Every
year since 1361 the world’s buffest gang of men congregates
for the annual clash of masculinity at the Kirkpinar, the Turkish
"world series" of oiled wrestling. To the rhythm of drums
and wailing clarinet rugged fighters take the field, some twenty
pairs at a time, for an all-out battle.
Every age and size competes, and the field is always full. You
will be amazed about the endurance and sustained aggressiveness.
Close-up action. With every elimination the competition gets stiffer.
You can almost smell the sweat and oil. Just as rough as American
"pro" wrestling, but absolutely nothing is faked or staged.
This most macho of all sports is not recommended for the faint of
heart. There are very few forbidden holds and the match continues
until one is pinned or submits. The action is rough, but despite
the intensity of the fight and the obvious opportunities for fouling,
however, these oilwrestlers treat their opponents with a brotherly
affection and honor rare among combatants in any Western sporting
event.
Covering the first 5 years of the European Championships
of Oiled Wrestling this DVD is an unique historic document.
On tape: first 59 seconds black, then 58 minutes split into 5
sections of about 11 minutes, each covering one year of the Amsterdam
Kirkpinar.
0h00m00s
Black
1
0h00m59s
Copyright (00m30s)
2
0h01m29s
september 1997
Venue: Bredius-sport Amsterdam
For the first time ever in Western Europe (07m 20s)
end on 0h08m09s
3
0h08m10s
september 1998
Venue: Bredius-sport Amsterdam
Rain and mud at the Bredius (time 07m58s)
4
0h16m10s
1999 Great Dutch champ Kadir (08m33s)
Aga Ibo Akgül
5
0h24m43s
2000 The Millenium-games
Mehter op Dam: Genc Osman (02m14s)
6
0h26m57s
2000 Mehter op Er Meydan: Turk Milleti (03m55s)
7
0h30m53
2000 Greatest Games
2001 Another Rain was falling
0h00m00s
Aftiteling
0h58m00s
End
During the 636 anual KIRKPINAR of Edirne, Agha (mc) Hüseyin
Sahin agreed with the Türkevi Foundation and MokumTV from
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, that they would unite forces to promote
historical oilwrestling in Europe and the world. The Mother of
All Sports came in 1997 for the first ever to western Europe when
the first European Championleague was held in Amsterdam. No less
than 22 television teams covered the event, and scenes from the
Amsterdam KIRKPINAR were televised not only in the Netherlands
and Turkey, but hit CNN and the BBC alike.
It proved to be the start of fast growing respect in Europe for
this unique and highly esthetic ´most macho of all sports´.
| PRE-COMBAT
RITUALS FILMED |
The Amsterdam Kirkpinar made history to be the place where
the toughest grapplers in the world gathered, as the Edirne Kirkpinar
is open only to Turkish nationals. As partner in organizing the
Amsterdam Kirkpinar, MokumTV was free to roam the field during
the fights and the pre-combat rituals. This DVD takes you right
onto the grassy field where barefoot athletes, oiled up and stripped
to the waist, compete. Hear the famous Mehter band opening the
tournament. 
Then
it’s sweat and spectacle of the world’s most uninhibited
and unyielding scrappers. See the greasing and the wrestlers’
procession, the opening rounds of primarily youth and a smashing
selection of real greasy hunks. Relish and enjoy great moments
of the very best of oilwrestling. See the great legendary Ahmet
Tasci (the man who has won more often than any wrestler in history)
in an endurance-match with the extreme popular Sükrü
Kazan. See Gengiz Elbeye eliminating other heavyweights on the
way to his final showdown. See the best of the five years Amsterdam
KIRKPINAR on this unique DVD.
THIS DVD WILL BE RELEASED DURING THE VI
AMSTERDAM KIRKPINAR of Sunday 2 June 2002 at the Jaap Eden
venue
TÜRKEVi
(TURKISH HOME
turkevi@selin.com
Van Hogendorpstraat 195
1051 CA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Postbox 58070
1040 HB Amsterdam
Tel. (+31) 020 - 684 57 12
Giro 639 14 12
