I have always been a fan of wrestling but in my region there is a different kind of wrestling which is an sport inherited from my ancestors and it is a legitimate sport and today I will proove and explain you Oil Wrestling is a legit martial arts branch

                                                                 656. Kirkpinar Wrestling Competetion                                                                                                                                                       

My interest to Oil Wrestling

To be honest I wasn't really interesting to this branch of sport before going to one. Also my grand grand dad was really succesfull in this sport so I spend my entire childhood listening his stories. As my elders told me he was 1 match away from being the World Champion in Oil Wrestling but sadly his opponent was too tall for him. Also I don't know how but I some schools just sended me some Oil wrestling scholarships before I start highschool. Literally 3 schools sended mail to my home about Oil wrestling scholarships. One my friend is recently attending the wrestling competetion in Acipayam , Denizli and she took so many cool photos and she was kind enough to spare me some. At some point oil become inseperatable from wrestling and became a traditional martial art style.


Born of the Oil Wrestling

Well the tradition of oil wrestling dates back to the Ottoman Era and to the Janissaries. Janissaries were elite soldier class in the Ottoman Empire and these soldiers are mostly captives of the war. Ottoman Empire was taking away children and educate them in Turkish tradition with Spartan regime of training. The weird thing was despite the fact that they are enslaved , Janissaries were given salaries and pensions and also they were really well respected and they were considered as Elites of Ottoman Society. The Janissaries were training extensively for combat and this training was containing close combat wrestling. Well Janissaries started to use oil in the trainings , because sometimes hours of training was too hard in the heat of the Anatolia and also they wanted to make their body stay cool and avoid the mosquitos.

The most famous Oil Wrestling Competition started 656 Years ago in Kirkpinar , Edirne in the former capital city of the Ottoman Empire. Every year in the second week of June Kirkpinar Oil wrestling competetion starts and it gets attraction from Turkey. Also after lots of competetion the winner of the competetion gets Baş Pehlivan title it is something like Lead Wrestler. Don't under estimate it . It has a lot of street credit in Turkey to have that title. If they ask me do you want to become Baş Pehlivan or Ninja Warrior I would probably choose Baş Pehlivan.


Rules Of Oil Wrestling


Well the dynamics of Oil wrestling is far much different than other forms of wrestling . Because the contestants are oiled and the matches can take up to 40 minutes without the over time.

  • Every contestant needs to wear a traditional leather made cloth called kispet. It is a similar clothing currenty getting used in Sumo but the difference is those belts are covered in Oil too and it may weight 10 kg when it completely soaked the oil.
  • Well there is a difference in Oil Wrestling . The main objective to win is to pin your opponent down from your shoulders to the ground. If your belly is up , You lose ! Because of the oily bodies it is not easy to pin down each other and navigate.
  • Removing of the Kispet if opponents Kispet tears apart or falls for any reason he loses.
  • Winning by weighting the opponent. Well I must admit that this one is my favourite. If you hold your opponent raise him up and walk 3 steps while you are holding him You automaticly win !. What a hardcore way to lose .

656. Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Final


If you still didn't understand What he heck is Oil Wrestling. You can watch the final match from a month ago from Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Competetion. Two great wrestlers fight with each other Ismail Balaban vs Orhan Okulu. I know you are too excited for this footage but I'm not going to give spoilers about Who is going to win but they become to manage to become top wrestlers in 2500 contestants.

Well Before you get outraged over inserting of the hands in to the Kispet, I must say that sportsmanship is a huge deal in Turkish Oil Wrestling. Grabbing your opponents junk is highly forbidden and I promise you it doesn't occur as often as you think. Sadly I can't promise about Butt Dragging it is an accepted method in every Wrestling type.


Well Oil Wrestling might not be an internationally popular Martial art branch but it is an important fabric in Turkey's combat sports history and cultural fabric. Also Turkey's success in wrestling in Olympics are cannot be disputed. I decided to write this article when I was searching a technique called Ottoman Slap appareantly Ottoman Janissary were slapping the marble in one of their training and their hands and bone structure become stronger , therefore they can knockdown their enemies eventhough they are wearing heavy armor. Hope you enjoyed while reading the article and I also hope that you think Oil wrestling is a legit Martial art sports from Turkey.