakhshis used to determine the desired thicknesses. Since around forty years ago, however, metal strings of desired diameters started to be employed instead. Bakhshis consider one string as male, and the other female. The male string remains open, while the female one is being used to play the main melody. The harmony provides the music with its unique character. The five fingers play the role of the plectrum. The bowl is pear-shaped, and is made of berry wood, as a unibody. The tall and slim handle/neck is made of stronger apricot wood. Bakhshis Dotār's hold 12 to 14 frets. Nowadays nylon has been substituted for the traditional sheep intestine as the material. PLAYING SKILLS: Khorasani Dotārs are played in different pitches. The major factors responsible for the variations include the diverse musical habits of the inhabitant ethnicities, and the verifiec “maghams” on the region. The two main pitches are, however, the, so called, Turkish and Kurdish pitches. Through the former, Navāyī, Tajnīs, Gerāyelī, and Shākhatāyī, among others, are performed, and, through the latter, Loy, Allāh-Mazār, Jafargholī, and the like.

Iran 2010

The Kyrgyz people’s clothes are characterized by many peculiar features typical of the nomads’ clothes. The climate of a high-mountainous country with its sharp fluctuations in the temperature, which is quite severe in some places, leaves a big imprint on the character of the Kyrgyz clothes. This causes the need for various types of warm clothing, which are sometimes even used in the summer season. The perfect example of such clothes is chapan – a long coat similar to a dressing gown, can be both with and without a standing collar, unbuttoned, like most of the Kyrgyz people’s clothes. Chapan is worn by both men and women. Chapan is sewn on a wadding or a camel wool with a cotton lining and is most often quilted. Women's chapans are sewn from the best fabric, which is significantly lighter. They are also often decorated with silver jewellery. There are several variants of this clothing, depending on the region: naigut chapan - a wide tunic-shaped robe, sleeves with a gusset, sewn at a straight angle; kaptama chapan - loose fit, sewn-in sleeves with a rounded armhole; and a straight, narrow chapan with side slits. The hem and sleeves are usually sheathed with a colourful lining. In the south, it is customary to gird the chapan with a large scarf folded diagonally (charchy).

Meshrep, which in modern Uygur language means ‘get-together’ or ‘venue,’ is the developed version of the Uygur sacrificial offerings, blessings and ceremonial events of antiquity. Early records of Meshrep appear in the Chinese source The Biography of Gao Che in the Book of Wei (553 AD) and in the Arabic classic The Grand Dictionary of Turkic Language (1073 AD). The Meshrep is an organized folkloric event that follows certain procedures and is often held in a spacious outdoor venue on seasonal and traditional holidays, or according to the needs of the people’s life and work. There are mainly three types of participants: a) the host of Meshrep, viz, the yigetbixi who, elected by the local people, has to preside over the rituals, ballads and dances, games, mock court proceedings and other events taking place in the Meshrep; usually he is aided by several assistants that ensure the orderly progress of the activities; b) the folk artists invited to perform and c) the general public. The event is normally attended by hundreds of people and all of them participate in the activities. Meshrep contains a rich collection of traditions. A complete Meshrep event includes performances like the Uygur muqam, folk songs and dances, story-singing and drama, as well as other activities such as oral literature, tournaments and games, which people enjoy and actively take part in. Meshrep has both relation and difference with Uygur muqam. Usually, some songs and dance music from it will be sung, played in Meshrep event, for the public to enjoy it and dance by self-entertainment with the rhythm of the songs and dance music. In the Uygur “twelve muqam”, each set of muqam has such songs and dance music in its third part, therefore this part is also called “Meshrep”. Uygur muqam is the large comprehensive art form integrating song, dance and entertainment, while Meshrep is just one of the cultural space of Uygur Muqam. Meshrep is rather like a big stage for various arts or a carnival party, with the public freely participating in various activities, who are not only auditors, also players, even the participants and judge of the moral forum; there is no boundary between the spectator seats and the stage, while Uygur muqam artists are just a small portion of the mass participants of Meshrep. In conclusion, Uygur muqam is the art for the public to enjoy, while Meshrep is the important space accommodating various traditional cultural expression forms. Therefore, we can say that Meshrep is not only an important ‘moral forum’ and ‘stage’ for folk artists of various kind to display their brilliant skills, but also a ‘court’ where the host mediates conflicts and ensure the preservation of moral standards. Moreover, it is a ‘classroom’ where people learn about their traditional customs, nature, and different experience of economic production. It is a ‘playground’ where to entertain body and soul. Meshrep is the most important cultural venue carrier of Uygur traditions. There are dozen varieties of Meshrep known so far, this is evidence of the diversity of its social and cultural functions. For example: the ‘Kok (Young crops) Meshrep’ is held in Springtime; the ‘Huoxalik (Festivity) Meshrep’ takes place at weddings, adulthood rites, harvest and festivals; the ‘Namakul (Apology) Meshrep’ is held to mediate conflicts or settle disputes; the ‘Keiyet (Disciplinary) Meshrep’ is performed with the aim of criticizing immoral behaviours or educating the public; the ‘Dolan Meshrep’ is meant to show admiration for the hunting life and ravery of the ancestors; and the ‘Ketaphan (storytelling) Meshrep’ serves as a sort of review of literature. Thus, the word put in front of ‘Meshrep’ indicates the social and cultural function it is meant to perform. Meshrep is mainly transmitted and inherited by the hosts who know well its rules, sequence and cultural connotation, and by the virtuoso folk artists who frequently participate in Meshrep. They learn the tradition either from older hosts and skilled folk artists, or by frequently attending the Meshrep events. They become hosts of the Meshrep only after obtaining the appreciation and recognition of the local masses. At the same time, the transmission of Meshrep cannot dispense with the majority of Uygur people who participate in its actual practice. Being a cultural space for the practice of Uygur people’s traditions, Meshrep has already become a part of their culture and folk customs. It provides the Uygur people with abundant knowledge about their traditions and sustains their cultural identity. Hence, it is considered one of the most important cultural heritages of the Uygur nation. To rescue and safeguard Meshrep not only meets the demands for mutual respect among communities, groups and individuals, but it also answers to the need for improving its viabilityand achieving its sustainable development.

