Photo tours to national Kazakh games

Rules in kokpar.

Kazakh national games

“To solve a problem,” said Descartes, “is to win the battle. But winning the battle is not the same as solving the problem.”

Jean Rost.

Photo tours to national Kazakh games.

It is forbidden to attack a cockparist at the moment when he picks up the carcass from the ground. It is also impossible to snatch a goat from behind a player's back. It is not allowed to point the horse towards the spectators, and the audience is not allowed to help the players.
The opponent's horse is an inviolable animal: it is not allowed to beat it with a swing or intimidate it. In case of violation of the rules, the kokparist is removed from the field for two minutes. If he made a serious mistake, then he is removed from the competition.
For the game of the goat, only the male is slaughtered, taking into account his weight and the strength of the skin. A ram is not suitable for a kokpar - its skin will not withstand such loads. For youth teams, a carcass weighing no more than 25 kilograms is selected.
Animals up to 35 kilograms are suitable for adult competitions. The distance from the gate to the gate is 300 - 400 meters, the width of the playing field is 20 - 30 meters. Kokpar, also called goat-wrestling, but this literal translation is not very harmonious and does not convey the excitement that embraces both the spectators and the participants in this fascinating spectacle.
Kokpar invariably accompanies any events of aul life, be it a wedding, funeral, engagement or the birth of a child. The hero of the occasion should only provide a specially prepared goat carcass. The goat is decapitated, the blood is drained, the neck is carefully sewn up tightly.
Kokpar can last for hours, from morning to evening, the victory passes from one team to another, sometimes only scraps remain from the goat's skin, but the kokparshe does not calm down. For a Kazakh, kokpar is a whole art.
The skill of a kokparist was passed down from generation to generation, from father to son, from grandfather to grandson, and was valued no less than any other art. It only seems from the outside that a simple matter is to take the carcass of a goat from an opponent.
In fact, you can’t take it by force - you need skill, dexterity and knowledge of special techniques.