Sa STRUMPA or s’ISTRUMPA, which is also known as the LOTTA SARDA (Sardinian Wrestling) is an ancient folk wrestling style culturally unique to the Sardinian people (the Sardinians, or the Sards). Its principles have been passed for centuries, primarily through practice and stories that from generation to generation descides the achievements of legendary characters.

The Sardinians trace their origin to the times of the pharaohs and were called SHARDANA, who belonged to the People of the Sea and believed to be the guards of the pharaohs of Egypt. The Sardinian people more likely have a Sumerian origin. This is supported by the structures called "Nuraghe" in the singular and "nuraghes" in the plural which can be found in different places all over Sardinia and which were erected long before the arrival of the Romans to that territory. In fact, the shape of those buildings recalls the cylindrical towers of Babylon, whose inhabitants the Babylonians had Sumerian origins. Among the most famous historical sites of Sardinia is the "ziqqurat" of Monte d'Accoddi, a former ancient temple which is unique not only to Europe, but to the whole entire Mediterranean region. It is located at the Monte d'Accoddi, in the Nurra, North-Western region of Sardinia, Canton of Logudoro. It’s appearance has a strong physical resemblance with those of the Mesopotamian ziqqurat temples.

When the Romans first arrived to Sardinia they settled on a territory in the North-West of Sardinia, which took the name of Romangia (also in Logudoro) which stands for Roman territory. Since Romans failed to colonize the hinterland areas of Sardinian they called it "Barbagia" which stands for "barbarian/uncivilized” territory.
Sardinia consists of quite a few micro-regions, for example Nurra and Romangia, which in turn are grouped into macro-regions, also called "cantons" and there are four of them: LOGUDORO, GALLURA, BARBAGIA and CAMPIDANO.

Sa Strump ("istrumpare" - instruct, literally "thrown on the ground") is described by researchers of the past as part of "living archeology." It is part of the history of the Sardinia, which is three thousand years old and it is based on courage, loyalty and respect for the rules. There are several testimonies of this sport created over the centuries, with finds such as Uta from a nuragic bronze depicting "gherradores" and about thirty warriors, archers, wrestlers and boxers and is over two meters high, discovered in 1974 in Monti Prama, in Sinis, dated VIII or VII century BC.

In 1985, to organize the first Istrumpa tournament, elderly people from Ollolai and neighboring regions conducted a search to obtain the necessary information to develop "modern" rules. It turned out that in the traditional fight of previous generations there were no written rules, neither weight classes nor duration of fight. Players often fought until they won, while one or both gave up with exhaustion. Victory was awarded after two wins from three clashes or three out of five. Weight categories and combat times were established, and the first technical regulations for this sport were developed. On its basis, in the same year, the first regional championships were organized, which were met with great favor of public opinion and the participation of athletes from many centers in the Sardinia.

In 1994, Federazione S’istrumpa was founded, which in 1995 was incorporated into the FILC (International Federation of Celtic Wrestling). Finally in 1997, Federazione S’istrumpa was included in the FILJKAM (Federazione Italiana Judo Lotta Karate Arti Marziali).

Among the most famous practitioners of the "su chintu partidu/chintzu partziu" variation of the Strumpa wrestling was a two-time Mr. Olympia winning bodybuilder Franco Columbu (1941-2019) of Ollolai, Barbagia and Barbagia, Sardinia.