- Name of sport (game): Palio della Balestra
- Name in native language: Palio della Balestra
- Name of sport (game): Palla a Sfratto
- Name in native language: Palla a Sfratto
- Name of sport (game): Paradosiaki pali
- Place of practice (continent, state, nation):
Northern Greece
- Description:
Pali is played on grass, with music, outdoor, during the parish saint days feasts.No weight categories (only age).
Wrestlers wear only a heavy leather trouser called kispet,where they can grip. Attacks can be done on all the body. Oil makes difficult the attacks. The goal is to oblige the opponent to touch the ground with his back.Kispet is the name of the traditional leather shorts worn by the Paradosiaki Pali contestants whose bare chests and bodies are sprinkled with olive oil in this spectacular type of traditional Greek wrestling. The fight starts with a ritual in which the wrestlers douse themselves with oil to prepare for this slippery practice. The contestants begin the fight standing up but it develops mainly on the ground: now performed at very high technical levels, it is a particularly complex practice to be transmitted to the new generations.
- Sources of information :
Source of photos used in this article and gallery:
Photo Kazimierz Waluch, Festival Tocati - Festival Internazionale dei Giochi in Strada, Verona, Italy, 15-18 of September 2022 - Gallery:
- Name of sport (game): Pasabolo tablón
- Name in native language: Pasabolo tablón
- Place of practice (continent, state, nation):
Spain, Cantabria
- History:
Pasabolo Tablón is a traditional bowling game with a long history in the Cantabria region of Spain. Its origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when it was played as a form of entertainment and recreation. The game's name comes from the Spanish words "pasar" (to pass) and "bolo" (bowling ball), referring to the act of throwing the ball down a plank and hitting the pins.
Over time, Pasabolo Tablón evolved into a more formalized sport with specific rules and regulations. It gained popularity in other regions of Spain, such as Vizcaya, Álava, and Burgos. The game's popularity also spread to neighboring countries, such as France and Portugal. - Description:
Game Description: Pasabolo Tablón is a spectacular bolo game played in Cantabria, as well as in neighboring provinces such as Vizcaya, Álava, and Burgos.
Bolera (Playing Field): The bolera or carrejo consists of three zones: the tiro (launch area), tablón (sliding board), and rayas (lines).
Bolos (Pins): Three wooden bolos, each measuring 35 cm and weighing around 200 grams, are placed on the tablón.
Objective: Players aim to hit the bolos with a ball, launching them as far as possible across a grass field (up to 40-45 meters).
Scoring: The distance achieved by the bolos determines the score, with specific lines (rayas) having point values ranging from 10 to 70.
Team Play: In team competitions (league and cup), the team’s score is the sum of the bolos achieved by its four members.
Individual Play: In individual or pairs championships, each player throws eight balls. - Current status:
Pasabolo Tablón remains a popular sport in Spain today, with numerous clubs and competitions.
It is considered an important part of Cantabria's cultural heritage and is often celebrated at local festivals and events.
The game's unique combination of skill and strategy continues to attract new players and enthusiasts. - Contacts:
Bolera San Vicente
Fb: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011773312755 - Sources of information :
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbhyi_67JfU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVtAFH4of5A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WJP0Ru8Wc0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9vP1kEnfj4The information contained in the article comes from the following sources:
Information provided by Jose Antonio González PorrasSource of photos used in this article and gallery:
Photos provided by Jose Antonio González Porras
In the photos: Oier Álvarez and Joseba Cedrun - Gallery:
- Name of sport (game): Pehlivanlar
- Name in native language: Pehlivanlar
- Place of practice (continent, state, nation):
East Bulgaria
- Description:
Pehlivanlar is played on grass, with music, outdoor, during the summer festivals, weddings and local feasts. No weight categories (only age).
Wrestlers wear only a heavy leather trouser called kispet,where they can grip. Attacks can be done on all the body. Oil makes difficult the attacks. The goal is to oblige the opponent to touch the ground with his back.
- Name of sport (game): Pelivansko borenje
- Name in native language: Pelivansko borenje
- Place of practice (continent, state, nation):
North Macedonia
- History:
Pelivansko borenje in Macedonian and Pehlivan in Albanian are the designations of oil wrestling in North Macedonia. The word Pehlivan finds its explanation in a Persian poem from the 11th century where the wrestling champion received the title of jahan pehlivan, or ‘the champion hero’. Oil wrestling has a long tradition reaching back to the Middle Ages, when indigenous wrestling traditions were mixed with the wrestling traditions of the Turkish conquerors, who themselves were heavily influenced by Persian wrestling traditions. A major dispute during the Ottoman occupation was whether wrestlers should oil their bodies or not. Tradition favored such an approach while the Slavic nations, especially the Bulgarians, developed a method of wrestling called ‘dry’. In some parts of the eastern half of the country, wrestlers do not oil their bodies.
At the time of the Ottoman period, Pehlivan wrestling tournaments were sponsored by the aghas or beys, representatives of the Ottoman Empire, to celebrate various festivals. - Description:
Pehlivan wrestling is a free style wrestling that includes standing and ground work.
Its special features are the knee-long leather trousers, called kispet, worn by the wrestlers and the oiling of bodies and trousers. Holds can be taken on any part of the opponent’s body and trousers. In lower age categories robust textile pants are accepted.
