Schwingen (Swiss National Wrestling)
Swiss national wrestling on a ring of sawdust. Competitors grip short canvas breeches; the winner of the greatest festival takes a bull as the prize.
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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 Schwingen (Swiss National Wrestling)
About Schwingen (Swiss National Wrestling)
Schwingen is the Swiss national style of wrestling and, together with stone-putting and hornussen, belongs to the traditional Alpine sports. It is documented from the thirteenth century and its present form settled in the nineteenth, when the federation and unified rules came into being. Bouts take place on a circular bed of sawdust twelve metres across, in short hessian breeches (Schwingerhosen) pulled over ordinary clothing. Those breeches are the key: the grip is taken solely on them — at the back of the waist and on the trouser leg. A wrestler may not grasp the opponent's body or shirt. The aim is to put the opponent on both shoulder blades while keeping at least one grip on the breeches throughout. Letting go costs a point. The techniques have their own Swiss names — Kurz, Brienzer, Wyberhaken, Gammen — and there are about a hundred of them. Judges score every bout on a ten-point scale and assess activity as well as outcome. Tournaments are held in the open air, with brass bands and singing; the summit is the Eidgenössisches Schwing- und Älplerfest, held every three years and drawing tens of thousands of spectators. A characteristic custom is the closing gesture: the winner brushes the sawdust off the loser's back. The winner of the greatest tournament takes the title Schwingerkönig and, as a prize, usually a bull — the federation has traditionally refused prize money.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.