Mongols at Play

Mongolian boys having fun

Let’s remove ourselves from the social media fueled mindsets, and stop for a moment to imagine a very different life… Everyday you wake early and tend to your herds. You take note of the land, and migrate where you need to to ensure the flocks eat properly. If the grass grows well, the herd grows well. If the herd grows well, you thrive. If they suffer, you suffer. Short summers and long winters, the Mongolian plateau is high, dry and a place where it’s easy to die. Many generations of gritty people thrived in this inhospitable land and they even made some famous empires. For survival on the wide open grasslands of the Mongol steppe there’s a lot of work to do, but otherwise, especially for a digitally entertained person spiking their dopamine many many times a day, life here is, in a word: boring. Although Mongol life is changing, for millennia one of the great forms of entertainment, the building of character and spirit, the fountain of philosophy and the tests of skill, strength and strategy was and has been WRESTLING. 

However there is one important aspect to their wrestling which is quite special. Yes, they begin early in life, with boys as young as 5 or 6 wrestling for fun, even competing. This reinforces the culture of grappling and the art of Mongol Bokh. Yes, their society rewards this, with wrestling champions able to earn enough to change their family’s lives. It’s absolutely an ancient tradition that is treasured and reinforced. But it’s not just those factors that make the Mongolian way significant. Countries like Japan or the USA put out top level wrestlers as well. Yet, the average Japanese or American isn’t a wrestler, let alone a good one. Let’s leave the steppe behind for a bit and drop ourselves in the United States of America…

Getting the kids immersed in the culture

Americans go hard. A nation of extremists and individuals, in contrast to the culture of obesity and laziness is also a culture of work ethic and fitness. “Weekend warriors” and tough guys are as we say “a dime a dozen”. Fitness knowledge is increasingly being disseminated widely among the masses and those willing to put in the work are getting results. Optimally? Maybe not. But putting in the time and moving weight? Absolutely. Americans revel in competition, and can be extremely die-heart sports fans and dedicated athletes. Yet, while America can field top level wrestlers - Americans as a whole aren’t wrestlers. Lifestyle and culture are critical and can’t be entirely made up for with enthusiasm and fitness. In some ways the American hobbyists’ intensity and desire to go “balls to the wall” is a handicap when we approach the topic of kinesthetic awareness, fine-tuned sensitivity and building wrestling skill. That said, those who get themselves to parts of the country that value wrestling, and have the work ethic, can find avenues for their talents to shine. 

On the flip-side, the Japanese ethos is committed to near dogmatic adherence to drill and technical perfectionism. This can be seen in their approach in education, society and of course the martial arts. Obviously this hasn’t prevented them from fielding some incredibly powerful wrestlers, judoka and sumo rikishi. Yet, it tends to be those who can survive the grind of drilling and perfectionism who can come out the other end as dominant grapplers. This is a process which leaves many people, perhaps less naturally well-suited to the prescribed way, unable to succeed. Basically, a large proportion will never make it. That said, Japanese culture and values have conditioned them to accept this hard work. They too “go hard” and those who have thrived because of and also in-spite of the system imposed upon them, do become world class grapplers. 

The boys of Mongolia learn the culture and the skills of wrestling from a young age

Yet Mongols are known worldwide as good wrestlers. The average level is already decent, let alone their top tier athletes. It’s not just the lifestyle and the hours they put into wrestling. It’s also HOW they spend those hours and how they wrestle. They aren’t always drilling technical perfection. They aren’t always hitting the gym and “leaving everything on the mat”. Sure there’s a time and place for that, but one of the critical things the Mongols do ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE is… they play.

Wrestling isn’t JUST for athletes, it’s an activity for people.

Just as wrestling is a primordial animal thing done by everything from lizards and frogs to lemurs, koalas, deer and bears - so is playing. Time spent playing is crucial for many animals to learn the skills they need for life. Mongols don’t just drill techniques, they don’t just spar, they don’t just work out and they don’t just contemplate wrestling theory. They play and they play often. When hugging, many men will feel the other’s weight and balance. They like to playfully grab and trip one another. Doing this often naturally allows them to tap into deeper levels of sensitivity and relaxation while wrestling - something hard to do if every time you wrestle it is full-intensity maximum effort sparring or competition. Research has shown that game or play based learning allows for skill acquisition to happen much faster than memorization or drill based learning. Yes, drilling has its place, and technical perfectionism IS a useful trait, but learning to set up a movement on anyone of any weight and size seems best learned by repetitively trying to game people of all shapes and sizes in a semi friendly yet competitive manner.

So to the audience I say, try to relax and really feel all of the wrestling, and play. Get thrown? Laugh it off and stand back up. Go into every practice with simple intentions - to relax, to be fully aware and to set up your moves. 

— Vincent Tseng @the.wandering.warrior