National physical culture and sports progress specificsSakha Republic (Yakutia)

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PhD, Associate Professor E.G. Vinokurov
N.M. Popova
A.N. Kuzmina
Churapcha State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, Churapcha, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Keywords: national sports, Hapsagay, mas-wrestling, ysyakh, ethnic sports.

Background. National sports and games are appreciated and cultivated by every nation as a pivotal part of its culture, history and philosophy being perceived by many as universal tools to realise the natural human aspiration for self-improvement, to test and perfect own courage, speed, agility and demonstrate high intellectual and spiritual development. This is what national sports are generally intended for in their cultural, cognitive and ethical aspects. As things now stand in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), the government believes it is high time to take decisive steps to improve the public health situation, the steps need to be geared to offer, among other things, new values for the young generation and foster high standards of civility and patriotism.

Objective of the study was to analyse the national physical culture and sports progress specifics in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in view of the national sport traditions.

Study results and discussion. National sports and games of the indigenous Yakut people are appreciated by the local communities as an indispensable part of the centuries-long traditions and ethnic cultures and the excellent tools for physical education, health improvement, recreation and fun as they appealingly largely reflect the interpersonal relations, morals, manners and habits of the local people.

The authors’ concept basically designed by A.V. Krylasov is intended to explore the cultural specifics of national sports. It may be pertinent in this context to give the following Krylasov’s definition: “Traditional way of life may be interpreted as the social system typical for the indigenous people who design their family and interethnic relationship, local economy and the natural resource management styles in harmony with the natural and climatic conditions of the local environments, the system being regulated by the long-established ethics and traditional (trivial) justice”[2].

The harsh climatic conditions, with the winter frost coming to 65 degrees and summer heat up to 42 degrees of centigrade, have long fostered the specific local economy, culture and lifestyles including ethnic physical practices, games and competitions highly popular among the indigenous people of Yakutia. The centuries-old physical practices, games and competitions evolved with time into a very special and harmonic physical education system of special importance for the young generation. It was largely due to this system that the local children and adolescents have always enthusiastically acquired and developed a variety of highly valuable physical and mental qualities, abilities and skills mostly driven by the relevant labour and combat purposes.

In the central part of Yakutia mostly populated by the people of Sakha a top priority is given to locally popular national Hapsagay wrestling, Yakut jumping game, mas-wrestling (a traditional stick pulling game) and equestrian sport; whilst the indigenous people of the Far Northern (Evens, Dolgans, Yukagirs and Chukcha) and Southern (Evenks) parts give favour to reindeer races, lariat throws on target, reindeer hunting, dog sledge races, sled jumping, hunting ski races, hunting ski races etc. Games of the indigenous Yakut people may be generally described as applied practices very traditional for the local people’s labour and everyday activities.

According to the local legend, it was Allay, a legendary forefather of the of Sakha people, who was the first to make koumiss (fermented mare's milk) and call up people to the summer Yyssah Festival to test the people’s skills in jumping, wrestling, arching, horse racing and running competitions. It took a few centuries for the games and competitions to evolve into mass, versatile, popular and traditional events.

Professor N.K. Shamaev stated the following: “It is always a challenging task for the educators to cultivate in the young people, including athletes and physical culture activists, harmonic morals and civic values including patriotism, internationalism, team spirit and honour, appreciation of own duties and responsibilities in the team and country on the whole; with the ethics building education being duly designed to foster the ethical manners and habits” [3]. According to the N.K. Shamaev's classification, the ethnic games may be classified by the target qualities into those intended for body conditioning and speed-, endurance, strength-, flexibility-, coordination-, shooting- accuracy-, precision- and acumen-developing and ranking events. Ethnic games in their evolution process always tend to become competitive and end up in a variety of traditional competitions to nominate the best and strongest athletes. As a result, the local Northern nations now favour a variety of ethic sports including wrestling, horse racing, archery, running, jumping and other sports. The harsh living and labour conditions of the local cattle-, horse-, deer-breeders, hunters, fishers and farmers living in the permafrost area and its specific environments have always encouraged the ethnic physical education traditions based on the ethnic sports.

