Mas-Wrestling
мас тардыһыыA Yakut strength sport: two opponents sit facing each other, brace their feet on a board and pull against a wooden stick. Registered as a sport in Russia in 2003.
Quick Facts
RussiaCharacter & Origin
Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
About Mas-Wrestling
Mas-wrestling is a strength grappling sport from Yakutia. Two opponents sit on the floor facing each other, brace their feet against a dividing board and both hold a single wooden stick kept parallel to it. The winner is the one who pulls his opponent over the board while keeping the stick in his hands. The name comes from the Yakut mas tardyhyy, stick tugging. Variants of the contest are found across Alaska and northern Europe and it was a common pastime among sailors — which makes sense, since it is a pure tug of war needing nothing but a piece of wood. Mas-wrestling took formal sporting shape in 2003, when it was registered by the All-Russia Sports Registry. It is governed by the International Mas-Wrestling Federation, registered in Latvia; in December 2011 the World Strongman Federation incorporated the discipline, and the first US Open was held in June 2013. The year 2003 is therefore a date of recognition, not of origin — the folk practice is older and cannot be dated precisely. A contest is decided over two winning rounds. The winner of the coin toss chooses the grip in the first round, internal or external; in the second the grips are reversed, and any decider is tossed for again. Competition runs in weight divisions, and tournaments award bonus points: three for a 2–0 win, two for 2–1, one for a 1–2 loss. Physically it is among the most demanding strength sports there is — hands, legs, back and abdominals all work at once and it tolerates no weak link.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.