Mideast Piece

Today Mideast Piece brings you to Turkey for a popular local sport: oil wrestling. Every year since 1640 Turkey’s best wrestlers – men and boys – have gathered for the national championships on a grassy field near the capitol of the old Ottoman Empire (Edirne). The tournament is called “Kirkpinar,” or “Forty Springs,” in honor of a 17th Century wrestling legend.

The wrestlers wear tight short leather trousers called “Kispet” made of water buffalo leather and - fortunately for us horn-dogs - cover themselves with olive oil. Matches take place throughout the country, especially during the summer.

Oil wrestling matches can draw thousands of Turks, who come for the match and to enjoy lamb roast, belly dancing and traditional Turkish music. Only if there is no winner after a half-hour is the match decided with a “sudden death” overtime. There are few forbidden holds, and grabbing of trunks is not off limits. (What about grabbing of asses and crotches?)

Next time you’re in Turkey, skip the mosques and head to the oil wrestling!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 at 12:54 am and is filed under Travel, Too Sexy, Photos, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.