Qazaq Kuresi
Қазақ күресіKazakh national wrestling in the beren outfit, on the UNESCO list since 2016. A clean fall of the opponent onto the back wins, grabbing the legs is forbidden.
Quick Facts
KazakhstanCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
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.
Catalogs & Databases for Qazaq Kuresi
About Qazaq Kuresi
Qazaq kuresi, in English Kazakh wrestling, is the national wrestling of Kazakhstan. Under the name Kuresi in Kazakhstan it has been on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2016. Wrestlers are called baluan in Kazakh, and per the UNESCO inscription epics and poetry portray them as strong and brave. The tradition has no documented founder or year of origin. Per the Astana Times, wrestling was historically held without weight and age categories, a time limit or draws, and the rules were formalised at the first major competition in 1938.
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United World Wrestling publishes the international rules (2023 and 2026 editions). Wrestling is standing, in a white cotton beren outfit with red or blue stripes and a belt five centimetres wide. A clean fall of the opponent onto the back or both shoulder blades, taza zhenis, ends the bout. A fall onto one shoulder blade or into a bridge scores four points (zhartylai zhenis), a fall onto the thigh three points (zhambas), and a technique from the knees is not scored. Technical superiority arises, for example, from four zhambas or two zhartylai zhenis. Techniques grabbing the legs, kicking and stamping on the opponent's feet are forbidden. Seniors wrestle one five-minute period, and if tied, a minute of beldesu follows, in which both hold the opponent's belt with both hands. Adults have eight weight categories: men 55 to over 100 kg, women 48 to over 77 kg. The International Qazaq Kuresi Federation was founded on 27 March 2017 in Astana, the national Qazaq Kuresi Association on 29 February 2020. The eighth world championship was held in December 2019 in Nur-Sultan with about 300 wrestlers from 33 countries, and the twelfth on 22 and 23 August 2026 in Baku.
History
The age of Kazakh wrestling cannot be documented precisely. The Kazakh historical portal E-history.kz places its foundations in the middle of the second millennium BC and refers to rock drawings from central Kazakhstan, Karatau and Zhetysu, said to show wrestling in the Bronze Age. The portal does not say who dated the drawings, so we treat this as tradition. The UNESCO inscription describes kuresi as a wrestling form handed down from generation to generation, whose wrestlers, the baluan, appear in epics and poetry as strong and brave. According to the Astana Times, wrestling was historically held without weight, rank or age categories, without a time limit and without draws, and the rules were formalised in 1938 at the first major competition in its modern form. The International Qazaq Kuresi Federation (IQKF) was founded on 27 March 2017 in Astana and was led by Kanat Bozumbayev. The national Qazaq Kuresi Association was founded at a congress on 29 February 2020 at Nazarbayev University in Nur-Sultan, and Karim Masimov became its first president.
How it differs
This comparison rests on the UWW and IKA rule texts, and no source makes it explicitly. Kazakh wrestling, Kyrgyz alysh and Uzbek kurash are all standing wrestling in a jacket or outfit with a belt, but they differ in the belt's role. In alysh the opponent's belt is held with both hands throughout and letting go is a forbidden move. In kurash the referee orders a belt grip with the command jazo only if nobody has scored by mid-bout. In Kazakh wrestling the two-handed belt grip is only the deciding minute of beldesu after tied regular time. Scoring differs too: kurash has the grades halal, yonbosh and chala, alysh per UWW a clean win, taza, and two and one points, Kazakh wrestling a clean fall, taza zhenis, and four points for one shoulder blade or a bridge and three for the thigh.
