Russian fist fights: The main male entertainment of Maslenitsa. Traditional Russian fist fight

At all times and in all cultures, fist fighting has been considered a worthy and popular sport. In Ancient Greece, fist fighting was included in the program of the Olympic Games. In Rus', the tradition of hand-to-hand combat has existed since ancient times. The Slavs have always been known to Europe as strong and intelligent warriors: men from any class and any occupation were trained in warfare from childhood.

Basic Rules

Soldier's equipment

Preparing for battle

Dance of the humpback

Passing and bullying the enemy

How and where they beat

Hopes

Hitch-dump

Wall to wall

On your own

Ban on fist fighting

The traditional Russian martial art was fist fighting. What might seem like an ordinary fight to an uninitiated person from the outside was a real skill with its own wisdom, and the British called it Russian fist fight. Fist fighting is mentioned in many historical accounts.

Fist fighting in the Middle Ages

For the first time, fist fights are mentioned in the greatest monument of Ancient Rus', “The Tale of Bygone Years.” The author, being an educated and Orthodox man, criticizes this crude “pagan” action. Despite such a disapproving review of fist fights, it was he who pointed out that this is an ancient “pogansky” (pagan) custom. The Russians considered Perun to be the patron of martial arts.

Fist fights were held on major holidays: on Maslenitsa or after Christmas until the Holy Trinity. The oldest type of fist fighting is the so-called “clutch-dumping”, or “coupling fight”. This type of martial arts is a unique type of pankration, only in the Russian interpretation. The fighters went against each other in whole groups. I had to stand against each specific enemy and against all of them at once.

A more common type of battle was “wall to wall”, when opponents came out in two rows and each participant defended himself and his brothers-in-arms. There was always a leader at the “wall” who, with loud cries, inspired and directed the fighters of his group.

Rules of Russian fist fighting

It was possible to fight only with bare hands. The blows were delivered with the knuckles of the fingers (such a blow was called a “prick with a weapon”), with the edge of a palm bent into a fist (“slashing blow”) or with the back of the main phalanges (“butt”). It was allowed to hit only the body and head. Strikes to the groin and legs were prohibited. It was also forbidden to hit an opponent who had been knocked to the ground. Hence the proverb “You can’t beat someone who’s lying down.” It was also forbidden to attack an enemy who was bleeding heavily.

Usually fighters aimed to strike in the head, under the ribs or in the solar plexus. This tactic made it possible to quickly disable the enemy. Any weapon was strictly prohibited (that’s why it was a fist fight). For violation of the rules, judges, spectators or the participants themselves could severely punish the dishonest fighter.

Despite the fact that they fought in Rus' with bare hands, the injuries were very serious, and the fights were extremely spectacular. There were also deaths. The people loved fist fights and watched them with pleasure, egging on the fighters with loud shouts. The winners of the battles were held in high esteem.

Further history of fist fights

After the adoption of Christianity in Rus', an intensified struggle began against this pagan and “ungodly” custom. The beginning was made in 1274 at the cathedral in Vladimir. At it, Metropolitan Kirill decided to anathematize participants in fist fights. It got to the point that those killed in battles were forbidden to have funeral services and be buried according to the church canon. Such drastic measures had their effect: in the 16th century there were no battles at all.

After some time, this tradition began to revive again, so in the 17th century, Prince Mikhail Fedorovich decided to subject the participants in such games to prosecution. Those who disobeyed were mercilessly whipped and exiled forever “to the Ukrainian cities.”

The revival of Russian fist fighting occurred during the reign of Peter I. The Tsar was very fond of this fun, which showed the prowess of the Russian people. Catherine II was also an ardent fan of fist fights. Her favorite, Count Orlov, often took part in such competitions and was known as an excellent fighter. In 1832, “harmful pagan amusements” were again prohibited by decree of Nicholas I. After the revolution, fist fights were completely eradicated as a shameful relic of the tsarist regime.

Skilled wrestlers take it not with strength, but with dexterity: the opponent tries to grab his opponent so that he loses his balance - then he can safely knock him down or throw him to the ground like a toy. Fist fighting is an ancient pastime for our Russian daredevils. Going to a fist fight meant having fun or spending a holiday in complete revelry, and this constituted a special kind of military exercise that accustomed young people to deadly battle.

