Glima

Glíma

Glima wrestling
Focus	Grappling
Hardness	Full-contact
Country of origin	Iceland
Creator	Unknown

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.

The core of the system are eight main brögð (techniques), which form the basic training for approximately 50 ways to execute a throw or takedown. 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.

Terminology

The word glíma is translated as a struggle. The word is a common expression in modern Icelandic, to glíma with something means to struggle with something in life just as in the sport. In particular, glíma is also the Icelandic term for "wrestling" in general, extending to modern, non-traditional styles.

Glíma

The first version is by far the most widespread and the one typically associated with the term glima. Indeed, most people 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.

Hryggspenna

Hryggspenna is more similar to other styles of wrestling and is considered to be more a test of strength than of technique. In Hryggspenna 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.

Lausatök

In Lausatök (loose-grip wrestling) 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 Icelandic wrestling. Lausatök 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.

Even more divergent from other forms of Icelandic wrestling is lausatök when trained purely for self-defence (as is done a couple of places in Scandinavia). In such training the harmful and hurtful techniques or ways of executing the techniques, that are not accepted in other forms of Icelandic wrestling, are explored in as free and creative a way as possible while not injuring one's training-partners.

Organisations

The International Glima Association (IGA) is the global organisation uniting all people and groups interested in Glima.
IGE can be contacted on www.internationalglima.com
The current president of IGA is Orri Bjornsson from Iceland.

The Viking Glima Federation (VGF) is the international organisation that deals with Glima as a Martial Art.
VGF can be contacted on www.viking-glima.com
The current president and chief instructor of VGF is Lars Magnar Enoksen from Sweden.

Greatest champions of Glima

The most prominent prize in Glima has always been the Grettisbelti. The winner has for decades been called Glímukóngur e. the Glima king. This is the Icelandic open in Glima and has always drawn the best wrestlers of each era. Below is a list of the winners the years they won, club they competed for and their hometown.

Glimakings of Iceland

World championship in glima

The second world championship in Glima and Hryggspenna will be held at Geysir in Iceland 22nd and 23rd of August in 2009. All furter information will soon be available at www.internationalglima.com

The first world championship in Glima and Hryggspenna was held in Roskilde Denmark in August 2008. The list of medal winners is below.

Glíma

Men, +100 kg
1. Orri Björnsson, Iceland 4 points
2. Sindri Freyr Jónsson, Iceland 3 points
3. Eduard Mihailov, Estonia 1+2 points

Men, -100 kg
1. Pétur Þórir Gunnarsson, Iceland 6 points
2. Jón Smári Eyþórsson, Iceland 5 points
3. Brynjólfur Örn Rúnarsson, Iceland 3,5 points

Men, -90 kg
1. Pétur Eyþórsson, Iceland 5,5+1 points
2. Ólafur Oddur Sigurðsson, Iceland 5,5+0 points
3. Hreinn Heiðar Jóhannsson, Iceland 4 points

Men, -81 kg
1. Snær Seljan Þóroddsson, Iceland 5 points
2. Bjarni Þór Gunnarsson, Iceland 4 points
3. David Lundholm, Sweden 3 points

Men, -73 kg
1. Óðinn Þór Kjartansson, Iceland 4 points
2. Aleksejs Kurilovs, Latvia 3,5+1 points
3. Steinar Bjarki Marínósson, Iceland 3,5+0 points

Men, -66 kg
1. Halldór Óli Kjartansson, Iceland 4,5 points
2. Magnús Bjarki Snæbjörnsson, Iceland 4 points
3. Júlíus Gunnar Björnsson, Iceland 2,5+1 points

Women, open category
1. Jóhanna Guðrún Magnúsdóttir, Iceland 3 points
2. Guðrún Heiður Skúladóttir, Iceland 2 points
3. Laufey Frímansdóttir, Iceland 1 point

Hryggspenna

Men, +100 kg
1. Eduard Mihailov, Estonia
2. Christian Bartel, Germany
3. Orri Björnsson, Iceland

Men, -100 kg
1. Zbignevs Romanovskis, Latvia
2. Jón Smári Eyþórsson, Iceland
3. Brynjólfur Örn Rúnarsson, Iceland

Men, -90 kg
1. Pétur Eyþórsson, Iceland
2. Ólafur Oddur Sigurðsson, Iceland
3. Andress Kools, Netherlands

Men, -81 kg
1. Vjaceslavs Masloboevs, Latvia
2. Bjarni Þór Gunnarsson, Iceland
3. Snær Seljan Þóroddsson, Iceland

Men, -73 kg
1. Aleksejs Kurilovs, Latvia
2. Óðinn Þór Kjartansson, Iceland
3. John Jozen, Netherlands

Men, -66 kg
1. Halldór Óli Kjartansson, Iceland
2. Benjamin Werth, Germany
3. Magnús Bjarki Snæbjörnsson, Iceland

Women
1. Jóhanna Guðrún Magnúsdóttir, Iceland
2. Laufey Frímansdóttir, Iceland
3. Ashley Leyten, Netherlands

• M. Bennett Nichols ,Glíma, New Orleans (1999)

• Lars Magnar Enoksen ,The secret art of Glíma - an introduction to Viking martial arts, Sweden (2008)

External links

• The Gripping History of Glima
• Glíma! Pathe Pictorial (1932) (youtube.com)

English

• The Viking Glima Federation
• New page, will be the heart of all Glima activity online.

Icelandic

• The Icelandic Wrestling Federation (Glímusamband Íslands)