Kyrgyzstan travel guide

• Kyrgyz cuisine
• Greetings and weddings in Kyrgyzstan
• National games in Kyrgyzstan

National games in Kyrgyzstan
Кoko Boru - Traditional National Game of Kyrgyzstan

If Spain has bullfighting as its national game and Japan its sumo wrestling , then Kyrgyzstan has kok boru. Like many other Kyrgyz national games (kiz kumai : catch the girl, oodarish: wrestling while on a horse), kok boru is played on horseback. The game is also known by a more graphic name, ulak tartish (goat pulling).
Traditionally, kok boru was played between two villages vying to bring the goat back home. The carrion was thrown onto the property of the most К respected villager, whose wife and daughters were then obliged to cook the meat for the victorious contestants. Today, the game is played with either the carcass of a goat or a calf.
The modem version of kok boru is contested by two teams of eight players, with four members of each team playing at a time. The players ride on a field measuring 120 meters by 30 meters . Riders compete for a goat carcass weighing as much as 25 kilograms , and struggle to carry it to the opponents' end of the field where they throw the carcass into a raised circular area (nowadays a big truck tire) to score. The team with the most points wins.
Although a referee on horseback regulates the game, kokboru, with its avid horsemen and enthusiastic fans, often becomes wild.
Kokboru is played during special holi­days and national events (such as Independence Day ; 31 August) however teams frequently train throughout the year.

National Games in Kyrgyzstan

TOGUZ Korgol (Kyrgyz Chess)
OHODARYSH (Wrestling or fighting on horse back)
KURESH (Belt wrestling)
ARKAN TARTISH (Team game - Pulling a rope)
ORDO (Team game with alchik (bone)
UPA I (Team game Catch up)
AT-CHABISH (Horse race competition)
ULAK TARTYSH or KOKBORU (Team game on horse)
KIZ KUMMAI (Kiss the girl horse race)