National sports

National sports are the brand of our country. Since ancient times, the Kazakh people have organized competitions on all holidays. Interest in the national sports is reviving in the country and gaining popularity. During the competitions, spectators can also get acquainted with the customs and traditions of our people.

Kazakh national sports types:

1.“Audaryspak” is wrestling on horses, where only the best riders take part, because wrestling on horses requires exceptional endurance, strength, agility and excellent ability to hold on to the saddle. The aim of wrestling is that two riders on horseback compete in who will be able to pull an opponent off a horse.

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2. “Baiga” is one of the types of equestrian sports (horse races) and is also one of the oldest and most popular. This type of sports game has its own features: it takes place not only on flat plains and hippodromes, but can also be played in hilly, uneven places where high demands are placed on the athlete and his horse. The strong and fast do not always win a competition, it is necessary to consider a relevant arrangement of training and preparedness of a player, correctly assess situations during a competition, and reasonably use a horse's strength. This national sport is one of the most valuable because the game teaches endurance, resourcefulness and courage. At the moment, Kazakhstan has all the opportunities for the wide distribution of this sport, in our republic there are special stud farms that raise riding horses.

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3. “Asyk atu” is the asyk game (sheep bones), which is one of the Kazakh national games originating from ancient times. Many children's games are associated with the asyk game, this is explained by the nomadic image of the Kazakhs based on cattle breeding. Therefore, most of the Kazakh national games are based on playing with natural objects. That is why the Asyk game is considered one of the oldest national games. Playing the Asyk game from an early age strengthen the nervous system of children and bring up such qualities as accuracy, ability to calculate as well as endurance.

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4. “Zhamby atu” is one of the ancient games of the Kazakh people testing dexterity and sniper qualities of a brave dzhigit. It also touches the pride. Our brave ancestors preserved the vast territory due to the horses competing with the wind, and the bow which was a reliable weapon. These two assets, passed down from generation to generation, have come down to the present days of our country's independence. The zhamby shooting competition takes place on a flat field 300 meters long. At the finish point, at a distance of 100 meters, jamby are placed the size of a stallion's hoof on a pole 3-4 meters high. A rider rides a horse and aims at the jamby. No point will be awarded if a rider is aiming by restraining the galloping horse. At a gallop, driving past a zhamby on the left side, aiming, participants shoot from a bow. Regardless of the successful or unsuccessful achievement of the intended goal, without stopping they continue to run to the finish line. If the target falls from the pole, an arrow is considered to have hit and a rider is awarded a point. There are also other types of jamby shooting: aikabak, various types of rifle shooting, or multiple targets shooting.

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5. “Kokpar” is a type of national sports originating from the time of traditional wolf hunting. The main point of the game is simple, two teams (4 kokparshy in each) should grasp a goat`s carcass and throw it into an opponent's cauldron the maximum number of times. Kokpar is a combination of several sports: wrestling, rugby and horseback riding. Kokpar is an extreme sport, but modern equipment helps protect the participants` health. At the same time, a question often arises of replacing an animal carcass with a dummy of corresponding weight. Though there are elements of football or hockey in the game, they obviously do not have the same levels of physical activity.

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6. To date, such a sports type as “kazakhsha kures”, i.e. Kazakh wrestling, rooted in ancient times has gained immense popularity. Kazakhsha kures has been developing with the history of the Kazakh people. Any festive events cannot be held without this sports type. In Kazakh wrestling, an athlete moves freely, can fully use strength, his own methods, roll on his side, dump on his back, put a footrest, fight with his legs crossed, press with his body weight, hook his legs, grab his belt and dump over his head. The fight ends in a one-sided defeat, touching the ground with a spade. The main conditions are to combat an opponent using sophisticated methods and force. At the moment, competitions of republican and international importance in national wrestling are being held in Kazakhstan, which indicates the growing international importance to this sport. This is also done to make it more popular and increase interest in sports among young people.

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7. Fighting is both competitive and combative type of sport, which usually includes one-on-one fights. In many types of fighting, a participant wins by gaining more points than an opponent, or by bringing an opponent down. Combat sports have a long lineage with martial arts. Participants in single combats physically oppose each other in order to determine a winner in a fight using only physical strength or any kind of sports equipment or hand-held edged weapons. There are such types of martial arts as karate, judo, boxing, wrestling without rules.

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8. Hunting with birds. The golden eagle is a sacred bird for the Kazakh people. The bird was appreciated for its strength and greatness, while the span of its wings embodied freedom. Therefore, the image of the golden eagle on the flag of our country embodies the greatness of freedom, independence, nobility, perseverance. According to historic evidence, 3 thousand years have passed since the golden eagle was tamed and used for hunting, because it was this bird that could cope with such large animals as saiga, fox, roe deer. There are several types of hunting with birds and the most common one is with the golden eagle. To arrange a competition, a flat area (field) is selected, where wild animals, including wolves are released. The winner is a hunter whose bird caught the first animal.

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9. “Togyzkumalak” is the Kazakh folk board logic game, in which there are 18 playing holes and two accumulative holes. The game is based on the number 9 (nine playing holes, each hole initially contains nine balls), which is considered sacred by the Turks. The game develops mathematical thinking and fosters endurance. The game can last four to five hours. During the game, opponents have to use all four basic mathematical actions. The game is built not only on counting speed, but also on tactics.

"Photo taken from open sources"