History

When the Ottoman soldiers entered "Rumeli," -the european side of Turkey, forty brave men wrestled under the supervision of their commander Suleiman Pacha. Refusing to stop, the wrestlers died wrestling as they exhausted their life force in the match to win. As we can see from its legendary beginnings, the "Kabe" of wrestlers, Kirkpinar has a historical connection with the brave Turkish army. Blessed with the traditions of Turkish culture, Kirkpinar is a living event, dedicated to the brave soldiers who died wrestling.

How is the sponsor chosen?

On the 3rd day of Kirkpinar. Edirne municipality organizes an auction for Kirkpinar's sponsorship candidates. The bids are placed on a ram. The highest bidder becomes the sponsor (aga) of next year's Kirkpinar.

Baspehlivan

The "baspehlivan" (winning wrestler) is invited to various wrestling championships. In Turkey, the oil wrestling season continues for 8 months of a year. Usually, a "baspehlivan" would receive about five thousand USD of extra cash besides the main cash award. A "baspehlivan" wrestling in 50 different championships would win about 1million USD. The winner at Kirkpinar wins around 100.000 USD along with the title "Champion of Turkey."

Master/apprentice

Any wrestler from a traditional upbringing has an apprentice. The master trains with his apprentice: "cirak," and teaches him the art of oil wrestling. After the master wrestler quites the "arena of the brave," his apprentice continues his tradition.

Categories

The wrestlers attend other wrestling championships before coming to Kirkpinar. The referees closely know the technique and mastery of each wrestler. The categories are divided into groups called "boy." In this arrangement, weight is not a deciding factor. A wrestler weighing 120kg might not be allowed to wrestle in the "bas" -head, category. To wrestle in the head category, one must have had a final in "bas alti," -one step lover than the "bas" category. A successful wrestler in regional championships might be allowed to wrestle in the "bas" category if he is found to be superior to his competitors.

The finals

The final wrestling matches are held on the third day of Kirkpinar. On this day , the president of Turkey may visit Edirne to watch the finals. The baspehlivan's prize is given by the president of Turkey, the "aga," (sponsor), and the mayor. The arrival of the president brings the highest protocol in Turkey into Edirne.

Kispet

The leather worn by the wrestlers is called "Kisbet." A hundred years ago, the head wrestlers wore kisbets made of water buffalo leather. A headwrestler's kisbet can weigh as much as 13 kg (water buffalo leather), or 5kg (calf skin). A kispet has 58 meters of hand stitching.

The moves

In olympic wrestling, holding from the wrestling jersey is regarded as a foul. In oil wrestling, most moves are made on the kisbet (leather breaches). The wrestlers try to put their hands go through the kisbet of their opponents as much as possible. If the kisbet is tied well, it will not be possible to put a hand or arm through. A pehlivan who can put his hand through his opponent's kisbet can control him. A hold from the lower end of the kispet can result in 'paca kazik' (a move that would allow the pehlivan to lift his opponent).

Time limits

Until 25 years ago, there was no time limit to wrestling in Kirkpinar. The pehlivans would wrestle sometimes one, sometimes two days, until they could establish superiority to one another. Wrestling games would go on from 9am in the morning until dusk and the ones that could not beat each other would go on the next day. After 1975, wrestling was limited to 40 minutes in baspehlivan category. If there is no winner within these limits, the pehlivans wrestle for 15 minutes with scored recorded. The ones that can score points in this last part are accepted as the winners. In other categories, the wrestling time is limited to 30 minutes. If there is no winner, 10 minutes of score wrestling follows.

Awards

Gold and cash awards are given to all wrestlers. The top three in their categories are awarded 500 of 24 carat 7gr 20 cm weight gold by the Ministry of Sports. In the distribution to categories, shares of 30, 20, 10 or 20, 10, 5 are given our to the first three, respectively. Banks, companies or individual people that want their advertisement also give cash awards to the wrestlers. The organizer, Municipal Government of Edirne distributes both gold and cash awards to the top threes and pays cash to the ones that could not get an award for their travel expenditures. This is called 'yolluk' -for the road.

