Yağlı Güreş (Turkish Oil Wrestling)
Turkish wrestling in leather trousers called kispet and in olive oil. It culminates at the Kırkpınar festival in Edirne, which UNESCO inscribed in 2010.
Quick Facts
TurkeyCharacter & Origin
Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
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About Yağlı Güreş (Turkish Oil Wrestling)
Yağlı güreş is a Turkish form of wrestling in which wrestlers called pehlivan cover themselves entirely in olive oil and wrestle wearing only leather trousers called kispet. According to Hürriyet Daily News, the season runs from May to October. Its peak, according to Guinness World Records, is the Kırkpınar festival near Edirne, which UNESCO inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010. According to the nomination file, the festival arose in the 14th century in Rumelia.
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Legends surround the beginning of Kırkpınar. According to the tradition cited by the Turkish traditional wrestling federation TGGF, forty fighters of Süleyman Pasha, son of Orhan Gazi, wrestled in 1357. Uslu dates the legend to 1346, and according to him and to Hürriyet Daily News, two of the fighters wrestled each other until both died. Green states that Süleyman Pasha organised the annual tournament near Edirne in 1342. The federation places the first tournament in 1361, when Murat Bey had the wrestling held in memory of the forty fighters. We have not found the founder or the year of origin of oil wrestling itself in the sources. Guinness World Records lists Kırkpınar as reportedly the oldest continuously sanctioned sporting competition in the world. It was not held without a break, however. Uslu gives the years without a tournament as 1878 to 1881, 1913 and 1919 to 1923, and the festival resumed in 1924. According to the TGGF rules, a wrestler loses if his belly sees the sky, even if his shoulder blades do not touch the ground, or if both his elbows touch the ground, or if the opponent lifts him and carries him three steps or turns with him 360 degrees. A match in the top category baş lasts 30 minutes and continues with unlimited scored extra time. Before a match the wrestlers perform the ritual warm-up peşrev, and the announcer cazgır introduces them with verses and prayers. The winner of Kırkpınar bears the title başpehlivan of Turkey and holds the golden belt for a year. Whoever wins three times in a row keeps the belt. According to Daily Sabah, 826 wrestlers came to the 664th edition in 2025.
History
According to the UNESCO nomination file, the Kırkpınar festival arose in the 14th century in Rumelia. The sources tell the legend of its beginning differently. Uslu dates it to 1346, when Süleyman Pasha, the eldest son of Orhan Gazi, conquered Domuzhisar with forty soldiers and the soldiers wrestled while resting near Samona, today in Greece. Two brothers, according to tradition Ali and Selim, could not defeat each other and later, on the day of Hıdrellez, wrestled all night by candlelight on the Ahıköy meadow near Edirne until both died. They were buried under a fig tree, and a spring found there years later gave the place the name Kırkpınar. The TGGF federation gives the legend the year 1357, and Green places the founding of the annual tournament in 1342. Uslu also cites M. Atıf Kahraman's claim that wrestling at Kırkpınar was already organised by Sarı Saltuk after the conquest of Edirne in 1261.
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The TGGF federation places the first tournament in 1361, when, after the conquest of Edirne, Murat Bey had wrestling held in summer in memory of the forty akıncı, and according to it the matches have been held every year since on the day of Hıdrellez. Uslu states that Sultan Murat I founded a tekke for wrestlers in Edirne. According to Hürriyet Daily News, the original matches were not held in today's Kırkpınar but at a place that is now in Bulgaria, and moved to Edirne when the borders of Turkey settled in the 20th century. The tournament was not held in 1878 to 1881, 1913 and 1919 to 1923. Kırkpınar was revived by six men at Sarayiçi in 1924, the federation gives 18 May and Uslu 30 May. Since 1950 the festival has been organised by the city of Edirne, since 1966 as a culture week. Yıldıran describes how, after the boycott by the başpehlivans in 1975, a regulation for the whole of oil wrestling arose, which was issued in its final form in 1984.
How it differs
Green cites evidence that oil wrestling is related to the Persian wrestling koshti, and notes that the word pehlivan resembles the Iranian pahlavani. According to him, wrestlers' gymnasiums, tekke, appeared by the 15th century. Besides the leather kispet, according to Uslu wrestling is also done in a cloth garment called pırpıt. According to Yıldıran, oil wrestling differs from mat wrestling in demands: it needs aerobic and strength endurance, mat wrestling anaerobic endurance and speed, and therefore, in his view, oil wrestling cannot serve as preparation for mat wrestling. The base time of a match runs without points, and the decision comes from surrender or a fall with the belly exposed. Yıldıran also describes how in 1996 oil wrestling was taken over by a newly founded federation of traditional sports, and in 1999 it returned under the wrestling federation.
