Gouren
Breton standing wrestling in a canvas roched smock. Victory is immediate if the opponent lands on both shoulder blades at once; the bout is preceded by the oath ar chal.
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About Gouren
Gouren is Breton wrestling and counts in Brittany as a national sport, practised without interruption to this day. It is fought standing and in a canvas smock called the roched; the grip is taken on the garment, not on the body, and there is no continuation on the ground. The aim is to throw the opponent so that he lands on both shoulder blades at once — such a fall is called lamm and means immediate victory. If no lamm falls, the result is decided on partial points for incomplete throws. The bout is preceded by an oath, ar chal, sworn by both opponents before the referee, binding them to fight without treachery; it is a ceremonial element most competitive wrestling lacks. Wrestlers compete barefoot on grass or sawdust, traditionally at country festivals called festoù, and the winner used to receive a ram as the prize. Documentation reaches back to medieval Brittany, where wrestling is mentioned in connection with the Breton nobility; today's rules, however, date from the early twentieth century, when a federation was formed and gouren became part of a wider movement for Breton cultural identity. Gouren belongs to the family of Celtic wrestling styles alongside the Cornish and the Icelandic, and international matches with Cornwall and Scotland are still held.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.