Shaliboershi Wrestling
01 · Historical Records
According to the chaoliboer belt-tying method handed down through generations, patterns on cultural relics excavated from the Xiongnu period, and records in the epic Jangar, Shaliboer-style wrestling has a history of more than two thousand years. Shaliboer-style wrestling has been transmitted for over a thousand years, with its origins, rules, ceremonies, techniques, attire, and penalty decisions passed down from generation to generation.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shaliboer-style wrestling is an ethnic traditional sport created and preserved to the present day by the Oirat Mongols; it is one of the main sporting events of the Uris Naadam festival and an outstanding traditional cultural practice of the Mongolian people. Shaliboer-style wrestling is widely practiced in the sumu townships of Alxa League and in Mongolian-inhabited areas of parts of Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu. The term shaliboer means trousers. Shaliboer-style wrestling has much in common with Mongolian bokh, Japanese sumo, and freestyle wrestling, while also having features unique to itself. Techniques of Shaliboer wrestling such as chopping-and-shoveling, knee-folding, and collar-grabbing are named after the behavior of male camels fighting one another. Shaliboer wrestling has the following characteristics: 1. Shaliboer-style wrestling is one of the most primitive forms of wrestling and the only wrestling discipline in the world performed on sand; 2. Shaliboer-style wrestling displays a harmonious and peaceful aspect, because, unlike other wrestling styles that snatch at each other, it begins only after both sides have established a fixed grip, so it is highly entertaining, causes no bodily harm, and uses soft costume materials; 3. From its entrance ceremony and the athletes' attire to the insignia of titles and the referees' uniforms, Shaliboer-style wrestling has distinctive features that embody a richer cultural flavor.
The shalibur wrestling trousers
Shalibur means trousers — the specially cut wrestling breeches worn in competition, made of soft leather or heavy cloth and belted so that they are easy to grip without hurting.
Chopping the spade, folding the knee, seizing the collar
Three signature actions named for resemblance, all derived from the way fighting camels lock and wrestle with one another.
The bout opens only after the belt is secured
Unlike other wrestling, there is no scrambling grab: the bout begins only once the belt is firmly held, which spares the body and makes the contest readable by audiences familiar with bökh and sumo.
The Oros Naadam fair
It is one of the main sporting events at the Alashan Oros Naadam, with its own prescribed entrance ceremony, dress, tokens of rank and judges' attire.
Nabater as referee and coach
The inheritor Nabater, born in Alxa Left Banner in 1941, has refereed national and regional meets, run coaching classes at Yingen and Tukemu schools, trained over two hundred wrestlers and served as the banner team's chief coach.
The only wrestling event held on sand
Among the oldest wrestling forms and the only one contested on sand, it keeps the old ritual of trodding the sand barefoot before the bout.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Shaliboer-style wrestling is popular in the sumu townships of Alxa League in Inner Mongolia, and is also found in Mongolian-inhabited areas of parts of Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu; it is a main event of the Alxa Naadam (Uris Naadam) sports competitions. Participants must first put on the special wrestling trousers (shaliboer), fasten their belts tightly, and stand on sand or sandy ground, entering the arena when the referee calls their names; since it does not use the opponent's clothing as a grip, it causes little bodily harm and places few demands on attire, which has also made it the easiest event to popularize at local Naadam festivals.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
As forms of recreation have changed, the cultural connotations of this heritage have gradually been neglected, above all its fading influence among young people, making these folk cultural and sporting activities hard to sustain; with some folk artists lacking successors, the discipline is on the verge of being lost. Nabataer (recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): Male, Mongolian ethnicity, born in January 1941; a native of Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. A performer of Shaliboer-style wrestling techniques. Fond of wrestling from childhood, he began formally taking part in Naadam wrestling competitions in the 1970s. He has also served many times as a referee at national and regional wrestling competitions of various kinds. He is a representative inheritor of Shaliboer-style wrestling, included in the fourth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. He also organized training classes at schools such as Yingen and Tukemu where he taught, training wrestlers and serving as coach himself; studying the techniques of various wrestling styles, he trained more than two hundred wrestlers in succession, promoting and enriching cultural, sporting, and recreational activities in remote minority areas. He once served as head coach of the Alxa Left Banner wrestling team, achieving excellent results, and was repeatedly named an outstanding athlete and coach. The wrestlers he trained have participated many times in large ethnic sports meets and various competitions at the regional, league, and banner levels, achieving excellent results.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Nabateer 04-1734
- Alatengwula
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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