The third Ethnosports Cultural Festival organized by the World Ethnosports Confederation began on 9 May 2019 at the Yenikapı Square with a slogan “A horse becomes the property of who rides it, a sword becomes the property of who wears it”.

In addition to the gabardine wrestling, tree wrestling, “mangala” and horseback archery which have become traditional in these festivals, this year Japanese horseback archers (Yabusame) and sword sport (Iaido) teams also took part in the festival. These are among the most important traditions of the Japanese culture and they are followed with appreciation and interest worldwide. 

Since its foundation in 2009, the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE) aims to build friendship bridges through various activities  in addition to its more than 50 cultural centers and Turkish instructions. The 20-member Yabusame (Japanese horseback archers) and 4-member Iaido (Japanese sword sport) teams came to Turkey upon the YEE’s invitation. Their shows during the festival fascinated spectators.     

Traditional sports are being recovered from encyclopedia pages

The program was opened by a speech by Bilal  Erdoğan, President of the World Ethnosports Confederation. In his speech, he emphasized the significance of the concept of culture, saying: “As the World Ethnosports Confederation, we are trying to promote and popularize traditional sports. With our such efforts, we want to cry out and tell the world that cultures have no supremacy over one another. All the cultures in the world are valuable and they all deserve respect. If there is no respect, we cannot talk about peace and order among cultures, nations and societies. 

Erdoğan said they wanted to recover traditional sports from encyclopedia pages and library shelves and bring them back to the fields and streets. He added: “We are presenting the traditional sports in Turkey to the interest of our citizens on the occasion of our Ethnosports Cultural Festival. Together with our guests, this year we are also presenting Japan’s very valuable and historical horseback archery Yabusame and sword sports, Qatar’s falcon hunting and races, and the very important sport of the Kirgiz and Kazak nations “Gökbürü. Every year we will promote various sports from different parts of the world in our festival here.”

 13 branches,  883 sports people

Festivities peculiar to the Turkish world, Central Asia and Anatolia will be held  during the 5-day festival in the Yenikapı Square. A total of 883 sports people will compete in the following 13 branches: gabardine wrestling, shalwar wrestling, sash wrestling, tree wrestling, conquest oil wrestling, horseback archery, horseback javelin throw, “kökbörü”, knucklebones, “mangala”, traditional infantry archery, falcon competition and Yabusame (Japanese horseback archery sport).   

The festival includes such activities as country life in traditional hair tents, historical crafts workshops, sword and shield shows as well as  33 traditional games for children such as beyblade, “aşık”, chief “bezirgan”, nine stones, marbles, robe skipping, gunny sack race, spoon puppet, riddle-“mani” box,  village shows, hopscotch, children theatre, handkerchief drop, leapfrog and “istop”.

Yabusame (Japanese Horse Archery Sport)

Yabusame is a kind of horseback archery which archers shoot at targets from horseback. Its history dates as back as to 12^th century. It is an important fighting art and source of pride for Samurais. It also contains ceremonies considered as a worship and practiced to maintain the peace and order of the people.   

The Japanese horseback archers wear special clothes called ‘Hitatare” worn by Summurais 800 years ago, umbrella-like sun hats, sashes  tied around their waists and leather shoes called “Igatsu”. They are presenting their traditional techniques in person during the festival.