Bariqu Wrestling



Bariqu Wrestling was a major martial art original of the Ujik-hai nomads of the Burning Sands. It came to the Empire along the Moto family.

Origins
The lack of resources and the necessity to survive as a group, made the Bariqu Wrestling a means of challenging one's leaders without open combat between competing individuals or factions. Wrestlers wore a metal-studded, sleeveless leather top, white pants, and sturdy riding boots. In previous ages, the wrestlers often went bare-chested.

Style
Bariqu was a recreational form of ritualized combat, after it lost its original purpose as a means of challenging a tribal leader. It was a grappling art with low, rapid attacks and grabs. The holds and throws were designed to immobilize and incapacitate an opponent without causing permanent injury. A trained combatant could easily breake bones with little effort. A practitioner of bariqu stayed low to the ground, slowly circling his opponent while looking for an opportunity to begin a grapple. The traditional style maintained a crude ring, and the first to be knocked to the ground or pushed from the ring was declared the loser.

Training
Training began during childhood, a common pastime among both children and adolescent, the first combat style they prepared for their gempukku. Wealthy lords or patrons sponsored Bariqu athletes, traveling around the provinces in a series of tournaments.


 * A beginning student was taught the traditional means of immobilizing a foe through painful holds.
 * Intermediate students learned the essentials of forcing an opponent backward once they had grappled them.
 * Advanced artists could maneuver opponents held in a grapple with great ease, and could deal great damage with punishing joint locks.
 * An expert learned to redouble their efforts, wringing success even from the most daunting failures.
 * A mastero could, with a successful hold, immobilize an opponent with a combination of sheer strength and expert manipulation.