ASTIFF breeze blowing through Kyrgyzstan’s Kyrchyn Valley towards the Kazakh border coated the third World Nomad Games’ Ethno Village in dust.
Thanks to a visiting Scottish contingent, it was also carrying the incongruous, piercing sound of bagpipes. “I’ve seen a lot of different sporting activities over my career, but the stuff that’s here? It’s absolutely mind-boggling,” said Highland Games athlete Neil Elliot while standing on the edge of the makeshift settlement in his kilt.
The Central Asian nation may not be fond of vowels in its place names, but over the course of last week’s World Nomad Games, it proved very keen on tartan, Elliot’s band of burly men, and their Highland Games demonstrations.
“Honestly, on that opening night, I must have signed about 1,000 autographs,” said the man from Helensburgh with a big smile. “I’ve no idea how many selfies we were asked to do.”
Through the British Embassy in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, the Scots were brought over to show off Highland disciplines rather than compete in any of the official World Nomad Games. Their tent was at the far end of the Ethno Village, but between the sight of their kilts and the sound of the pipes, they were rarely short of admirers.
While their hammers, weights, and bladed boots over were shipped from Scotland, their caber was made in Kyrgyzstan.
After watching it and the rest of the gear hurled by the professionals, locals were keen to give it a try. Accomplished their efforts were not. “Aye the technique might need some work, but I tell you what: they’re so competitive.” said Elliot.
The Scots had flown over 3,500 miles to perform at the Games, which are held every two years, but other foreigners had travelled further with a view to actively competing.
World Grappling Champion Bre ‘Savage’ Stikk from California was already coming to Central Asia to defend her title in Kazakhstan but decided to stop at the World Nomad Games to try her hand at alysh, a Central Asian form of belt wrestling.
Despite her obvious experience, she was no match for her Turkmen opponent in that discipline. “Oh she bounced my ass out of there in seconds,” said Stikk. “But she won the whole thing, so I don’t feel so bad.”
More athletes from a greater number of countries competed in this edition of the Games than in the previous two, both of which were also held in Kyrgyzstan. It was announced during the spectacular opening ceremony that the 2020 Games will instead take place in Turkey.
This announcement brought Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Games’ hippodrome in the lakeside town of Cholpon Ata, where he was joined by Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, as well as the leaders of Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.
The dignitaries took their place high in the stadium above a nervous press section while a polished and professional opening show unfolded in front of them.
The rest of the Games proved far rougher round the edges. Split between stadiums in Cholpon Ata and open-air spaces in Kyrchyn, events ranged from archery to sumo to falconry trials.
The majority of the competitions involved horses with some, such as horse-racing and mounted archery, recognisable to foreigners in the crowd. However, the most popular events were distinctly Central Asian.
Held down in the hippodrome,
er enish is a style of horseback wrestling, where the goal is to dismount the opponent. The strongest wrestlers are almost always from Central Asia, with Mongolians and Kazakhs particularly feared.
As well as having to worry about the tricks and aggression of their human opponent, wrestlers must contend with their horse and that of their rival.
These ungelded stallions bite, headbutt, and often rear up in an attempt to kick the others. When doing so, they make little distinction between rider and horse.
Bloodied Mongolian competitor Jensibek Serik left the field complaining that the horse he’d been given wasn’t as up for the battle as he’d have liked, while his victorious Kazakh component had “a weapon.”
The er enish brought fans to the hippodrome in good numbers but by far the most popular draw was the infamous sport of kok baru.
A sort of barbaric polo, it sees teams of four horsemen attempt to score goals against each other, with no holds barred en route to glory. The most significant difference, however, is that rather using a ball, teams play with the beheaded, de-hooved carcass of a newly sacrificed goat which they must sling into the opponent’s goal.
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