Boli Khela
Boli Khela (also called Bali Khela) is a type of wrestling sport that originated in Bangladesh and is currently practiced only in the Chittagong area in the country. In Bengali, boli means a powerful person, and khela denotes a game. So it means game of a powerful person. The sport started off as means for self-defense without requiring any weapons, and later turned into a competitive sport due to is broad appeal.
Boli Khela is a full-contact combat sport in which the fighters use techniques like clinching, throwing, joint locking, pinning holds, and several other grappling holds.
A match is conducted on a circular or square field with a dirt surface. Players only wear a pair of shorts and no shoes or any other gear for competitions. The objective of the sport is same as most other forms of wrestling, which is to force any part of the opponents body, except the feet, to touch the ground.
A match has no fixed duration, it depends on what is accepted between the two wrestlers. It typically lasts for 25 to 30 minutes. In the final rounds, where fights are closely contested, matches last a little longer.
The interest in the sport has currently waned down from it peak. The only event where the sport is competitively conducted is during the celebrations of a Bengali new year.
Similar Sports
- Kurash — folk wrestling style from Central Asia in which wrestlers use towels to hold their opponents, and their goal is to throw their opponents off the feet.
- Pehlwani — a form of wrestling from South Asia. A win is achieved by pinning the opponent's shoulders and hips to the ground simultaneously.
- Vajra-mushti — a form of Indian wrestling in which a knuckleduster-like weapon called the Vajra-mushti is employed.
Related Pages
- Sport in Bangladesh
- About Types of Wrestling
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports
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