Snow Wrestling  Artvin, Turkey - Feb.2016

Velikoy is a place where traditional snow wrestling was held today, belongs to the city of Artvin city in northeastern Turkey in the Caucasus region. In the village, the elderly population lives in the winter months and the young population is settled in big cities due to economic reasons. They visit their parents only in summer or important cultural activities. Regular inhabitants of the village are engaged in cattle breeding. In the past, snow wrestles were led by village imam after the Friday prayer and the tradition continues today. As a cultural event common to the locals of the region, these wrestles resulted in a cultural exchange with Caucasian countries. Other countries in the Caucuses participated in the wrestles and locals from Savsat also traveled there to wrestle. The most beautiful aspect of this culture is its sustainability. Wrestlers fighting in lighter weights are their greatest hope for the future. Every year snow wrestlers from the region and neighboring countries come to the traditional snow wrestling event held in Velikoy. Candidates are weighed in the gym saloon of the school, which is no longer used by the villages on the day of activity, and are divided into groups according to their weight. The maintenance of traditions depends on the young generation coming back. Snow wrestling is promising in this respect. The mass exit is made with a method called "pesrev". When walking out to the field, the hands are struck against each other and sway forward and backward. This way, they will walk to the other end of the area and the guests will be greeted. Everyone starts wrestling with the opponent over the snow, according to the previous draw. At the beginning of the wrestling, both wrestlers look into each other's eyes and try to get to know each other with small movements in between. Because they all came from different places and no one knows his opponent and the way he plays. This applies to wrestlers of all ages and weights. Wrestling is done in an open area in the village. Only the warning strips are drawn to determine the limits of where to wrestle. Audiences can easily watch wrestling outside these lines. This is possible by sitting on the edge of the pitch or over the car. No fee is paid to watch the wrestling. Open to the public and it is free. Opponents control each other at the wrestling. He tries to catch him from a weak point. The easiest place to hold is his competitor's specially sewn trousers. If the wrestler does not have special trousers, he can also wrestle with jeans of his own. Because the field is wide, more than one team wrestles at the same time. With this method, they can complete a wrestling program during short winter days. While the wrestlers try to win wrestling on one side, it is possible to see victors and defeats on the other side.