Eggs or life: why do Turkish men put their hands in each other's pants?

On the Internet, you can find a lot of specific photos. Today we will talk about those of them, when the Turks of a strong physique, dressed only in leather pants, put their hands a little below the waist to each other. And the place where they do it is the most oh-oh. The Americans call it the specific expression "south of the border."

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1. You can come up with dozens of explanations for why grown men do this - ranging from the desire to help a friend, to cheer him up, to something more obscene. But in fact, everything is explained very simply. This is a kind of national Turkish wrestling called Kirkpinar. Tournaments on it have been held for almost seven hundred years, and therefore it is the oldest sports competition in the world.

2. This is what our story will be about today.

Horse racing, archery, and wrestling are the three oldest sports known to the tribes of the Eurasian nomads. The first two stemmed from life, and therefore their appearance was a matter of course. But the emergence of the latter was caused by a desire to better prepare their men for the only occupation that was worthy of the - war.

The Turks and Mongols have always had excellent physical training. In 447, Hagan Attila came to Thrace to fight the Byzantine Empire. He was close to her capital and stopped only after his opponent offered to end the matter in peace. They decided to determine the winner in a wrestling competition, and the Hun warrior then defeated the Greek athlete. Attila was paid an increased tribute and granted land south of the Danube.

3. It is not surprising that his descendants have always been first-class wrestlers. Traditionally, this sport was called in the Turkic languages kuresh, kuresh, keresh, or something else, depending on the local accent. But after the arrival of the Seljuks, the ancestors of the Azerbaijani and Turkish people, to the Middle East, one important addition was invented. Now the opponents were poured with olive oil before the fight, after which their duel became more spectacular.

There is one beautiful legend about the appearance of constant competitions in the Turkish type of wrestling. In 1356, the second Ottoman sultan, Orhan Gazi, for the first time in the history of his people, transported soldiers to the European shore of the Bosphorus. Under the command of his son Suleiman was a small detachment of forty people. However, the Turks captured the large Greek city of Galipoli and seriously devastated the surrounding area.

In order to somehow celebrate their victory, they found a large meadow on which they held wrestling competitions. The finalists were two brothers, neither of whom could beat the other. The next morning, the soldiers found their lifeless bodies and decided that they would annually remember this event.

4. A few years later, the ancient Roman city of Adrianople was conquered, and the capital of the Ottoman Empire was transferred. Since then, wrestling competitions have been regularly held there. The wrestling itself was called kyrkpynar (“forty springs”) in honor of that very field. Also sometimes it is called yalı gyuresh - "oil wrestling".

In 1360 there were many champions. History has preserved the names of some of them: Ibrahim-ybludok, Ali-pomak (traitor-Slav who converted to Islam), Mad Murat, Genie the hero, Black Osman from Plovdiv, Little Black Eye of the Calf, Mehmed the robber. The rules have not changed significantly in seven hundred years. And they assume a few simple things: the winner will be the one who manages to raise the adversary above his head or press him to the ground.

In conditions where it is almost impossible to make a grab, the combatants have no other choice but to put their hand in their pants to the adversary. In this case, abuse is possible, but this fundamental moment for every man is not regulated by the rules. But, apparently, since the competition has existed for almost seven centuries, apparently, the Turks are trying to carefully make captures.