For over 600 hundred years, every year Turkey?s best wrestlers ? men and boys ? have gathered for their national championships on a grassy field near the capitol of the old Ottoman Empire (Edirne). The tournament is called ?Kirkpinar,? or ?Forty Springs?
Nearly 1,000 barefoot athletes compete, oiled up and stripped to the waist. Wrestlers wear Kisbet which is traditionally hand made leather of six layers of water buffalo weighing 13 kgs.
For three days the field is crowded with simultaneous matches in eleven divisions, ranging from school kids to forty-year-old masters. The sun is hot, but the fights are long.
Ceremony, as much as athleticism, is an important component of the Kirkpinar. A ritualistic dance (Pesrev) is performed before the wrestling begins which includes a prayer (Cazgir). After the Cazgir gives his speech, the wrestlers perform the Pesrev,
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