Ssireum or Korean wrestling is a folk wrestling style and traditional national sport of Korea that began in the fourth century.
The painting titled "Sangbak" (상박; 相撲) drawn by Kim Hong-do illustrates people gathering around to watch a ssireum competition in the late 18th century.
Ssireum depicted on Goguryeo mural (c.a. 4th-6th century
A ssrireum match at Gyeongju Citizens' Athletics Festival in 2008
A ssrireum match at Gyeongju Citizens' Athletics Festival in 2008
A folk wrestling style is any traditional style of wrestling, which may or may not be codified as a modern sport. Most cultures have developed regional forms of grappling.
Two wrestlers demonstrating a wrestling technique, 1913
Cornish wrestling in Cornwall, 2006.
Wrestlers on the traditional Naadam festival in Mongolia, near Ulan Bator
Yağlı güreş (Turkish oil wrestling) tournament in Istanbul