WORLD KURASH DAY - 6th September
World Kurash Day Due Tomorrow
International Kurash Association was founded on September 6, 1998. (Uzbekistan Today)
International Kurash Association was founded on September 6, 1998. (Uzbekistan Today)
Sergey Danilov
Uzbek national wrestling Kurash is more than 1,000
years old. No historian can unreservedly say when exactly this martial art emerged.
Nevertheless, this unique messenger of ages holding everlasting national values
has a birthday. It is celebrated on September 6, as constituent congress held
in Tashkent
founded International Kurash Association (IKA) namely on this day in 1998.
Tomorrow is
15 years of the date of memorable and historical event that opened wide way of
the world arena for the indigenous national sport style. Representatives of 28
countries gathered at that September day of 1998 soaked with the atmosphere of
our Uzbekistan’s
Independence Day anniversary voted unanimously for the foundation of
International Kurash Association and elected Islam Karimov as its first
honorable president.
Uzbek
national wrestling became popular in the world arena owing to the state sovereignty
gained in 1991. Independence
opened to the world public inexhaustible fount of quite various historical,
cultural and spiritual national values, and sports values either. Uzbekistan
demonstrated its attitude to the nation’s historical heritage and got unique
conductor of own national values to the world by initiating the creation of
International Kurash Association.
Kurash has
been instrumental in the recognition of Uzbekistan in the world. Each
person who had contact with kurash, can easily point on the map where the
motherland of kurash is, at the same time will share his knowledge in it, as
kurash reveals the Uzbek nation’s history, philosophy, traditions, customs,
language and culture to the world.
Kurash
managed to become popular and prestigious around the world for one and a half
decade, for some that seems impossible.
“Kurash
could maintain authority by virtue of safeguarding on its basis deeply rooted
national traditions,” says with conviction the president of IKA, who developed
contemporary kurash’s sports rules. He has been heading the International
Association for 15 years continuously. – For the past 15 years we achieved the
main goal, I mean we could create orderly structural functioning system of
kurash. Today IKA includes 121 countries, continental federations of kurash
operate in Europe, Asia, Africa, Pan-America and Oceania.
World and continental championships, international tournaments, sports, coaches
and judges’ camps set up on a regular basis. Kurash improved its positions in a
number of international sports organizations; it is included in the list of
indoor and martial arts Asian Games. Its debut in All-Africa Games will be in
2015. This sport sees clearly its main target to be in the family of sports
listed in Olympic Games.
Traditional
tournaments held in England, India, Greece, Iran, France, Turkey, Ukraine and
ither countries, junior and senior championships of the world and continents
are the evidences of kurash’s peaceful invasion to countries and continents.
So, British Kurash Association Secretary-General said: ‘Kurash fans enthusiasm
is rather high in Great Britain.
12-year experience of holding international Islam Karimov’s tournament in England assisted us for the preparation to the
World Youth championship in Bournemouth which
was set up after Olympic Games London 2012 and became a real festival of
kurash.’
And the
apex of the season is the 9th Senior World Championship due December 11-16th in
Turkey.
6th September 2013
