Tibet's Traditional Sports

 

Tibet's traditional sports are the product of the region's particular natural environment and customs. Years ago, sporting events and entertainments, as well as some competitions and performances, were connected with the seasons and festivals of the Tibetan calendar. Today some of these traditional sports have been standardized and included in modem competitive sports. Principal traditional sports include the following:

1. Horseracing

 

Horse races are held every year in the northern grasslands and in some other farming and herding areas. The ordinarily dressed participants, mainly young adults, race bareback over a ten-kilometer course.

2. Horsemanship

Skills on horseback are celebrated here, such as mounted marksmanship or snatching a hada silk ceremonial scarf from the ground at full gallop. The participants dress in fancy splendid attire and ride gaily decorated horses festooned with copper bells.

3. Polo

This ancient sport, wherein riders maneuver a ball around a course with the aid of a mallet, can trace its history to at least the early 8th century when Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) commanded his palace polo team to join in a competition with a squad accompanying Tibetan envoys to Chang'an (today's Xi’an), the Tang capital.

 

4. Archery

This sport, derived from ancient hunting and military practices, is today most popular in the Mainling, Medog, and Zayu areas of the southeastern part of Southwest China's Tibet.

One Tibetan form of the art is somewhat unusual. The archer shoots an arrow, its clubbed arrowhead pierced with wind channels, high in the air. The air rushing through the channels creates a high-pitched sound, hence the so-called whistling arrow.

5. Wrestling

Two wrestlers dressed in robes secured with broad belts grasp each other about the waist, each seeking to throw the other to the ground. Only the hands and the strength of the upper body can be used; the use of the feet is not permitted.

6. Two-man tug-of-war

In this version of tug-of-war, two ends of a rope are tied together to form a great loop. Each of the two competitors harnesses himself or herself to the rope, passing it between the legs and up over the shoulders. Then, facing in opposite directions, the two struggle forward on their hands and knees, each trying to pull the other over a middle line.

7. Yak race

Yak races are a special favorite of the Tibetans. The eighth month of every year sees the arrival of the Harvest (Ongkor) Festival. The people dress in their best and sing and dance to celebrate the harvest. They match their skills in yak racing. The yaks' massive heads are adorned with red flowers, their backs fitted with ornamented saddles. The yak jockeys' whips fly as they urge their mounts still faster towards the finish line.