Glíma is the Icelandic national style of amateur Folk wrestling.
There are four points that differentiate it from other forms of wrestling:
The opponents must always stand erect.
The opponents step clockwise around
each other (looks similar to a waltz).
This is to create opportunities for
offense and defense, and to prevent a
stalemate.
It is not permitted to fall down on
your opponent or to push him down in a
forceful manner, as it is not considered
sportsman-like.
The opponents are supposed to look
across each other's shoulders as much as
possible because it is considered proper
to wrestle by touch and feel rather than
sight.
Glima remains, as it always has been, friendly recreation and a gentleman's sport, but as the lösatags version (described below) shows it also has a rougher side.
Glima is a very old combative style. Certain evidence of glima dates back to the 12th century but some descriptions of wrestling in the Icelandic sagas and the Younger Edda makes it reasonable to believe that the system is much older. The core of the system are eight main bragd (techniques), which form the basic training for approximately 50 ways to execute a throw or takedown.
The word glima is translated as a struggle. The word is a common expression in modern Icelandic, to glima with something means to struggle with something in life just as in the sport.
Surrounding glima is a code of honour called Drengskapur that calls for fairness, respect for and caring about the security of one's training partners.
Glima are said to come in three forms: byxtagsglima, livtagsglima and lösatagsglima, terms taken from Swedish; on Iceland byxtagsglima is called glima and livtagsglima is called axlatök, Lösatagsglima doesn't exist in Iceland.
Byxtagsglima: The first version is by far the most widespread and the one typically associated with the term glima. Indeed, some would say the term should be restricted to this kind only, and it is this version which is Iceland's national sport. Historically it was also the one put in highest esteem for favoring technique over strength. Each of the two wrestlers wears a special belt around the waist and separate, additional belts on the lower thighs of each leg, which connect to the main belt with vertical straps.
A fixed grip is then taken with one hand in the belt and the other in the trousers at thigh height. From this position the glima-wrestler attempts to trip and throw his opponent. In this style of glima, a thrown wrestler may attempt to land on his feet and hands and if he succeeds in doing so he has not lost the fall. The winning condition in this type of glima is to make the opponent touch the ground with an area of the body between the elbow and the knee.
Livtagsglima: Livtagsglima is more similar to other styles of wrestling and is considered to be more a test of strength than of technique. In livtagsglima the opponents take hold of each other's upper body; whoever touches the ground with any part of the body except the feet has lost.
Lausataksglíma: In Lausataksglíma the contestants may use the holds they wish. This style is a kind of re-creation since it was out of practice for a period of about 100 years before being taken up again recently, within the last generation.
It is much more aggressive and differs in many ways from other styles of glima. Lausataksglíma comes in two forms: A version for self-defence and a version for friendly competition. In either all kinds of wrestling techniques are allowed but in the friendly version they are still taught to be executed in a way so they won’t cause the opponent injury. In such a friendly match the winner is considered the one who is standing tall while the other is lying on the ground. This means that if both the opponents fall to the ground together the match will continue on the ground by the use of techniques to keep the other down while getting up oneself.
Even more divergent from other forms of glima is lausataksglíma when trained purely for self-defence (as is done a couple of places in Scandinavia). In such training the harmful and hurtful techniques/ways of executing the techniques, that are not accepted in other forms of glima, are explored in as free and creative a way as possible while not injuring one's training-partners.
The Gripping History of Glima
By Pete Kautz
Glima translates literally as “The Game
of Joy”, and is an art roughly 1100 years
old. It was brought to Iceland by
Viking settlers, and has been practiced as a
folk art ever since. It is mentioned
in writing in the “Jonsbok” law-book in
1325, “Whosoever participates in a contest
of friendly wrestling or hide-tugging does
so on his own responsibility”. In
other words, “It’s your own damn fault
if you get hurt!” The term used in
the book to refer to wrestling is
“Leikfang”. This is an older name
for wrestling. The root word
“Fang” meaning “Catching” in the
sense of gaining
control of a person or object. The
term can also be used to refer to holding
someone in their arms, the space between the
arms, or wrestling in general, though in the
old sagas when they talked of Leikfang it
sounds more like back-hold wrestling than
what we see in Glima today with the low
grip. Some of the Leikfang contests
described end with spines being broken from
a man being bent backwards.
Glima is traditionally practiced outdoors
in appropriate clothing for the weather.
In Iceland, one of the reasons you might
have decided to play a few rounds was just
to stay warm on a cold night! These
often cold and slippery conditions are part
of what goes into giving Glima its distinct
movement. It would be practiced on the
hillsides or in any natural place that gave
shelter, and these were referred to as
Glimuholl or literally “Glima Hall”.
The basic idea is to grip your opponent
in the proper way, and then force them to
touch their torso or any area above the
elbows or knees, to the ground for the best
2 out of 3 falls. Also, if both of
their arms touch the ground, it is a fall.
