To Wrestle like a Mongol

Photo credit: https://theadventurehandbook.com/the-mongolian-horse-wrestler

We can learn to grab as the Mongolian wrestlers do, we can learn their way of throwing and sweeping, but it is one thing to learn some Mongolian wrestling techniques… and another thing entirely to wrestle like a Mongol.

To say Mongolians produce great wrestlers is an understatement. While this is meant as respect and recognition (NOT worship), it's easy to turn men into giants – mentally. They are people like you and I but because of their culture and lifestyle and their native environments, they have been shaped and shaped themselves into a population with a high average for wrestling and a very high top level skill. This is notable - many places can field an elite group of professional athletes but not every society produces a good average skill level across the population as a baseline. So, what about their culture makes them so formidable?

Let's begin with the land itself.

The beautiful yet brutal landscape of Mongolia

Living on the open steppe, in the Gobi (desert), or on the edges of the cold taiga, is no easy feat. The Mongolian plateau being high and dry, can be harsh and unforgiving. Winters are long and very cold, while summers are short. This region has an extreme continental climate and high atmospheric pressure. Yet, Mongols can live, even thrive, in these lands. This requires a certain mentality and body. Those living traditionally in the countryside have grit. They are used to the idea that a drought or an extremely cold winter could kill off their livestock they rely on - or even kill them. Sometimes both men and their herds are frozen to death out in the pastures in particularly bad winters. They do all this almost stoically, complaining is rare. Most live without much water, and for many foreigners their diet can feel like hearty foods plus mild dehydration. Yet they need to put in hours of physical work tending to their herds and flocks. Tough. Enduring. This land forges strong people, and thus a strong culture.

Riding is an underrated form of conditioning they grow up with as part of the lifestyle

Gentler than beating or psychologically breaking the horse, this way of taming also requires dominant grappling on the part of the herder

Although many have cars and motorcycles now, horse riding is still a common skill and that activity alone contributes greatly to their bodies. Riding promotes deep awareness of balance and awesome fascial connection. See, riding a horse requires strength and stability in the legs and core, as you balance and ride and conform to the rhythms of this large beast. As you do all that you're also doing things with your arms, grabbing things, lifting things, holding reins, turning, moving… It makes your body capable of balancing and relaxing as much as possible while feeling the body movements of another and staying stable. In the process of wrangling their animals they wrestle them to the ground. Here you can see the all important wrestling attributes of being able to relax, sink their weight, adapt, pull and push, and finally trip the animal and control its body. They are in essence building wrestler attributes and skills (against larger opponents) as part of growing up.

As for wrestling, they start young. Mongol Bökh isn't just their folk wrestling sport, it's part of their lives. Many boys start at the age of 5 or 6. The jackets used require both grip strength and sensitivity - using this extra layer on the human body to manipulate, trap and control the opponent. This added layer of gripping and friction gives wrestlers more time in positions of control, giving them more reps in developing certain skills and attributes. The rules are so simple: first to fall loses, no time limit, no age limit, no weight limit… Humility, determination, pressure, patience… these values are all learned early on. The culture celebrates  Champions and there's real material incentives. Successful wrestlers can win cash and/or prized animals (an investment for their herds). Naadams (tournaments) are held every year, big and small. In Inner Mongolia one can attend a naadam almost every day of the summer. There are the large annual ones, the regional ovoo naadams, and the Nairn (smaller ones for boys’ fifth year “hair cutting” ceremonies).

With so many tournaments, many wrestlers are able to compete 50-60x a year or more! Over the course of one's entire career they have far more wrestling and competition experience than most humans on earth.

Mongols wrestling outside as they have for thousands of years

Yet despite the rugged upbringing, or perhaps partly because of it, Mongols know how to play. While there is a place and time for hard sparring, many Mongol wrestlers can play technically with one another. This allows them to develop greater skill, put in more repetitions with minimal risk of injury and practice being fully relaxed and aware while grappling. Many are herdsmen outside of wrestling - a serious injury would damage their wrestling careers as well as their ability to work. Most children and adults know to play-wrestle. Comraderie is expressed in a very touchy-feely and friendly fashion. The sensitivity towards touch, the kinesthetic awareness of weight shifts and change in attitude is ingrained into subconscious competence.

Increasingly, optimized weight lifting is part of their strength and conditioning, on top of the fact that those with the talent, drive, and ambition to pursue a wrestling career are already coming from a talent pool with a high average skill level. Additionally, in China’s Inner Mongolia, many who choose the path of wrestling as a profession also joined sports school and teams for Shuai Jiao, Judo or Freestyle wrestling as youths, giving them even more grappling experiences and technical training, while they bring with them their own flavor and approach to Wrestling.

The land develops a strong people with a culture of resilience. The people herd and ride, and both activities contribute to powerful grappling attributes. They begin wrestling at a young age, and the community rewards this activity with prizes, status and prestige - ingraining wrestling skill and intuition – and rewarding it. They frequently play at wrestling, keeping their attributes and skills sharp and gaining immense repetition while keeping injuries lower. Finally, they train, practice and compete in high level environments.

You see, wrestling like a Mongol is more than it’s grips and techniques, it’s a product of the land and culture.

— Vincent Tseng @the.wandering.warrior