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15th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest People
Prepare for battle

The wrestlers are preparing for the upcoming fight. Photoreport from the annual meeting of reindeer herders. Nenets national struggle, like other types of national martial arts of the peoples of Russia, is part of the culture of its people. A characteristic feature of the national struggle "Taro ma" is that after going through a centuries-old historical path, it has not changed at all. In the Nenets national wrestling, wrestlers who compete in competitions must have the following clothing: 1) Malitsa (the top national clothing sewn from several reindeer skins with fur inside.) On top the mulita is covered with a cloth shirt embroidered with Nenets national ornament on it); 2) Kishas (national shoes); 3) The national belt. A characteristic feature of the Nenets national struggle is that rivals themselves tie the belt to each other. For the convenience of the fight when tying the belt, the rival lifts the malice, so that then it does not constrain movements. There are no weight categories in the Nenets national struggle. All fight in one weight category, called absolute. The fight is held in the near post. Capture is as follows - rivals take each other's hands crosswise, one hand grasp the belt from below at the level of the opponent's stomach, the other hand over his shoulder for the belt on his back. During the bout, you can tear the opponent off the ground and lift it up, but you can not do the footsteps, cuts, hooks or carry out various moves with the legs, as well as those actions that threaten the opponent with injury or injury. If during the bout one of the opponents has one hand released the belt, the referee stops the fight and forces the competitor to make the correct capture, with the first warning given to the athlete. When the seizure is again disbanded, the fight stops and a second warning is announced to the fighter. When the seizure is disbanded for the third time, the fight stops and the defender counts the defeat. This feature of the rules of the fight, the dissolution of the seizure, the wrestler reminds the judge at the beginning of each meeting. The fight takes place without a break for 5 minutes.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 04.2017
Date Uploaded: 11.2017
Photo Location: Noviy Urengoy, Russia
Camera: E-M5MarkII
Copyright: © Kamil' Nureev