Naadam
The three manly games of the Mongols
Naadam
The annual Naadam festival has its origins in the kurultai, the great tribal meetings which were part social and part political events. At these gatherings were decided questions of pasturage, plans for upcoming military campaigns, and most importantly, the leadership of the clans.
The athletic events comprising Naadam are wrestling, horse racing and archery, all sports reflecting the nomadic warrior history of the Mongols. The main national Mongolian Naadam games are held each summer, but many smaller competitions take place at local festivals throughout the year. Naadam translates literally as Play, but is usually known as The Three Manly Games, though today women compete in the archery contests, and children serve as jockeys in the horse races. No Mongolian sporting event would be complete without the accompanying feasting and other entertainments such as dancers, musicians and fortunetellers.
There is always a standard placed in the center of the playing field, nine poles with yak's tails affixed to the top - the old standard of Genghis Khan himself. At the games, these tails are white, a good thing, since black tails were a call to war.
Wrestling
The most popular of Mongolian sports, wrestling has a long history. Genghis Khan encouraged his army to keep fit through wrestling matches, and even arranged to dispose of a few of his enemies through this game.
The match is held on grass or dirt. The point of the wrestling match is for one of the wrestlers to force his opponent's back, knee or elbow to touch the ground. There are two types of Mongolian wrestling - Mongolian and Inner Mongolian, and at least seven different styles within these, the differences being in what constitutes an illegal move. The contestants are not divided by size or weight and there is no time limit on a match.
Wrestlers wear special clothes to compete. On their feet are leather boots called gutal and on their heads, a pointed cap. They wear a shuudag, a tight loincloth made of red or blue cloth, which minimizes the tripping that longer legwear might cause. But it is the tight short-sleeved jacket, or jodag which is most interesting. Collarless and open at the front, and tied in the back, this garment bares the wrestler's chest, to ensure that the contestant is male because at some long ago match, the winning wrestler turned out to be a woman!
Dance is an important part of the wrestling match. Various movements imitate birds or animals when each wrestler takes the field and when he exits. Each wrestler is accompanied by at least one helper who holds the combatant's hat, since a man's dignity is considered to reside in his hat, during the fight and attends to any needs which may arise.
Mongolian wrestlers also have rules of etiquette. The opponents must shake hands both before and after their bout, before saluting each other and the spectators. If a wrestler's clothing becomes loose or tangled, the match is halted while his oponent helps him to right them. When one contestant gets the better of his foe, he helps him up from the ground before raising his arms to begin his victory dance around the center of the field. The loser unties his jodag as a show of respect and must walk off the field under the upraised arms of his vanquisher. The winner receives symbolic awards - ul boov (biscuits) and aaruul (curds and cream), which he samples and then offers to his assistants and then to the audience. The winners are ranked and titled Falcon, Elephant, Lion and the topmost, Giant or Titan, further modified by descriptives such as Steady, Mighty or Strong, depending on a particular wrestler's style and strengths.
Horse Racing
The native Mongolian horse has a large head with a long mane and tail. With a stocky body and short legs with sturdy hooves which rarely need shoeing, it is well adapted to rough ground and are capable of running long distances. They live outside year round and forage for their own food.
 In Mongolian horse races, it's the horse which gets the accolades for a good performance, rather than the owners, trainers or jockeys. Horses for the race are chosen a month or so ahead of time and are separated from the rest of the herd to prepare them for the contest. Their training is designed to build endurance. Their diet is curtailed and they are made to gallop distances while wearing woolen blankets to adapt them to overheating.
There are six divisions to the competition, based on the age of the horse, the youngest being two years old and the oldest being twelve. The distances to be run are between 15 and 35 kilometers, according to the age of the horse. All the races are run over the countryside, requiring the horses to run uphill and down, through ravines and over rivers, and to deal with other natural obstacles. The horses are trained to ignore the loss of their riders and to keep running, which sometimes means that the people at the finish line much catch them to get them to stop racing.
The jockeys are always children, the youngest beginning around four years of age. This may seem strange to us westerners, but Mongolian children literally grow up in the saddle and their slight weight allows the horses to run at their fastest. There are small saddles for the young riders, but most prefer to ride bareback.
Race day is a highly social occasion with much feasting before, during and after the races. Before the races, the horses and their riders often parade through the gathered crowd, showing off their elaborate and highly decorated tack. The riders wear colorful clothes decorated with symbols.
Just before the start of the race, the riders circle the starting point three times, each shouting out the ancient battle cry "Giingo!" The horses are maneuvered behind the starting line and at the command, all the horses begin running at once. At the end of the race, the winners parade three laps in front of the viewing stands before reining up to receive a bowl of airag (fermented mare's milk), which they first drink from before using the rest to annoint the rumps of their mounts. All the while a speaker is chanting an impromptu poem extolling the virtues of the horse and its rider and owner. The horse and rider who came in very last is also expected to take his place before the viewing stands, and is urged to try again the next time with an ode composed especially for the loser, which is further reinforced by encouragement from the audience.
Archery
Archery too is a traditional skill, the remnant of ancient nomadic hunters and the warring Mongolian tribes.
The traditional Mongolian bow is a composite. The favored wood is birch which is coverered with horn or bone and bound together with animal tendons, the whole being glued together with fish glue. Unstrung, the bow has a semi-circular shape, with a length of 150-160 cm. When the string is attached just before each end, it causes the ends of the bow to curve away from the shooter, a design which gives greater range and speed to the arrows. The preferred strings are made from horse hide which has been stretched and twisted. Arrows are usually between 80 and 100 cm long, with a diameter of about 10 mm. They are also crafted from birch and fletched with bird feathers, preferrably from a crane's tail. Tail feathers are said to be far superior in their flight to those from a bird's wing. Arrowheads can be made of wood or bone, for hunting birds and smaller game, or metal for hunting large animals or use in war.
Older men are the main participants in this contest, though women sometimes also take part. Contestants are divided into teams of five to seven members. The target is several rows of woven leather rings which are laid out on the ground. The openings face up, which adds a challenge to the shooting. Some of the rings are painted red, making them worth extra points. Men shoot from a distance of 75 meters and are allowed 40 arrows and must score at least 15 points. Using the same bow as the men, women aim 20 arrows from 60 meters and must score at least 13 points.
The number of targets is reduced in the following rounds, ending with three in the final match. Judges stand on either side of the targets and sing the Uukhai song, which starts as a simple slow melody when the archers are shooting and changes to reflect the success or failure of the arrows to hit the targets. A cry of "Puukhai!" arises when an arrow finds its mark. The shooter who accumulates the most points is declared the winner and bestowed with the title of Mergen, or super marksman.
Sources and Further Reading:
Stewart, Stanley. In the Empire of Genghis Khan: A Journey Among the Nomads, Flamingo/Harper Collins, 2001.
Introduction to Festivals and Games of Mongolia
Nadaam
wiki-Mongolian Wrestling
Three Manly Games
wiki-Mongol Bow
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