The Sittingbourne Warriors Combat Wrestling Club in cooperation with the British Kurash Association organized this event for Juniors and Seniors. This first event of its kind in Kent attracted nearly 40 entries. Kurash National Coach and Senior referee Tim Thomas overseer the event with Sittingbourne man Keith Costa organizing the pool sheets.

Brief history of Kurash

Kurash - the traditional upright jacket wrestling which originated in Uzbekistan more than 3500 years ago. The original translation of the word "Kurash" from the Uzbek language is grappling or wrestling. Kurash as a type of martial art or public sport entertainment is mentioned in many ancient oriental historical sources. The legendary 1000 years old Central Asian epos Alpomish describes Kurash as one of the most respected and beloved sports widely practiced by ancient people in Central Asia. Many ancient and Medieval philosophers and historians mention Kurash in their manuscripts and books. The great oriental scientist and philosopher Avetsena writes that practicing Kurash is one the best ways to keep the human body and mind healthy and sound. Still there is no exact information when, where and by whom Kurash was first practiced. But most of the scientists agree on that Kurash is one of the most ancient forms of martial arts people had ever practiced.

Approximately two decades ago Komil Yusupov, well known Uzbek Kurash, judo and sambo player and one of the activists of Kurash revival started research to learn the Kurash heritage, generalize techniques and draft the new Kurash rules which could meet international standards. In the beginning of 1990th he finished his research and aimed at bringing Kurash to the world. He presented the new Kurash rules developed by him to public discussion of Kurash specialists and fans. Later the IKA's Congress approved the rules by Komil Yusupov as the official International Kurash Rules. The new rules incorporated all the best features of the national sport with international sport standards like uniform, an action field, length of competition, etc. Sport experts acknowledge that the Kurash rules developed by Komil Yusupov fully correspond to all international sport requirements.

One of the advantages of Kurash rules is that they prohibit ground wrestling. Once the knee of one of the players touches the floor the referee stops the action and players should restart action from the initial upright standing position. It is also not allowed to grapple below the waist. This makes Kurash a truly speedy, dynamic and interesting to watch sport. Besides that the rules of Kurash strictly prohibit players to use any armlocks, chocking and strangling techniques. It helps players to avoid many injuries and makes Kurash one of the safest types of martial art to practice

For more information on Kurash in Kent contact Martin Clarke 0700 5641448, Sombo @ Blueyonder.co.uk

KURASH MEDAL WINNERS

GOLD

ROHAN CULLEN / BREDGAR YJC

SAM MILLER / WARRIORS

KAINE DEVO / BEXLEY YJC

ASHLEY JORDAN / MILTON YJC (SWALE JUNIOR SPORTS PERSONALITY)

JAMIE MCMANUS-TODD / BEXLEY YJC

SAM DEVO / BEXLEY YJC

DANNY CARROTT / WARRIORS

SILVER

MIKKALAH WIMBLE / WARRIORS

JORDAN DEVO / BEXLEY YJC

CIARAN MILLS / BREDGAR YJC

LEWIS CULLEN / SITTINGBOURNE YJC

PERRY DEVO / BEXLEY YJC

ALEX CORDAN / BREDGAR YJC

ANDY BELL / WARRIORS

BRONZE

LOUIE MILLS / BREDGAR YJC

SAM MILLER / WARRIORS

LEWIS CULLEN / SITTINGBOURNE YJC

COLIN CARROTT/ WARRIORS