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ICH Elements 4
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Kurash (Wrestling)
Kurash is a type of national fight traditional among Turkic peoples, which is officially included in the world network of non-Olympic sports and is supported by UNESCO. Kurash is the oldest type of martial arts, the roots of which are located on the territory of modern Uzbekistan. According to the latest scientific research, the age of Kurash is at least three and a half thousand years. Kurash is one of the most ancient types of martial arts known to humanity. Kurash is an Turkic word, in translation means - "achieving the goal in an honest way." In those ancient times, it was martial arts and public physical entertainment at traditional holidays, feasts and weddings. References to it can be found in many ancient literary sources.
Uzbekistan -
Phyag: Prostration
Prostration is an act of seeking refuge in the Three Jewels – Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Prostrations are made at sacred sites, structures, before highly learned lamas and statues. It is a submission of one’s body, mind and speech to these entities. Moreover, it is a way of overcoming one’s ego through humility and to be freed of negative karma, one might have accrued in the past and present lives. In Bhutan, if a person is frequently sick and physically disabled, it is believed that he or she is experiencing the results of past bad karma. In order to get rid of these defilements, a lama advises his followers to do prostrations to help clear off the bad karma. A number of people who have done this have regained their health. There are two types in prostrations – a long stretched prostration (changcha) and a short contracted prostration (kumcha). In changcha, the whole body is laid down flat on the ground stretching both the arms in the front. In the kumcha, the ‘five limbs’ – two knees, two palms, and the forehead touch the ground. It is also referred to as ‘five-point prostration.’ When one touches the ground with the five limbs, one should be mindful and visualise that the five poisons or negative emotions are being destroyed and eradicated. The five poisons are ignorance, attachment, anger, jealousy and pride, all resulting from ego. Before prostrating, and while facing the right direction where one is going to prostrate, one needs to take care of several principles and physical gestures: a. think that one is in the Buddha field and not on the earth; b. fold hands together in the shape of a lotus bud; c. put the folded hands on the head, throat and then at the heart and think one is submitting the body, speech and mind to the object; d. do the prostration with the five limbs touching the ground; e. recite the refuge mantra all along; 5. when one prostration is done stand upright once, before the next prostration; and g. think that all sentient beings are prostrating together chanting the mantra filling the universe with the combined voices. One should envisage receiving blessings from the body, speech, mind, qualities, and activities of the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas. Similarly, one should also pray that the prostration help cleanse all the defilements and sins committed by body, speech, and mind of oneself and others alike. The mantra for refuge is: I take refuge in my Guru, I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha, I take refuge in the Triple Gem, the perfect refuge!
Bhutan -
Kara Zhorga - Kazakh folk dance
Kara Zhorga (kaz. 'Kara zhorga','black horse') - is the Kazakh folk dance, when a dancer performs an experienced rider, horseman, prancing on the pacer. Dance promotes horsemanship. Initially, it was considered male kind of dance. Gradually Kara Zhorga was danced by girls too. The Kazakh dance has reflected peculiarities of worldview and material culture of cattle-breeding nomads, embracing different aspects of labor, spiritual activity and way of life in the steppe. For the nation who poeticized everything within its environment any move could be the impetus for creating a dance element. A horseman that rode past at a gallop was compared with a darted arrow. A girl strolling slowly in the steppe was compared with a lonely grass-blade swinging in the wind, or a bird’s flight in the endless blue. The nature of Kazakh dances reflects the depth of a specific world-perception of the nation, which is spilled over into a certain style of performance and expressed in a particularly upright proud bearing of a performer, in certain positions and movements of her/his hands. Kara-Zhorga dance reproduces a picture of a traditional horse competition called bayga. "... The Maman village gathers for a feast (‘toy’). The young joyful horsemen step out from the crowd. The young men, bending their bodies slightly forward and swinging harshly with their whips, eagerly enter the competition. The horsemen, moving in circles, lines and diagonals, outrun each other, demonstrating the agility of a leap or an intricate hop. The imitation of horserace - rhythmically sharp-cut hops from one foot, big leaps with a curved body – have interspersed with dance technique. A sharp-cut, rough and springy folk tune of Kara-Zhorga dance and the movement which coincides with the horserace rhythm, successfully merge into a single image of bold horsemen (‘dzhigits’) who have equestrianism at their finger tips." (Sarynova, 1976: 37) “Kara-Zhorga is a dance that embodies a variety of nuances and technique. Kara Zhorga dance differs by nuances and technique of execution. It combines the 'militancy and buffoonery, softness and mobility, speed and peace' (A. Ismailov). The folk dance has various performance types: as 'a pair of zhorgas' ('qos zhorga') and 'male zhorga' ('erkek zhorga').
Kazakhstan -
The Balai or Ulai Dance
The origin of the Balai or Ulai Dance is unclear. However, it is believed that it has settled in Terengganu about 300 years ago. The existence of this dance in the Bukit Gemuruh Village in Hulu Terengganu revolves around the story of a couple who were farmers namely Tok Jambul and his wife Tok Senik with their child. Whenever To Senik lullabied her child there was an invisible voice as if reciprocating her quatrain. The voice invariably reciprocated Tok Senik’s quatrain when she continued quatraining while working in the paddy field. One day Tok Jambul dreamt meeting a man that told him that a genie wanted to jolly with Tok Jambul’s wife. The man directed Tok Jambul to plant upright a number of the pulai tree trunk and to sprinkle chanted flour around the tree using banana leaf, as well as reciting mantras. Eventually his paddy grew as well as fertile and the invisible voice was nowhere. Originally this dance is related to appeasing the spirit of paddy and performed by young maiden of the Bukit Gemuruh Village. The dance is accompanied by songs portraying the farmers’ happiness after obtaining the produce. The dance movements picture the farmers doing paddy field works. Colourful umbrellas that signify the spirit of paddy are placed in the middle of the stage and the dancers dance encircling the umbrellas. Paddy planting equipment like hoe, paddy harvester, and the farmers’ hats are turned into props.
Malaysia