The eastern peoples themselves fought their battles in hand-to-hand combat: a strong fist protected him as well as a weapon. With the improvement of hand weapons and the invention of firearms, everything changed. Battles became a science, and wars became the executors of the commander’s plans.

Fist fun in Rus' has been known since its originality. Our chroniclers speak about it, even at the beginning of the 13th century, with some enthusiasm. The Grand Duke of Kiev, Mstislav III, and the Prince of Pskov, Vladimir, encouraging their allies before the battle: Novgorod and Smolensk, to the brave reflection of Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich, presented them with freedom: to fight on horseback or on foot. The Novgorodians answered: we don’t want to go on horseback, but we will fight, following the example of our ancestors, on foot and with fists. - Over time, fist fighting became the pastime of our people.

Fist fights were carried out one on one, wall on wall on wall or with a felling. The most common of them is one on one. The battles began with winter Nikola, and continued until the national team resurrection.

On holidays, boys and adults outside the city gathered in a large place, or in a city square, or on an ice-covered river: there they gave a signal with a whistle so that hunters and fighters would gather there. urban fighters always prevailed over the village ones. Famous fighters were charged with drinking vodka in honor; it was considered dishonorable to take gifts with which they were lured to their side, and thus their glory was lost. The children started the fight.

The recorded fighters stood at a distance, watching the fight; each of the opposing sides persuaded excellent fighters to come over to their side, promising them big gifts and wine until they were drunk. When the wall was chasing the wall, then the brave fighter, or the reliable fighter, rolled up his sleeves, flew like a mad beast, with his hair flowing, and delivered terrible blows. During the general dump, it was no longer the hands that acted, but also the legs and knees; beat their opponents mercilessly; but they didn’t beat a lying person, which is why it became a saying: they don’t beat a lying person. The one who held his ground more than others and endured the blows the most gained respect and was extolled even by his enemies. After breaking through the wall, only the fighters remained in place - well done. Their battle was terrible. Others ran to the rescue of their comrades, attacked their hope - a fighter who was already standing as pale as death.

He did not give up, endured severe beatings, and suddenly, catching a happy moment, he hit: one under the eyes, the other in the temple, and both stretched out with a groan at his feet. Nazhezhka - the fighter was accompanied by a universal cry of joy: ours took it! But if he was unable to withstand the blows, then his only salvation, in order to save his life, was to fall to the ground; they do not beat a lying person, but such a one remained in reproach. At the end of the battle, the fans led their hero along the street, singing loud songs, and brought him into the drinking house.

Video: Russian fist fight (Skobar)

Decrees of 1684 November 2, 1686 March 19 and others strictly prohibited fist fights. There was a time that our boyars, vainglorious about their fighters, gave them water from their tables; they bet and brought them together for their amusement. There was a time when old men, inflaming the minds of young people, with unrealistic stories about the daring of fighters, awakened in them a passion for fist fighting. Of our fighters, the Kazan, Kaluga and Tula gunsmiths were famous: Alyosha dear, Teryosha Kunein, the Zubovs, Nikita Dolgov and the Pokhodkin brothers - Tula fighters are still famous, but each place had its daredevils.

In Rus', a clear distinction was made between an ordinary fight and a fist fight, which was carried out according to special rules. There were three main types of fights: one-on-one, wall-on-wall, and clutch-dump.

The most honorable fight was one-on-one. There was even a special category of fighters who preferred only it, without participating in “walls” and “challenges”. The names of such fighters were surrounded by legends, and many even remained in history. In M. I. Pylyaev’s book “The Old Life,” published in the middle of the 19th century, it is written about such fighters: “The best of them were considered in the thirties from Tula: Alyosha Rodimy, Nikita Dolgovyaz, the Pokhodkin brothers, the Zubov family, Teresha Kunkin - theirs merchants transported them to cities with honor.”

In ancient times, fist fights were sometimes used as judicial fights; it was believed that the victorious fighter had confirmed that he was right. But such cases were rare, since in such situations fights with weapons were preferred.