The local ethnic physical education traditions have been studied by V.I. Prokopenko, N.K. Shamaev, V.P. Kochnev, I.S. Portnyagin, I.I. Portnyagin, N.D. Neustroev, I.A. Cherkashin et al. who appreciated them as a unique cultural stratum in the spiritual universe of the people of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). Professor N.K. Shamaev, for instance, considers in his long-term study the local family education traditions in the context of the genuine national traditions of the indigenous population formed by the extreme conditions of the Far North and notes the following: “The family education tradition of the Yakut people was established many centuries ago to respond and adapt to the living conditions, and the modern physical education tools still favoured by the local communities since they are very traditional, appealing, ethnically valuable and native” [4].

Churapcha State Institute of Physical Culture (CSIPC) gives a high priority in its activities to the ethnic traditions of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) peoples taking efforts to promote and support their favourite ethnic sports. The Institute activities in this field are advanced on the Chair of Competitive Wrestling Sports, Traditional Games and Competitions with the following departments: Mas-wrestling, Nordic Combined, National Jumps (promoting kyyly, ystynga, kuobakhmас, ethnic jumping games) and Hapsagay Wrestling. The action plan of the Institute includes a project to establish a Higher School for Coaches in the national and ethnic sports – that will offer advanced education and retraining courses to the coaches having at least two-year successful track records. It should be noted that, from the social and philosophical standpoint, the ethnic sport traditions will be appreciated and advanced as they help preserve the heritage of the local Sakha people’s mentalities, world outlooks and philosophy.

The leading ethnic sport coaches operating in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) have always been driven in their activities by the best national traditions. Popular Yakut writers E.P. Neymokhov and D.D. Everstov published a book featuring the life and career path of Honorary Coach of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), RSSR and USSR D.P. Korkin to give an insight into the origins, nature and inspirations of the teaching talent of the great coach and educator whose knowledge and experience inherited from his ancestors were indispensible for his creative and successful work [5].

Conclusion. Physical culture and sports are highly valued today for the great optimism and healthy lifestyles they cultivate and promote and their positive social and philosophical effects and benefits are increasingly appreciated today in the Republic. The number of the local population devoted to the physical culture and sporting values is being on the rise nowadays as these values increasingly become an indispensable part of everyday life and help protect and improve health, step up the physical working capacity and health tolerance to a variety of mental and physical stresses and hardships.

References

  1. Stolyarov V.I., Barinov S.Y. Ponyatie i formy sportivnoy kultury lichnosti [Concept and forms of personal sports culture]. Vestnik sportivnoy nauki, 2009, no. 6, pp. 17-21.
  2. Kylasov A.V. Metodologiya i terminologiya etnosporta [Ethnosport: methods and terms]. Vestnik sportivnoy nauki, 2011, no 5, pp. 41-43.
  3. Neymokhov E.P., Everstov D.D. Zhizn, posvyashchennaya volnoy borbe [Life dedicated to freestyle wrestling]. Yakutsk, 1980.
  4. Shamaev N.K. Semeynoe fizicheskoe vospitanie na osnove natsionalnykh traditsiy [Family physical education based on national traditions]. Yakutsk, 2009, p.93.
  5. Shamaev N.K. Nravstvennoe razvitie shkolnikov v protsesse traditsionnogo fizicheskogo vospitaniya [Pupils' morals building process within traditional physical education]. Moscow, 2000, p. 100.

Corresponding author: ssvjakutija@yandex.ru

Abstract        

The article considers national specifics of the physical culture and sports development process in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). In the central part of the Yakut Republic mostly populated by the people of Sakha a top priority is given to the locally popular national Hapsagay wrestling, Yakut jumping game, mas-wrestling (traditional stick pulling game) and equestrian sport; whilst the indigenous people of the Far Northern (Evens, Dolgans, Yukagirs and Chukcha) and Southern (Evenks) parts give favour to reindeer races, lariat throws on target, reindeer hunting, dog sledge races, sled jumping, hunting ski races etc. Games of the indigenous Yakut people may be generally described as applied practices genuine for the local people’s labour and everyday activities. Churapcha State Institute of Physical Culture (CSIPC) gives a high priority in its work to the ethnic traditions of the Sakha people taking efforts to promote and support their favourite ethnic sports. The Institute activities in this field are advanced on the Chair of Competitive Wrestling Sports, Traditional Games and Competitions with the following departments: Mas-wrestling, Nordic Combined, National Jumping (promoting kyyly, ystynga, kuobakhmас, ethnic jumping games) and Hapsagay Wrestling.