Ssireum

Ssireum (also called Sirum, Korean: 씨름) is a Korean wrestling style and is the traditional national sport of Korea.[citation needed] In the modern form each contestant wears a belt that wraps around the waist and the thigh. The competition employs a series of techniques, which inflict little harm or injury to the opponent: opponents lock on to each other's belt, and one achieves victory by bringing any part of the opponent's body above the knee to the ground.[1]

The history of Ssireum started around the same time that communities started to form. To protect themselves, primitive societies learned to use wrestling styles as a form of self-defense. During this period, when grappling was the predominant form of combat,[citation needed] various other techniques were developed. As civilizations began to evolve, Ssireum became a military art. The sport continued to be played and used for military purposes. Ssireum is the oldest of traditional Korean sports[citation needed] and is depicted in wall paintings in the royal tombs of the Goguryeo kingdom (37 BC to 660 AD). Gakjeochong (각저총:角抵塚) murals show that wrestling in Korea dates back as early as the pre-Three Kingdom era.[2] Book of Later Han, a Chinese document that was written before the history of the Three Kingdoms also has records of Ssireum, evidencing that Ssireum has been practiced even during prehistoric times.

Ssireum first gained widespread popularity during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Evidence of this is shown through the genre pictures of Kim Hongdo (see the above picture, Sangbak (상박:相撲)). In traditional life, Ssireum was a popular activity on the Korean holiday of Dano, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, and tournaments are held in the summer and autumn. However, Ssireum competitions were also held on other days such as the Third Day of the Third Moon, the Eighth day of the Fourth Moon, Buddhist All Souls Day, etc. The townspeople would gather sharing in their joy and release mental and physical tensions resulting from the strenuous work that lasted from spring to fall. In the past, the traditional prize for winning a tournament was an ox, a valuable commodity in agriculturally-oriented society, which symbolized the strength of the contestant.

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• 0418091512

[kaindrg]

would ppl have prefered bigger oppnents withh more strength and a mid- small opponent with more skill