Chivalry Competition

When were not engaged in warfare, the knights and haiduks played war games. So the first sports came about – the chivalry, or the haiduk games: wrestling, standing long jump, long jump, stone throwing, running, legs tied running, shooting (shotgun), rope pulling, … These ancient male sports, seasoned with real martial arts techniques, can be learnt even today! There is also a special martial art called svibor, comprising all the said techniques. The first svibor club in Serbia is The Night, established in 1991 and the Svibor Association of Serbia still exists. Besides the usual events – like sword fighting and archery competition – there is a chivalrous dodecathlon (12 events), with events named after the heroes featuring in the heroic epic songs: Marko’s mace fight, Relja’s flying, Novak’s climbing, haiduk jumping,  Šipčić’s climbing, Radojica’s swimming, Oblačić’s running, Miloš’s stones, Strahinja’s wrestling, fight on a log, poke pulling, chivalrous jumping. It is hard just to pronounce the names of all these event, let alone master them!

GEOGRAPHY

Every year on the Pentecost in Belgrade there is a chivalry tournament in Kalemegdan and such events have become ever more frequent in other cities – in   Golubac, Senta, Podgorica, on Lovćen