Er sayysh (mounted lance duel)

A lance duel on horseback.

About

Er sayysh is a single combat of two horsemen with lances and is counted among the oldest military contests of the Kyrgyz. Armed with lances, the riders charge at each other at a gallop; the aim is to knock the opponent out of the saddle. The contest grew out of the need to repel raids and is described in the Manas epic.

In the past the combat was very dangerous and often ended in death, so only brave and skilful men took the field.

History

The contest was known to the Kazakhs too, under the name sayys. As K. Amanzhol writes, sayys is one of the old military games and was held only at the very largest festivities. The fighters were put up by different clans, and sometimes by neighbouring peoples — the Kazakhs and the Kyrgyz in the south of Kazakhstan, for example. They were armed with long wooden lances with a blunt end; the aim was to knock the opponent out of the saddle or to strike him so hard that he could not go on.

Deaths were not rare, and the heated passions led to serious clashes between clans. Later the tsarist administration forbade the game.

Peoples

• Kazakhs
• Kyrgyz

Research: Vasif Namazov, Turan Games Concept

Sources

1. Qırğız milli oyunları
2. О национальных играх кыргызов — open.kg (Ю. Слипко, 2014)
3. Киргизский национальный спорт и игры (Фрунзе, 1928) — foto.kg
4. К. Аманжол, Казахские национальные конно-спортивные игры (XIX – начало XX вв.) — Türk Halklarının Geleneksel Spor Oyunları, Bişkek, 2015, s. 21–25
5. İllüstrasiya: süni intellektlə hazırlanıb, Komitə təqdim edib