Horseback wrestling to goat polo: A guide to the World Nomad Games

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The 5th World Nomad Games opened in Astana, Kazakhstan on Sunday. Athletes from 91 countries, along with many visitors have flocked to the city for the gathering but what exactly are ‘nomad games’? 

A total of 21 different sports are on display across the city including various types of archery, wrestling and falconry. 

There’s a certain medieval aspect to the event, as many of the disciplines no doubt have links to a past when military prowess and parades of strength and capability were regular entertainment. So, if you’re into unusual sports, muscly men and/or horses, this could be the celebration for you. Here is our collection of some of the most spectacular and breathtaking on offer.  

Kokpar

In summary, it’s kind of like rugby on horseback with a sheep carcass as a ball. 

A popular sport in Central Asia, Kokpar and Kok Boru are some of the more unusual events for European spectators. The two games are fairly similar, with just a few differences, the key one being the form of the “goal”. (Kokpar has a ring on the ground, Kok Boru has something resembling a large hot tub.)

In Kokpar, each team has 12 players with only four on the pitch at one time and only men are allowed to participate. Perhaps, women thought better than to play with a carcass… 

The “ball”, traditionally a sheep or goat’s carcass, soaked in liquid and stuffed for added weight, has now been replaced with a rubber dummy. The faux-carcass can weigh up to 30kg.  

At the start of each play, riders line up at the back of the field and the carcass is placed in the central circle. Four people from each team race forwards to try and pick up the carcass and gallop to drop it in the goal circle at each end. After each goal, the game resets back to the centre. 

A full game consists of two 20 minutes periods with the teams changing ends at half time.  

Horseback archery (Жамбы ату – Zhamby Atu)

This one is fairly self-explanatory and a fun one to watch as competitors must master speed, balance and skill. Riders race up a 100m course while shooting at a target located half way along the track. 

As both hands are used to shoot the bow and arrow, riders risk losing control of their horse as they let go of the reigns to take their shots. Points are given for speed and the number of direct hits. The faster you ride, the higher the difficult rating. 

Much like in the modern pentathlon, a horse is provided by organisers meaning for sportsmen, and women, it’s somewhat luck of the draw if you get a speedy and amenable stead. 

Unlike some of the other events, this one is more of a level-playing field for the competitors as most countries have long histories of horse riding and archery.  

Mas-Wrestling

With origins in Russian nomadic culture, Mas-Wrestling may not at all be what you imagine when you think of grappling but it is a growing sport across the world that requires enormous leg, back, arm and grip strength. 

Often described as a one-on-one stick tug of war, mas-wrestlers compete in a best-of-three game.

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Wrestlers sit on the ground facing each other with their feet on a wooden board in between them. Both hands on the stick, they must try to pull it out of their opponents hands or over into their half. Without wanting to disrespect the sport, if you need a mental image, imagine two incredibly strong children fighting over a toy.

Horseback wrestling (Аударыспак – audaryspaq  )

While horseback wrestling is certainly interesting (and slightly surreal) to watch for anyone, without an explanation it’s difficult to understand how the scoring works – which is often the case for many fighting sports. 

Two powerfully muscular men, topless on horseback and with a blue or red belt around their waist grapple with each other inside an 15m circle until a victory is declared. 

Clear victory is awarded to whoever can pull their opponent off their saddle, or even better if they fall to the ground. Otherwise, the match can be won by earning a six point lead over your opponent through a variety of moves including pushing them outside of the circle and lifting their leg above the saddle. 

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In case it wasn’t already obvious, this one is exclusively for men. 

Asyk Atu

The nomad games isn’t all about horses and brute strength, there are also intellectual sports… also known as board games. But of course there’s a twist. 

Asyk Atu (pronounced Ass-uck At-oo) looks like something really fun you’d play in a playground and perhaps the most obtainable for many of us to attempt.

Fifteen “asyks” – traditionally sheep knuckle bones – are lined up in the centre of the specially coated flooring. Players take it in turns to toss “throwing asyks” at the line in attempt to knock them out of play before running to the other side of the play area to take their next turn. 

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The winner is the first player to knock eight asyks out of play. 

The World Nomad Games end on 13 September 2024.