Victory is achieved when a wrestler throws or turns his opponent so that his back touches the ground or is simply exposed to the ground (the mother earth). Even an attacking wrestler would lose if his back hits the ground before his opponent's while he is trying to apply a technique. If no one wins the match by exposing his opponent’s shoulders to the ground within the allotted time, extra-time of 5 mn is
given. The method is to score ‘point’, and thus whoever gets the first point is declared the winner.
Age categories: Wrestlers are divided into 5 age categories and also according to their experience: 5th for boys, pioneers; 4th for cadets; 3rd for juniors; 2nd and 1st for seniors. There are no women participating yet, but it is planned to modify the rules in order to introduce this practice soon.Weight categories and time limit:
The match duration varies according to the different categories. In the juniors it is usually 20 minutes.
Category I + 90kg or ‘Bash Pehlivan’ = 40mn
Category II 80-90 kg = 40mn
Category III 70-80 kg = 30mn
Category IV 65-70 kg = 30mn
Category V 60-65 kg = 30mn
The division of the seniors into two classes is based on their experience and success in past competitions. The 1st category is also called also bash – a Turkish word meaning ‘champion, chief’.
Pelivansko borenje is played on the grass, with music, outdoors, during summer festivals, weddings and local celebrations. Sometimes there are also no weight classes (only age). - Current status:
Currently competitions can be held at municipal festival, national holidays or local calendar feasts. Oil wrestling never known ethnic or confessional boundaries and is practiced by Albanians, Christian and Muslim Macedonians. Other occasions are the agricultural festivals as those of the sheep farmers. Depending on local traditions and families’ wishes, oil wrestling can also be an element of family feasts – weddings and (in Muslim populations) circumcision feasts. In the past, it was mainly this system that was used because families, when they organized a wedding, had the tradition of inviting local wrestlers to enhance the party during the festivities. So formerly tournaments were mainly sponsored by family parties like weddings, rich merchants, while today we have sponsorship from private companies, merchants, municipalities, state sports institutions.
It is also important to notice that previously, there was no limited time and bouts could last 2 or 3 hours without interruption until the victory, but there were cases were the result was only a draw. These competitions are held in stadiums or around villages, both on a grassy meadow. Finally we can add that festivals, in addition to wrestling, sometimes also offer other popular activities such as dances, running races, tug of war, stone throwing, horse races, etc.
In 2024, the competitions and rules of wrestling are under the control of the new federation created after independence. Formerly the rules depended on the local organizing committee, in accordance with the beliefs of the population, with an indeterminate duration of contests for example. But already at the end of the 1940s, wrestling regulations were undertaken for the organization of a national championship of the Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Categories were created as well as a limitation on time and criteria for winning a bout in case of a draw. This process was reinforced at the end of the 1960s with the creation of national Folk Wrestling festivals, but the disintegration of the Yugoslav federation seriously disrupted the practice.
The competition calendar, as well as information relating to wrestling and the various events are distributed to the clubs and made known through the website and social networks. Concerning refereeing, training is today organized by the federation while in the past the referees were people chosen because of their status as former wrestler or former organizer, with the risks relating to the quality that this entails.
The federation is also behind the management of wrestling festivals whose role is also to transmit all the traditions that this practice brings together. Prizes and donations are offered by the local community to organize the match. Previously the prizes were more symbolic, such as a turban, a lamb, a sheep or a ram.Formerly, most Pehlivan wrestling tournaments were held in mountain villages, as the wrestlers and public came from small villages. Currently, tournaments are organized throughout the country. Pehlivan is governed by the Traditional Wrestling Federation of North Macedonia, established in 1995 and recognized as a national
federation in 2001. It encourages the creation of sports clubs for better governance of the style. These numerous village clubs create a favorable situation for the promotion and transmission of the practice as the extension of the network facilitates the organization of events.
Since 2017, the federation has organized events during major festivals and collaborated with central state institutions, such as the Ministry of Culture.
Wrestlers from North Macedonia participate in international competitions in neighboring countries such as Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey, and vice versa. In 2021, the federation became a full member of the European platform AEJeST and subsequently signed a memorandum of understanding with the WEC (World Ethnosport Confederation). - Importance (for practitioners, communities etc.):
An impressive element of the tournaments is the introductory symbolic ritual dance of the wrestlers. While in neighboring Greece and Bulgaria, and more or less also in Turkey, wrestlers are quite careless about the performance which has lost its mystical connotations and turn the dance into warming-up movements, wrestlers in North Macedonia usually put a lot of attention to the dance and display well elaborated choreographies in a harmonized duo or individually. This is called Perde and it is a sort of obligatory ritual before the fight. All along the day contests are accompanied by a specific wrestling music, with three or more musicians, generally with zurnas (flutes) and ntaoulias (small drums). Winning is an honor for the winner's community and the winner has an obligation to respect his opponent by greeting and hugging him after victory.
- Contacts:
Traditional Wrestling Federation of North Macedonia
Secretary general: Hamid Bakija
Board Director: Gadaf Ramani
e-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
e-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Fb: https://www.facebook.com/Traditional-Wrestling-Federation-of-North-Macedonia-112649607527336
tel.+389 (0)78 383 114
- Sources of information :
The information contained in the article comes from the following sources: Traditional Wrestling Federation of North Macedonia
Source of photos used in this article and gallery: Kazimierz Waluch, Traditional Sports (World Traditional Wrestling Tournament of North Macedonia, Skopje, 21 July 2024)
- Gallery:
