WRESTLING IN TURKIC PEOPLES FROM A SOCIO-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

This monograph will address the following questions: “What was the perspective of Turkic peoples on wrestling branch of sports and what was the cultural aspect of wrestling for social structures and lifestyles of Turkic peoples? What type of a transformation did wrestle experience? What is its current state at national level?” Problem: The problem of this research pertains to the fact that the richness of traditional wrestling which is known to possess a deep-seated reputation in Turkish history of sports and occupy an affluent position in Turkish sports tradition is not well-reflected in the literature at national and international levels, its traditional cultural elements are lost along with globalization and it is likely to end up being almost erased from national memories. Objective: This modest study sought to find an answer to the question as to how Turkic peoples perceived traditional wrestling in religious, national, political, military, economic and social domains of life and aimed to incorporate the finding into the literature rightly. Methodology: From among qualitative research methods, descriptive and comparative research techniques were implemented in this study. Result: It was deduced that wrestling which was one of the primary activities in socio-cultural structures and lifestyles of ancient Turkic peoples was viewed as a social value and even as a social norm beyond being just a branch of sports, possessed embedded and rich rituals, but began to lose its meaning along with the disappearance of most of these rituals, and even if it was affected adversely by globalization, there still existed affection towards wrestling and the wrestler.

Keywords: Turkic peoples, wrestling, socio-cultural perspective, cultural perception