Ethiopian Tigel Wrestling
This is the traditional indigenous form of wrestling in Ethiopia. This is the heaviest weight class in Tigel wrestling (72 kilos). Anbessa Kahsay has won the Ethiopian Traditional Sports Festival's Tigel championships the past four years.
The anatomy of a Tigel Match There are no pins. Each match consists of three rounds. Each round is three minutes long. After each round is a one minute break. All matches go nine minutes long unless a coach tosses in the towel signaling defeat. The winner is the wrestler that earns the most takedowns during the nine minutes of wrestling. The anatomy of a takedown The shoulders of both wrestlers must be touching at all times. Therefore, throughout the entire match, your right shoulder must be in contact with your opponent's right shoulder. You may not attack your opponent's legs with your arms. You can only use your upper body to control your opponent's upper body. Sort of like Greco-Roman wrestling. You can use your legs to trip your opponent. The majority of takedowns come from a trip or when one wrestler lifts his opponent to set up a trip. Scoring a Tigel Match If you take your opponent down and they land on their hip or their side, you score one point. If you take your opponent down and bring them directly to their back, you score two points. The winner is the person who scores the most points based upon these takedowns. The sport is very taxing on the lungs. Even more so since this festival takes place annually in Addis Ababa, a city with an elevation of 8,000 feet. This video was taken on January 4th 2013 by Wrestling Roots' Mark Lovejoy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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