Turkish Mounted Archers

temren · Post by **temren** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:20 am

Hi Everybody,

We have been in touch for a few years now with "Cirit" players from Sivas, Turkey. Cirit is a game played on horseback where players gain points by throwing short sticks (cirit=javelin=spear) at each other. Naturally these guys ride horses like acrobats. The incorporation of our humble archery knowledge (mostly Dr. Murat ?zveri's) into their equestrian excellence resulted in the revival of our old art. Last year Hilmi Aric made a solo appearance at the "Sadabat Cirit Festival" in Kagithane, Istanbul. This year we had two more actors namely Mustafa Yazici and Sivas Cirit Club President Sami Genel. They also displayed how to pierce a metal plate with replica war cirits. The show was overall a great success and the crowd was very pleased. Pictures by Yilmaz Cebecioglu, Safak Tavkul and Dr. Murat Ozveri.

You can find more and bigger pictures at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12223481@N ... 431356785/

Adnan...

Hilmi Aric:

Mustafa Yazici:

Sami Genel:

temren · Post by **temren** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:27 am

Also, before the show (1st of June) between the 17th and 18th of May 2008 Dr. Murat ?zveri, G?kmen Altınkulp and Engin Polat went to Sivas to converse on the subject of mounted archery. You can watch Murat's observations about this trip here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 7384&hl=en

Orda Khan · Post by **Orda Khan** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:58 pm

Great photos Temren, some very lively horses!!

Alewar · Post by **Alewar** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:28 pm

Wonderful!
Happy to see the revival of this beautiful turkish art!

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:44 pm

Congratulations to you all.
It is wonderful to see this art coming back to life. It would be very valuable to document the riding techniques of the Sivas cirit players so that one part of Turkish horsemanship becomes better known in the rest of the world.
Has anyone made a film or documentary about them? I remember seeing some dramatised scenes in the Turkish movie, Kan.

temren · Post by **temren** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:55 am

Thanks All,

I have created another set on flickr just for Cirit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12223481@N ... 446027831/
These pictures are by Fuat ?zveri.

I also found this link which gives a little insight into Cirit:
http://www.steppenreiter.de/cirit.htm

I havent seen Kan, Bede. I will keep an eye out for documentaries about Cirit, though. I remember watching very short ones.

Adnan...

lancelot · Post by **lancelot** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 7:38 pm

Wow shock: , nice costumes (for horse and rider)

:

temren · Post by **temren** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:24 pm

I hope I am not boring you, here is the link to the video:
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2812715/8167696

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:33 am

Good outfits, beautiful horseflesh. -j-

gt1cm2 · Post by **gt1cm2** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:48 am

Nice photos, very interesting. Only negative thing I would say is how the mouths on some of those horses are being hauled on.

temren · Post by **temren** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 5:43 am

Hi,

I dont ride myself, can you tell me what "mouths being hauled on" means, so I can ask the guys whether thats necessary or not. To my limited knowledge cirit horses are very difficult to control and their riders may treat them a little harsher than usual.

Adnan...

gt1cm2 · Post by **gt1cm2** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:45 am

By hauled on I mean the rider is hanging off the horses mouth in quite an uncomfortable way for the horse to control/slow them, instead of using their body first to slow them down. This can be due to either lack of skill or lack of training. Not necessarily the riders fault as it may be a training issue or the history of the horse (in fact a number of things) but maybe it would be nicer on the horse if they used hackamore, bitless bridle or a kinder bit in these kind of circumstances.

These two pictures are examples of what I mean, you can see it in the way the horse is holding their mouths wide open.

Don't get me wrong, I admire them for what they are doing and would love to be at that stage with my mare I just found the mouths in the pictures to be rather sad and distracting.

temren · Post by **temren** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:59 am

Ok, I'll pass it on.

However from what I have been told, cirit horses are primarily charge horses. Release the reins and they begin a full gallop, thats how they are trained. To stop them is the real issue, in fact apparently you cant stop them unless you do left-right jerks while pulling backwards.

Adam Karpowicz · Post by **Adam Karpowicz** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:26 am

That was fantastic Temren! Real riding, fast action. Turkish archers are back no doubt.

Adam

Murat ?zveri · Post by **Murat ?zveri** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:29 pm

Hello gentlemen,

Although it is quite early to talk about an established Turkish mounted archery today, the photographs and video Adnan has provided clearly show that we succeeded to revive the horseback archery, at least to some extent.

It was my idea to "convert" cirit players to mounted archers and 1 1/2 year ago we started to have contacts with Sivasi cirit players. This is because it was hard to establish a system for learning and teaching riding in Istanbul in terms of financial opportunites and the time people could spend. However, there was a mounted martial art that still survives in Anatolia and the culture of horse riding has already had its own frame.

Cirit has been a game which was played at weddings in countryside and was well spread and poplular in many cities of Anatolia. Its recession as a result of modernised life and high migration rate to cosmopolitan cities has been stopped by the annual cirit organisations of Kagithane Municipality. New cirit clubs begun to be founded and it has become popular again.

Let me explain you why the character of horses or their relationship to their riders look different. Cirit is still played with its authentic and archaic rules except some "smoothening" with some restrictions (shooting distance min. 5 m, for example). A version of the game, kara cirit, is also played with none of these restrictions. The players try to hit their opponents with wrist-thick short spears (cirit, pronunced as "jereed"). The player simply runs away in full gallop after he threw his spear and is chased by the one of the opponents. The opponent can be shot or interrupted. This interruption can end up either with a hit (min. 5 m) or with a mercyful refrain. Refrain from hit scores less but is mostly preferred as an expression of fairplay and gentleness.

Although the tips of the cirits are covered with rubber blunts the heavy stick is very dangerous. Since the players wear NO protection at all, injuries and even death may occur. It's the same for the horses. Even watching a good cirit match makes one feel excited and have great respect for such a courage and madness.

Interestingly, good cirit horses feel what their riders think and feel and they join the game in heart and soul. As sensible animals the horses are sometimes scared too and try to dominate over their riders, do not obey during game. The horses have no protection neither and sometimes they're hit too. It's a war game and there is no place for "civilised" men and sissy pets in this game. The horses get used in chasing (or running away from) the opponent at full gallop and therefore it's very difficult to control them with gentle attitudes. So, it's different then the moderate horseback shooting on horses in canter-pace. When I was in Sivas with two friends of mine from Istanbul, my friends tried to ride these horses and they were surprised by the agitation of these animals.

We know that we'll need canter-walking horses to compete in disciplines like Kassai's but our first attempt will be reviving the qabak game of our ancetors which requires riding very fast and shooting one arrow to a target at the top of a pole. This is a decision we took with Sivasi friends who find it not feasable to train their horses to slow down or having new horses to train for a slow-pace canter for confortable nocking and reshooting in the saddle. First of all, they are cirit players.

I hope that we'll be a part of the international horseback archery community soon. It won't take too much time.

Best regards to all.

Murat