China 2010

The Bamboo Cord Tugging Rituals and Games are one of three important rituals of the Vua Bà Temple festival, which takes place on January 4. The bamboo used to make the mine is carefully selected and is 7-8m long. After cutting bamboo, you must report it to the Holy Lady and ask permission to make scissors. The mine is made from two Bánh tẻ bamboo trees, long internodes, no decay, no truncated ends, about 8m long, the bamboo segments are calculated to enter the letters Prosperous or Peace according to the cycle of Prosperous - Decline - Stuck - Peace, must count the 9th segment and 3 more segments to bend the beak back. Two long bamboo trees are connected by crushing a bamboo segment (burn number 10), then bending it into a beak and hooking it together. The lattice tied on the hook between two bamboo trees (3 lattices on each side) has great flexibility. There are 2 teams: the inside team (standing in the South) and the outside team (standing in the North). Each team has 5, 7, or 9 members depending on the year, shirtless and a captain, a technical instructor. After reporting to Thanh, the two teams stood at opposite ends of the mine. There are 3 lines: 1 center line and 2 win or lose lines, 50cm from one side to the other is a loss. The first round is called "clearing the crowd", the next two rounds are the winners and losers. The organizing committee does not declare victory or defeat, only announces the same prize, people can see and judge for themselves (if the inside team wins, they will get a rice crop; if the outside team wins, they will get a crop of white beans and a small amount of other things).

Viet Nam 2015

‘Salbuurun’ is a complex hunting game with golden eagles, ‘taigan’ dogs (the Kyrgyz breed of greyhounds) and bow. In the modern salbuurun, golden eagles participate in two exercises: ‘chyrga’ and ‘ondok’. In the first exercise, each berkutchi (eagle master) lets his eagle flying towards moulage, which is entailed by a galloping rider. The eagle has to reach and grasp it. Here, time and speed of the golden eagle are estimated. The golden eagle is seated at a distance of 200 meters in ‘ondok’ exercise. At the judge’s signal, the hunter holloes his eagle holding bait in his hands. Here, the arrival time of the eagle to his owner’s hand is estimated. ‘Taigan zharysh’ is a race organized for the greyhounds. Dog’s agility is determined by the speed of its run at a distance of 350 meters. Dogs chase the moulages that is entailed by the horse rider. ‘Zhaa atuu’ is shooting with a traditional bow (archery).

A kind of traditional game played with match. Four participants throw by turn match and according to the situation of falling of match they play roles of king, vizier (minister), clerk or judge and thief.