Golden Belt

In Kirpinar, the wrestlers that are unlimited weight and have self-confidence compete in the 'Bas'-lead category. The winning wrestler in this category receives The 'Baspehlivan' of the Year award. The wrestler that obtains this award for three consecutive years receives 1 kg 450 g weight , 14 carat Golden Belt, alongside his gold and cash awards. Including the hand craft, the value of the 'Golden Belt' is equivalent to $25,000.

Edirne

The city of Edirne, that has been the capital of the Ottoman Empire for 75 years, is 200 kilometers away from Istanbul. Every half-hour, from the main terminal, modern buses travel from Istanbul to Edirne. Using the highway, Edirne is reached in 2.5 hours. The bus ticket price is the Turkish Lira equivalent of $6.

Sarayici

The Kirkpinar wrestling games are held in a peninsula called 'Sarayici' surrounded by Meric and Tunca rivers and connected to the city of Edirne. Sarayici is 2 kilometers away from the city center. Since it houses a palace with 2000 rooms, the peninsula is called Sarayici- inside the palace. During the 1877-1878 Turkish-Russian war, this palace is burned down for it not to be captured by the enemy. Every year, approximately 1000 wrestlers attend to the games in Sarayici.

Festivities

Around the stadium where the games are held, the festivities of the public go on until the morning. In the festivities, usually lamb roast is very popular. In the entertaintments, belly dancing is accompanied by Turkish traditional musical instruments 'davul' (drum) and 'zurna' (a type of flute) and singings. Aside from the wrestling games, the attractive side of Kirpinar is these festivities.

Food

In Edirne, all sorts of meat, vegetable and fish foods are served. These meals in international standards are of much lower prices than they could be found other countries. A good hotel does not cost more than $30 a night. Even though it may be difficult to find rooms during the games, rooms can be found in towns that are of 20-30-40 kilometer distance.

Olympic vs. Oil

Many wrestlers who have won Championships in olympic wrestling have not succeeded in oil wrestling. To the contrary, many great oil wrestlers have achieved world and olympic champion status. The "top" in wrestling is "oil" wrestling.

Spectators

In the oil wrestling unwritten law, there is no tradition of applauding the winner. After the Pehlivans get into the arena, they are applauded altogether. During one year, grease 300 different wrestling games held in Turkey host 10 million spectators on average.

Media

Every year, around 200 journalists follow Kirkpinar. 100 of those come from all around the world to Edirne. Members of the press and the media have fun together in restaurants by the river Meric or by 'Tavuk Ormani' (Chicken Woods) by Sarayici.

Sponsor's Message

1999 Kirkpinar Traditional Turkish Oil Wrestling Championship Sponsor Ayhan Sezer

He was Born on November 10th, 1960 in Babaeski,'s province "Buyuk Mandira." A descendant of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz and unforgettible Kirkpinar Champion (Baspehlivan) "Kavasoglu Ibrahim the Great," Mr Sezer is a businessman who deals with vegetable oil production.

Dear Fans,

This sports championship is held yearly on the second week of July in the city of Edirne, Turkey. The wrestlers wear their traditional outfits, "kispet," made of made of water buffalo leather and which contains 58 meters of hand stitching. This outfit covers the lower part of the werstler's bodies below the belt area to the knees. Warm-up movements called "Peshrev," resembles the attack of an eagle on its prey. Then the wrestlers pat each other in the back and wish success to one-another. After all these activities, the wrestlers pour olive oil onto their bodies. A younger wrestler defeating an older wrestler would kiss the older wrestler's hand. The furthest achievement in wrestling is oil wrestling. None of the world, or olympic champions were able to win in Kirkpinar. Many wrestlers who have started in oil wrestling have gone on to achieve world and olympic success. As the athletes compete in the "arena of the brave, " Turkish traditional musical instruments (davul:drums, zurna:a type of flute) play the melodies of war. "Cazgir" is a poet-like character who introduces the wrestlers to the crowd with his limericks (mani) and witty humor.

Why Do They Apply the Oil?

