just saw a broadcast of ssireum(korean wrestling)

[BJJK1]

my friend told me to come over and check out her new tv, it's a 65' HD flat screen. the biggest tv i've ever seen. anyway, i was flipping through the channels and came upon Ssireum being broadcasted in high definition. it was really interesting. the wrestlers fight on a raised stage shape of an octagon(without the fence) in about 8 to 9 inches of sand. everyone was in their traditional outfits...the ref, the coaches, and the cheerleaders. wrestlers wear vale tudo style shorts, and each had a cloths(Satba) wrapped around their waists and one of their legs. BEFORE the whistle blows, boths wrestlers come to the center of the stage, kneel in front of each other, clinch each other in an over under grip. the over hand graps the cloths wrapped around the opponents leg, and the under hand graps the cloths wrapped around the opponent's waist. the ref stands them up while the wrestler still fights for position, and when the ref deem appropriate, he blows the whistle. rules are simple enough, whomever touches the ground first loses(and they have instant replay), it's a reset if both wrestlers went out of bound, if one of the wrestler was thrown out of bound, both feet of the thrower must stay in bound(think sideline football catch). it's kind of a mix of judo, greco, and little bit of freestyle wrestling. you can use your hand below the waist, you can use your legs to trip, lift or excute other moves, unlike greco. but you start out in a clinched position, like greco. also, you have a piece of cloths to hold on to and excute throws, kind of like judo. and most competiters are fit and muscular, unlike sumo. the announcers(both spoke perfect english) mentioned that a lot of korea's judo and wrestling metalist started out in ssireum. it was definitely an interesting experience, and the fact that it was on a 65' HD tv made it that much better. here is a link to the video, it doesn't really do Ssireum it's justice, but you get the idea. Ssireum video clip

 

[DaFort]

They had a PPV of it in the US I believe in August of 2003. I'll dig through my tape collection to make sure of the date. It's fun to watch, but it takes too damn long to set the match up! Do you know what channel it was on?

 

[Sinister101]

How is Ssireum pronounced anyways?

 

[BJJK1]

They had a PPV of it in the US I believe in August of 2003. I'll dig through my tape collection to make sure of the date. It's fun to watch, but it takes too damn long to set the match up! Do you know what channel it was on?

it was on one of those HD channels. she has comcast cable. and yea, the set up takes forever.

 

[BJJK1]

How is Ssireum pronounced anyways?

you'd think it's pronounced like the way it's spelled, but it's not exactly. the 2 Ss are pronounced like Ch.

 

[b0b]

it was on one of those HD channels. she has comcast cable. and yea, the set up takes forever.

It is called INHD. They show all HD content. They show old K1, UFC, and IFC events as well. They called it Korean Sumo Wrestling. It was pretty lame from what I saw.

 

[mikeffd]

Korea excels in Judo and wrestling.. perhaps this is the reason why.

 

[DaFort]

It is called INHD. They show all HD content. They show old K1, UFC, and IFC events as well. They called it Korean Sumo Wrestling. It was pretty lame from what I saw.

Damn, don't have that HD channel. Damn Midcontinent Communications! The only HD fighting that I get is WEC on HDNet.

 

[battleroyale]

ssireum is pronounced like C-room.
where "c" is like the letter C
and "reum" doesn't really have equivalent sound in English... but "room" (like bath-room) sounds pretty close. With different approach, "reum" sounds is a composite of lu part in "lullaby" with m sound to finish the syllable. ("r" in "reu" is sort of in between L and R sound in English).

Hope this helps.....
by the way, where can I get more clips of ssireum??

 

[BJJK1]

ssireum is pronounced like C-room.
where "c" is like the letter C
and "reum" doesn't really have equivalent sound in English... but "room" (like bath-room) sounds pretty close. With different approach, "reum" sounds is a composite of lu part in "lullaby" with m sound to finish the syllable. ("r" in "reu" is sort of in between L and R sound in English).

Hope this helps.....
by the way, where can I get more clips of ssireum??

there are websites you can buy dvds, but i only found one clip on yahoo video.

 

[ryouboard]

ssireum is pronounced "shee-rum" or "shee-room". think of the second syllable's vowels pronounced like "good" but with the r and m at the beginning and end. kind of hard to explain.

the rules of ssiruem dictate that you can't take your hands off the other guy's cloth, so all of your throws would have to be with your hands there. so it's much more limited than judo and wrestling. but it's a like a fun backyard, countryboy sport.

 

[BJJK1]

ssireum is pronounced "shee-rum" or "shee-room". think of the second syllable's vowels pronounced like "good" but with the r and m at the beginning and end. kind of hard to explain.

the rules of ssiruem dictate that you can't take your hands off the other guy's cloth, so all of your throws would have to be with your hands there. so it's much more limited than judo and wrestling. but it's a like a fun backyard, countryboy sport.

actually, it's not entirely true about your hands be on the cloth at all times. you are allowed to use your hand free of the cloth. maybe it's a new rule, but the broadcast i saw was in 2004.

 

[ryouboard]

actually, it's not entirely true about your hands be on the cloth at all times. you are allowed to use your hand free of the cloth. maybe it's a new rule, but the broadcast i saw was in 2004.

Oh, if that's true, then they must have changed the rules. I learned a little ssireum back in the 80's, and we were taught that we couldn't take our hands off our opponents waist cloth. Interesting.