If both players fall togetherthen
it is called a “brother-fall” and
neither player gets the point.
Perhaps the most immediately discernible
characteristic of modern Glima is that the
participants today wear special leather
belts. These have a main belt around
the waist, and separate belts on the lower
thighs of each leg, which are connected to
the main belt with vertical straps.
These belts allow a specific grip to be
taken which is wrestled out of – similar
to many other traditions around the world.
Last year I saw an exact duplicate picture
of a Glima belt in the “Weekly World
News”, a paper that also regularly
features the half-human “bat-boy” and
photos of Clinton shaking hands with UFO
aliens. They were saying that this
belt was developed by the scientists at NASA
as a “Zero-G Sex Device” for experiments
on human reproduction while in orbit!
Believe it…or not.
The reason that the belts are still worn
today is that they are symbolic of wearing
the heavy pants and jackets as they did in
the past. The belt gives something to
grab, and it is fair to all competitors.
It is also important to note just where the
Glima player is grabbing. The left hip
and right thigh are both places where an
opponent’s sword or dagger would have been
kept in the old days – and so it should be
no surprise that this is where you grip for
play. Your left hand grabs his right thigh
and your right hand grips his left hip.
From here you start to circle to the right,
both circling around each other, trying to
find a weakness.
There were three main ways Glima was
played in the old days. There was
formal Glima and Loose Grips wrestling; and
then there was also wrestling for settling a
duel – to the death! In the deadly
matches, which would have only been done
over the most serious of offenses, the two
men would go into a field with a large,
waist-high, tapered slab of rock – a stone
to smash your opponent down on to slay him.
One of these still stands today on a farm in
the western part of Iceland. Let this be a
lesson to modern grapplers – look for the
“slaying stones” in urban areas and
other places you might have to fight, and
let the terrain magnify the power of your
throw! In
Loose Grips, the formal rules of play are
not followed to the letter and a player is
allowed to “cheat” in that sense, since
Loose Grips is not considered “correct
wrestling” (by the rules of Glima).
The initial grip is different than the one
used in the formal game, and follows after
the familiar “collar-and-elbow” style
seen the world over. The match
doesn’t stop when one player touches the
ground, and sacrifice throws and other
tactics that might be used that are
specifically referred to as being
“illegal” in Formal Glima are used.
One such throw seen in Loose Grips is the
Somersault throw (similar to Tomo-Nage).
This is fine for loose-grips play, but in
technical Glima you would be touching your
own body to the ground, so you would lose
the fall! In the case where both
players fall to the ground in Loose Grips,
whomever stands up first is declared the
winner. There are at least 27
traditional techniques used in Loose Grips
only.
In the modern game, players wear special
shoes in addition to the belts previously
described. The belts were introduced
to play in 1905, and from this time on they
were gripped instead of the opponents
trousers. The next year would see the
introduction of the highest honor in Glima
to be awarded - the Grettir Belt, which has
been given each year to the greatest Glima
player in Iceland, who wins the Icelandic
Glima Championship. It is named after
a character from one of the Norse sagas who
was fantastically strong and a master of
wrestling – it is like having the Hercules
Belt!
The game was further formalized when the
Icelandic Sports Federation published
official rules for competition in 1916.
In the modern day, Formal Glima is
characterized by 4 key points and 8 basic
tricks (bragd) using the legs, hips, and
feet to throw with.
4 Key Points, without which you don't
have true, formal Glima:
The fixed
grip on the opponent’s waistband and
outside of their leg
The
upright position of the contestants
The
circular movement of the wrestlers,
called Stigandi (Treading)
Distinctive
throws done with the legs, hips, and
feet
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gaining
control of a person or object. The
term can also be used to refer to holding
someone in their arms, the space between the
arms, or wrestling in general, though in the
old sagas when they talked of Leikfang it
sounds more like back-hold wrestling than
what we see in Glima today with the low
grip. Some of the Leikfang contests
described end with spines being broken from
a man being bent backwards.
then
it is called a “brother-fall” and
neither player gets the point.
In
Loose Grips, the formal rules of play are
not followed to the letter and a player is
allowed to “cheat” in that sense, since
Loose Grips is not considered “correct
wrestling” (by the rules of Glima).
The initial grip is different than the one
used in the formal game, and follows after
the familiar “collar-and-elbow” style
seen the world over. The match
doesn’t stop when one player touches the
ground, and sacrifice throws and other
tactics that might be used that are
specifically referred to as being
“illegal” in Formal Glima are used.
One such throw seen in Loose Grips is the
Somersault throw (similar to Tomo-Nage).
This is fine for loose-grips play, but in
technical Glima you would be touching your
own body to the ground, so you would lose
the fall! In the case where both
players fall to the ground in Loose Grips,
whomever stands up first is declared the
winner. There are at least 27
traditional techniques used in Loose Grips
only.