For many years the practitioners of the sport of wrestling have prepared in religious settlements. The first wrestling sketches were found in Egypt in Beni Hasan temple which was built five thousand years ago. In Central Asia, religious men called "shamans," and "dai" have been involved with wrestling. In the Ottoman Empire wrestlers were brough up in religious environments called "tekke" for seven hundred years. Just like five thousand years ago, Japanese Sumo Wrestling and Turkish Kirkpinar carries over the religious motifs of the past. Man is not simply made of matter, the other half of the human equation is our spirit and spiritual being. Wrestling without the spiritual relationship has been accepted to be harmful for the improvement of the human character. The wrestlers oiling of each-other is a signification of the importance of "balance" in such competitions. According to English thinker Bertrand Russel, the Roman Empire collapsed due to the infected mosquitoes that spread Malaria. In those times, living at sea level, to 400m above sea level was close to impossible. Even mosquito nets, burning animal feces, standing in smoke during sundown were not sufficient for complete protection from mosquitoes. The oil extracted from a vegetable particular to the Mediterranean region: "the olive," was used in cooking and for protection from mosquitoes. When humans learned to mix a specific ingredient "kafur" with olive oil for full protection from mosquitoes, the Roman Empire was long gone. The people of Anatolia who spent day by day applying olive oil on to their bodies, continued to wrestle with their bodies oiled, and a new style of wrestling surfaced from this condition: "oil wrestling."

A Part of Turkish Culture

The culture of a nation is its mirror. It is possible to get an impression about a nation by examining their culture. Before the times of television and radio, wrestling has been used as an image making event by the "pachas, beys and agas" -the powerful people of the time. No one can argue against the importance of image. Alexander the Great brought sculptors along when he headed to conquer Asia; he had handsome busts of himself put all around the countries he conquered. Napoleon benefited from painters. In the times of the Ottoman Empire large land owners supported wrestlers to maintain their image. At the wrestling events, the "cazgir" would announce in his rhyming, colorful language who the sponsors of the wrestlers are. Relatively, a winning wrestler would appease his sponsors. This was the easiest way of "image making" before the communication age. Also, wrestling was regarded as a military preperation for centuries. Plato, the student of Socrates recommends: "For the benefit of the nation, have your sons practice wrestling and gymnastics along with music." Kirkpinar contains music, gymnastics and wrestling.

The Role of the Sponsor

The "Aga" is the number one sponsor at Kirkpinar, the "Kabe" of wrestling. He is able to stop a match, disqualify wrestlers if necessary, and even to cancel the wrestling events all together. The "aga of all agas" in Turkish , means the president of the country. Presidents Ozal, and Demirel have been among the number one spectators of Kirkpinar. The Aga welcomes his guests in Edirne for 3 days. He puts them up at the hotel, has big dinners, and organizes festivities. Also, whe hands out the medals to the winners in their categories.

Great Wrestlers

My Ancestors "Kavasoglu Ibrahim the Great," "Samdancibasi Kara Ibo," and Alico were head wrestlers (baspehlivan) of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz. Alico established an unbreakable record of being "Baspehlivan" in Kirkpinar for 27 years. The Sultan, Abdulaziz took Kavasoglu and Samdancibasi on his trip to France and England. The love for Oil Wretling must have descended from these great ancestors of mine. I was not able to wrestle at Kirkpinar, but as the "aga" and sponsor I am trying to aid this ancient sport which we have inherited from our past. Yusuf the Great (Koca Yusuf), Kurtdereli, Adali, Kucuk Yusuf (Huseyin) and Dobrucali Yusuf Mahmut wretled in Europe and America, and were known around the world. Another wrestler, Kara Ahmet took the world champion title in 1899 in Paris.

Come to Kirkpinar

This year, the second week of July, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday a minimum of 1000 wrestlers will wrestle from 9:00 am to sundown in Edirne, Turkey. Come and enjoy an ancient and fascinating sport at its foundation, I recommend this very highly.

The Sponsor of the 1999 Kirkpinar Traditional Turkish Oil Wrestling Championship

Ayhan Sezer



P.S.: Technical information on Kirkpinar is taken from AIPS Wretling Committee member and journalist Ali Gumus.