Technique
United World Wrestling issues the international rules of Kazakh wrestling, and the 2023 and 2026 editions agree in scoring. Wrestling is standing, in a white cotton beren outfit with red or blue stripes, the belt is blue or red and 5 cm wide, and women wear a white T-shirt under the beren (art. 1.2). A clean fall of the opponent onto the back or both shoulder blades, taza zhenis, ends the bout. A fall onto one shoulder blade or into a bridge is zhartylai zhenis worth 4 points, a fall onto the thigh is zhambas worth 3 points, and a technique from the knees or onto a knee is not scored (art. 6.3 and 7.1). Technical superiority, aikyn basymdylyk, also ends the bout and arises, for example, from four zhambas or two zhartylai zhenis (art. 5.7).
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Techniques that grab the legs, kicking and stamping on the opponent's feet are forbidden (art. 8.2 and 9.1 of the 2023 edition), while the rules do not explicitly mention sweeps and trips. The Astana Times states that grips are allowed only from the waist up, tripping, painful holds and chokes are forbidden, and after a knee touches the mat the bout is stopped and resumed standing, but we did not find this verbatim in the UWW rules. The bout is one period: 3 minutes for U13, U15, U17 and veterans, 4 minutes for U20 and 5 minutes for U23 and seniors. If the score is tied, a minute of beldesu follows, in which both wrestlers hold the opponent's belt with both hands, and when time expires points decide, with equal points the fewer warnings (art. 5.1 and 5.7). Adults wrestle in eight weight categories: men 55, 60, 66, 74, 82, 90, 100 and over 100 kg, women 48, 52, 56, 60, 65, 70, 77 and over 77 kg (art. 1.4).
Training
According to the UNESCO inscription, kuresi is traditionally taught by trainers leading young boys, who then compete in local tournaments, and it is passed on in sports clubs and master courses, with pupils starting at around the age of ten at the earliest. According to the Astana Times, the Qazaq Kuresi Association launched in 2021 a pilot introduction of the sport as an elective in 28 schools in Astana, with the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools. We have not found a description of the national team's training methodology in the sources.
Ranks and progression
The UWW rules for Kazakh wrestling contain no grades or honorary titles, and a wrestler's path runs through the age classes U13, U15, U17, U20, U23, seniors and veterans (Art. 1.4), with bout time rising from three to five minutes. Wrestlers start at the world championships with a UWW licence. We did not find a national system of performance classes or honorary titles in the sources.
Today
Kuresi in Kazakhstan has been on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2016 (decision 11.COM 10.b.20, file 01085). The international rules are published by United World Wrestling, which already in February 2016 added a presentation of Kazakh wrestling to its forum on associated wrestling styles, and entering the world championship requires a UWW licence. The International Qazaq Kuresi Federation, founded in 2017, is led by Kanat Bozumbayev, and competitions in Kazakhstan are organised by the Qazaq Kuresi Association from 2020. The eighth world championship was held on 20 and 21 December 2019 in Nur-Sultan with about 300 wrestlers from 33 countries, and the twelfth on 22 and 23 August 2026 in Baku with almost thirty countries and over 300 athletes, organised by the Qazaq Kuresi Association and the Azerbaijani national sports association. Per the Astana Times, Kazakh wrestling was in the programme of the fifth World Nomad Games 2024 in Astana. It was not in the programme of the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where Asia had kurash.
Did you know
Kazakhstan won the interstate Eurasia Barysy tournament in Almaty in late 2016 against Mongolia 6:2 before over 12 000 spectators. According to the Astana Times, the beren outfit is named after a coarse cloth once worn under armour. Wrestlers are called baluan in Kazakh, and the UNESCO inscription says that epics and poetry portray them as strong and brave.
Frequently asked questions
How do you win in qazaq kuresi?
By a clean fall of the opponent onto the back or both shoulder blades (taza zhenis), by technical superiority, or on points after time runs out, for seniors after five minutes and a possible minute of beldesu.
Is qazaq kuresi on the UNESCO list?
Yes. Kuresi in Kazakhstan has been on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2016 (file 01085).
Are there weight categories in qazaq kuresi?
Yes. According to the UWW rules, adult men have eight categories from 55 kg to over 100 kg and women eight categories from 48 kg to over 77 kg.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.