Ssirum
Ssirum is one of the most popular traditional games in Korea, dating back to the early Koguryo kingdom (37 BCE–668 CE). Ssirum is a wrestling game in which one wrestler tries to make the opponent fall to the ground. The rules of ssirum are that (1) the two opponents, standing in a ssirumpan (a circle of sand nine meters in diameter), bind their right thighs and waists with a satba (a two-foot-long sash); (2) each opponent kneels facing the other, with the right hand grasping the satba bound around the waist and right thigh of the other; and (3) at the signal of a referee, the two opponents rise and begin to pull and push until one opponent falls to the ground. There are three basic skills: hand skill, leg skill, and lifting skill.
Ssirum matches are held not only during national holidays, including the Tano Festival day (5 May), but also during the leisure seasons. The game was handed down from the Koguryo kingdom through the Koryo kingdom (918–1392 CE) and the Choson dynasty (1392–1910 CE), becoming the most popular game among men, from the king to the common man. Today there are many professional and amateur ssirum wrestlers, and even women and children play the game.
Further Reading
Institute of Korean Culture. (1982) Survey of Korean Folk Culture. Seoul: Korea University.
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