Classroom lesson · Ssireum · 🇰🇵 North Korea

Ssireum

Korea's traditional wrestling sport, played for over 1,500 years

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Ssireum is the traditional wrestling of Korea, with a history stretching back more than 1,500 years. Two wrestlers grab hold of each other's red or blue cloth belt and try to throw their opponent to the ground. The first person whose body above the knee touches the sand loses the bout. No punching or kicking is allowed — just strength, balance and technique.

Tell me more

Ssireum matches take place in a circular ring filled with soft sand. Both wrestlers kneel facing each other, each gripping the other's satba — a long cloth tied around the waist and thigh. When the signal is given, they stand and immediately begin to push, pull, lift and twist, looking for the perfect moment to throw.

There are about 20 recognised ssireum techniques, with names like 'ankle trip', 'inner thigh lift' and 'back-arch throw'. A good ssireum wrestler needs strength but also agility, timing and the ability to read what their opponent is about to do. Smaller wrestlers regularly defeat much heavier opponents using clever technique.

Ssireum has traditionally been competed at village festivals and harvest celebrations. The champion at major festivals received an ox as their prize — a very valuable award for farming communities. Even today, the winner of a big ssireum tournament may receive a ceremonial ox.

Ssireum has been depicted in paintings found in ancient Korean tombs, showing that the sport has been enjoyed for at least 1,500 years. It is still widely played and watched today, with professional competitions broadcast on television.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

01Ssireum has no punching or kicking — only grappling. Why do you think the sport was designed with these rules?
02The winner traditionally received an ox. What do prizes at sports competitions tell us about what was valuable to people in the past?
03Ssireum is 1,500 years old. How do you think the sport might have changed over that time? What might have stayed the same?

Try this

Classroom activity

On paper, design the rules for a brand-new traditional sport for your own school or village. Think about: What equipment is used? What is the aim? What is NOT allowed? What is the traditional prize? Draw the playing area and write five rules.

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