Happy Naadam!

blue lander

blue lander

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Aug 16, 2011
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naadam

In Mongolia it's Naadam time, which is sort of a summer festival for the "three manly arts": wrestling, horse racing and archery. Supposedly it's the second oldest Olympics style event going back 800 years.

Wrestling is probably the most popular sport of the three. For overseas Naadam festivals in the US it's usually the only one they do.

Before they wrestle the do a little dance and their hype man sings a song about how tough they are.


[VIDEO=youtube;_zu2cu51kpk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zu2cu51kpk&t=3m38s[/VIDEO]

First one who hits the ground loses. The matches can go on for hours sometimes. But if you win the tournament you're pretty much a celebrity and set for money/women for life.

[video=youtube;XIiiv3OACcc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIiiv3OACcc[/video]

These guys are huge. Incidentally, many of the top Sumo wrestlers in Japan are Mongolian. Since 2003 every Yokozuna (highest ranked wrestler) has been Mongolian.


I wasn't able to find a video of this year's horse race, but here's last years. It's a cross country race and the jockeys are children (boys and girls). This year the youngest are 7 but in previous years they were as young as 5. Raising the age limit has resulted in less accidents and deaths. Mongolian horses are very small, almost pony sized. They get upset if you call them ponies though.

[video=youtube;_TmUWeE6Hzc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TmUWeE6Hzc&t=2m40s[/video]

It's a big deal to attend the race because breathing in the dust the horses kick up is supposed to be good for you or something.
 
Lastly is archery. It seems like recently woman's archery has become very popular. I can only find a video for this year's womans archery contest.


Here's an older compilation video.

[video=youtube;-AHBkSqK9vI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AHBkSqK9vI&t=0m38s[/video]

They shoot at targets on the ground, traditionally some sort of basket. A bunch of guys stand around the target, presumably nobody ever misses badly enough to injure someone, and cheer when the archer hits the target.

[video=youtube;NfTwAEBgiIU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfTwAEBgiIU&t=6m50s[/video]

They also have Shagai tournaments, which are games you play with sheep ankle bones. All that moaning and hollering you hear in the background is a traditional song they sing while they play.

[video=youtube;UdAJVmUj6XU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdAJVmUj6XU&t=4m35s[/video]
 
Red Flower and I are headed for Inner Mongolia later this summer. I know they have good reputations for archery but I still think I'll stand behind the archers instead of next to the target.
 
Tell me about it. What if the archer sneezes or twitches at the wrong second?

I've never met an inner Mongolian. Most "outer" Mongolians belong to the Khalkha tribe but inner Mongolians belong to a variety of smaller tribes. What I've been told is that inner Mongolians have been completely sinicized and only dress up for tourists but as I say I have no first hand experience .
 
Happy Naadam, thank you for sharing
 
Couple of big ole boys for sure. Think I could still take em, after lunch and a short nap of course.
 
You should travel to Mongolia Bawanna. They love wrestling with foreigners . You go visit their tent and the first thing they'll wanna do is rassle.

We didn't do much for Naadam, the wife cooked guys huushur, a fried dumpling
800px-MongoliaLastDay_153.JPG
And listened to her people's music, which I enjoy in small doses
[video=YouTube;1Vr-QiYDHJk]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vr-QiYDHJk[/video]
 
In the Hulunbuir grasslands. Red Flower is in the clip too.

[video]https://www.facebook.com/Howard.L.Wallace/videos/10206178898405943/[/video]
 
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We're back on US soil now.

It seems barbed wire has conquered Inner Mongolia as it did the US prairies. Both are much more productive now, but at the expense of the nomadic lifestyles they once supported.

Red Flower and I were visiting relatives in Tianjin the day before the explosion. Fortunately we were already out of the city when it happened. Relatives are OK.
 
I am reading of massive cyanide contamination from tons and tons (as in 700 tons) of sodium cyanide used in gold extraction for mining operations stored next to explosives which detonated, and government officials running off of stage after non-answering many many questions as to current safety....groundwater testing at several sites way above safety limits...and rain forecast to soak more of whatever is there into the aquifer.
 
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Very beautiful! Sometimes seeing pictures of those wide open plains with nothing but sky gives me vertigo. It's a shame about Inner Mongolia being barbwired up. Only about 10% of the population of Inner Mongolia is actually Mongolian, the other 90% are Han Chinese the government shipped in.
 
blue lander said:
Lastly is archery. It seems like recently woman's archery has become very popular. I can only find a video for this year's womans archery contest.


Here's an older compilation video.

[video=youtube;-AHBkSqK9vI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AHBkSqK9vI&t=0m38s[/video]

They shoot at targets on the ground, traditionally some sort of basket. A bunch of guys stand around the target, presumably nobody ever misses badly enough to injure someone, and cheer when the archer hits the target.

[video=youtube;NfTwAEBgiIU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfTwAEBgiIU&t=6m50s[/video]

They also have Shagai tournaments, which are games you play with sheep ankle bones. All that moaning and hollering you hear in the background is a traditional song they sing while they play.

[video=youtube;UdAJVmUj6XU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdAJVmUj6XU&t=4m35s[/video]
Click to expand...

Blue Lander, you always bring the most interesting culture to the forum.
Thanks
 
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