Ssireum

Ssireum (Hangul: 씨름) or Korean wrestling is a folk wrestling style and traditional national sport of Korea.

In the modern form each contestant wears a belt (satba) that wraps around the waist and the thigh. The competition employs a series of techniques, which inflict little harm or injury to the opponent: opponents lock on to each other's belt, and one achieves victory by bringing any part of the opponent's body above the knee to the ground.

Etymology

Historically, with the introduction of Chinese culture, there have been other terms for "wrestling" in Korean used alongside ssireum, such as gakjeo (각저:角抵), gakhui (각희:角戱), gakryeok (각력:角力), gakji (각지:角支), chiuhui (치우희:蚩尤戱), sangbak (상박:相撲), jaenggyo (쟁교:爭交).Gak (각:角), a commonly used prefix, seems to have originated from the combative act performed by horned animals such as oxen when competing against one another for the superiority of physical strength.

History

Ssireum first gained widespread popularity during the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). Evidence of this is shown through the genre pictures of Kim Hongdo (see the above picture, Sangbak (상박:相撲)). In traditional life, Ssireum was a popular activity on the Korean holiday of Dano, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, and tournaments are held in the summer and autumn. Ssireum competitions were also held on other days such as the Third Day of the Third Moon, the Eighth day of the Fourth Moon, Buddhist All Souls’ Day, etc.. The traditional prize for winning a tournament was an ox, a valuable commodity in agriculturally-oriented society, which symbolized the strength of the contestant.