Schwingen
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Schwingen

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Schwingen

Schwingen (from German schwingen "to swing"), also known as Swiss wrestling (French lutte Suisse) and natively (and colloquially) as Hosenlupf (Swiss German for "breeches-lifting"), is a style of folk wrestling native to Switzerland, more specifically the pre-alpine parts of German-speaking Switzerland. Wrestlers wear Schwingerhosen ("wrestling breeches") with belts that are used for taking holds. Throws and trips are common because the first person to pin his or her opponent's shoulders to the ground wins the bout.

Schwingen is considered a "national sport" of Switzerland, alongside Hornussen and Steinstossen. Schwingen and Steinstossen were included as Nationalturnen ("national gymnastics") in the Eidgenössisches Turnfest at Lausanne in 1855.

The modern history of organized Schwingen tournaments begins with the Unspunnenfest of 1805.

As with other types of folk wrestling, the roots of Schwingen in Switzerland cannot be determined exactly. The modern sport was institutionalized in the 19th century out of older, regional traditions.

There are records of wrestling in Switzerland from the medieval period. A picture from the 13th century (in the Cathedral of Lausanne) shows the typical way of gripping the opponent.

Schwingen as a special form of grappling in Alpine culture can be traced to the early 17th century. This form of grappling is preserved during the 17th and 18th century in the Emmental, Haslital and Entlebuch regions specifically. In 18th century travel literature, Schwingen figures as part of the stereotypes of Swiss alpine culture. The Entlebuch pastor Franz Josef Stalder in 1797 records a set of rules in his Fragmente über Entlebuch.

The modern history of the sport begins during the period of Mediation, with the Unspunnenfest of 1805. In the late 19th century, memorable Schwing festivals and a lively activity of educated gymnastics teachers brought Schwingen to the big cities. Thus the original fight of the herders and farmers became a national sport that reached all social levels. The associations, headed by the Eidgenössischer Schwingerverband (national federation, founded 1895), organized the sport by integrating regional peculiarities, improving the abilities of the fighters with teaching books and practices, and creating modern tournament rules.

The match takes place in a ring, a circular area with a diameter of 12 meters that is covered with sawdust. The two opponents wear short pants made of jute over their clothes. The wrestlers hold each other by these pants, at the back where the belt meets, and try to throw the opponent onto his back. There are several main throws, with names like "kurz", "übersprung" and "wyberhaagge", some of them very similar to judo techniques - "hüfter" is almost identical to koshi guruma, "brienzer" is basically uchi mata. These throws are found in many wrestling systems that have even the slightest emphasis on throwing the opponent, and can also been seen in shuaijiao. A match is won when the winner holds the opponent's pants with at least one hand and both the opponent's shoulders touch the ground. By tradition the winner brushes the sawdust off the loser's back after the match.

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