Technique
Wrestlers cover themselves entirely in olive oil before the match and wear only leather trousers called kispet, otherwise they are naked and barefoot. The kispet reaches from the waist below the knee, and TGGF states that it is sewn from buffalo, calf, goat or cattle leather. According to Uslu, its belt kasnak is four fingers wide and it ends below the knee with a part called paça, under which felt is placed. Fingers that enter the loosely tied paça make gripping easier. Green states that grabbing and holding the kispet is allowed. According to federation rules, a wrestler loses if his belly sees the sky, and touching of the shoulder blades is not necessary for this. He also loses if both his elbows touch the ground, or if the opponent lifts him and carries him three steps or turns with him 360 degrees. Uslu adds surrender by the word pes and pulling off the kispet. A torn kispet means a loss only if intimate parts are exposed, otherwise it is replaced within ten minutes. Three warnings for passivity mean a loss. Green writes that grips and throws are allowed and that the techniques correspond to modern freestyle. Uslu lists the main holds, among them el ense, tırpan, künde, kazık, boyunduruk, çapraz, dalma and kazkanadı. Federation rules count pulling the opponent towards oneself from the paça kazık grip among suspect ways of losing.
Training
According to the UNESCO nomination file, wrestlers, cazgır announcers and davul and zurna players learn in the master-apprentice tradition. According to TGGF, one becomes a cazgır only this way. Before a match wrestlers oil themselves at cauldrons of oil and water, first the left shoulder, chest, arm and kispet with the right hand, then with the left, and they oil each other's backs. The yağcı hands over the oil and the bezci the cloths for greasy eyes. Yıldıran states that oil wrestling requires aerobic and strength endurance, wrestling on a mat anaerobic endurance and speed. We have not found the structure of the wrestlers' training in the sources.
Ranks and progression
Wrestlers are divided into categories called boy. TGGF rules set age and weight for the lower categories, from the category minik bir for eleven-year-olds weighing 30 to 45 kg to deste büyük for nineteen-year-olds weighing 90 to 100 kg, and the higher categories have no weight limit. Uslu names the categories at Kırkpınar from minik to başaltı and baş, and prizes are also awarded for the best peşrev and the most noble wrestler. The winner of the baş category bears the title başpehlivan of Turkey and holds the golden belt for a year. Whoever wins three times in a row keeps the belt. According to the federation, the first belt, the Kurtdereli belt from 1939, was not golden, and Tekirdağlı Hüseyin Alkaya won it permanently. The golden belt was introduced by the city of Edirne in 1960, it is made of 22-carat gold and weighs about 1,400 grams.
Competition
According to the nomination file, the Kırkpınar festival lasts three days and begins on a Friday, with wrestling held on the Men's Field, Er Meydanı. It opens with mevlid prayers in the Selimiye Mosque, and a golden belt is carried through the city. Uslu, citing the rules, says wrestling takes place on a grassy area measuring at least 30 by 30 metres, that wrestlers in official matches must hold a licence, and that they are paired by category, age and weight. The length of a match is set by the TGGF rules in the 2024 version according to category, from 10 minutes for the youngest to 30 minutes in the başaltı and baş categories, always followed by unlimited scored extra time. In 2000 Yıldıran reported 10 to 40 minutes, and in 2001 Green wrote of matches with no time limit. Besides Edirne, the nomination file lists oil wrestling in fourteen other cities, among them Ankara, Bursa, Istanbul and Samsun.
Today
UNESCO inscribed the Kırkpınar festival in 2010 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The rules of oil wrestling are today issued by the Türkiye Geleneksel Güreşler Federasyonu (TGGF). According to Daily Sabah, the role of the aga, the festival's patron, is today largely symbolic, and much of his duties is taken over by the city of Edirne and the Turkish wrestling federation. According to Daily Sabah, 826 wrestlers, 40 of them başpehlivans, came to the 664th edition, held from 4 to 6 July 2025 in Sarayiçi. In 2001 Green wrote that the sport is spreading in Europe, where Turkish immigrants brought it, and that wrestlers of other nationalities also take part.
Did you know
According to the UNESCO nomination file, the aga of Kırkpınar is whoever bids most toward next year's costs, about 250,000 dollars. The state officially recognises him and he receives a car with a red registration plate. The official symbol of an invitation to Kırkpınar is a candle with a red bottom. Green states that in 1969 a match for the national title lasted fourteen and a half hours. According to Hürriyet Daily News, Sultan Abdülaziz took oil wrestlers to France, and among them was Kel Aliço, according to the paper a twenty-seven-time winner. According to the TGGF, kispet master İrfan Şahin was declared a living human treasure by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2012.
Frequently asked questions
What is Kırkpınar?
Kırkpınar is an oil wrestling festival in Edirne, which UNESCO inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010. The TGGF federation places the first tournament in 1361, but in some years it was not held.
How do you win in oil wrestling?
Under the TGGF rules, a wrestler loses if his belly faces the sky, or if the opponent lifts him and carries him three steps or turns him through 360 degrees. A win can also come from the opponent's surrender.
Who is a başpehlivan?
A başpehlivan is a wrestler of the highest category, baş. The winner of Kırkpınar bears the title of başpehlivan of Turkey and holds the golden belt for a year, and whoever wins three times in a row keeps the belt.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.