Some nobles also did not shy away from one-on-one combat, since defeat in such a fight was not considered dishonorable. A famous fist fighter was Count Grigory Orlov, who loved to measure his strength with famous fighters. And another famous strongman of that time, General V. G. Kostenetsky, on the contrary, categorically refused to participate in fights, fearing that he would inadvertently maim or kill the enemy. There were legends about his strength; in battles with the French, he chopped with a broadsword that was given to him from the Armory, destroying his opponents from shoulder to saddle. There were also “lucky ones” who tasted his fist. In one of the battles of 1809, he knocked out the French from a Russian battery they had captured, using only his fists and an artillery banner.

A rare type of one-on-one combat was the blow-to-blow duel. Actually, it was not a fight, but an alternating exchange of blows, from which it was impossible to evade; it was only allowed to cover the most vulnerable places with your hands. The blows were struck by lot until one of the opponents was knocked down or admitted defeat.

The most spectacular was always considered a wall-to-wall fight, in which more than a hundred fighters could participate. Usually such a fight was agreed upon in advance, agreeing on the place and number of fighters, which could be unequal, but with a slight difference. They fought “village against village”, “street against street”, “one part of the town against another”, “merchants against loaders”, etc. M. I. Pylyaeva writes that “Kazan cloth workers were famous for the best fighters side by side; their constant rivals were the Tatars. In Kherson, cloth workers fought with Karaite Jews. In Tula, battles between gunsmiths and townspeople are known; in Kostroma - wilds with sulyans.”

Traditionally, fist fights were held in winter from Nikolai (December 6) to national team Sunday, but Maslenitsa was considered the main time for such fun. Most often, the battlefield was a frozen river or lake. Sometimes the battle was divided into several stages: first the children fought, then the young men, and after them the fight between the adult fighters began. Each team tried to have a “secret weapon” - several strong “hope fighters” who initially did not participate in the battle, remaining behind the ranks or among the spectators. Only at decisive moments did they engage in battle to break through the opponents' line. Each team had its own ataman (voivode) who led the battle. The side that forced the opponent to retreat won.

The “clutch-dump” fight was rarely held and was not popular. In this type of battle, the opponents did not maintain formation and “flattened scattered or in the crowd.”

During fist fights, certain rules were strictly observed: do not hit someone who is lying down, do not finish off someone leaving the fight, hit only with your hands and above the waist, do not hold anything in your fist, do not put anything in your mittens. In the excitement of the battle, violations occurred, but this was strictly monitored. The offending fighter could be taken out of the fight, “disqualified” for a certain time and subjected to a kind of fine.

In fist fights, the main blows were considered to be: “on the buttocks” - to the head, “under the mikitki” - to the kidneys and liver, “to the soul” - to the solar plexus. Naturally, battles often did not happen without serious injuries and even death of one of the fighters. The official authorities have always fought against fist fights, but sometimes these were just formal statements. Ivan the Terrible loved to amuse himself with the sight of fist fights, but his son Fyodor categorically forbade them. Therefore, at the end of the 16th century, fist fights were practically not held.

In the middle of the 17th century, Mikhail Romanov issued a special decree according to which fist fighters were supposed to “be captured and brought to the zemstvo order and inflicted punishment.” Similar bans were then issued by almost all Russian monarchs, although they themselves at times liked to watch “fist fun”.

It is curious that in our time some martial arts enthusiasts are trying to revive Russian fist fighting, even holding fights, including “wall to wall”.

Of course, everyone fought, always and everywhere. For one reason or another. Anyway. Eastern martial arts became part of the “path of self-improvement”, the Indians of Central America staged ritual fights, and the Greeks came up with the Olympic Games - dedicated to the gods, but also serving as excellent entertainment for the many spectators who gathered every four years in the town of Olympia. Our ancestors did not lag behind others.

The “Rules of the Marquis of Queensberry,” which appeared in 1865 and regulated the behavior of boxers, are very similar to the rules of fist fighting that organically frolicked in Rus', formed two or three centuries earlier..

In English, the fist fight that existed in Rus' is not without reason called Russian fist fight - this is truly a basic local “martial art”. In terms of complexity, fist fighting is on the same level as other folk fighting disciplines, which are not overloaded with excessive subtlety of techniques. Located somewhere in the middle between French savate and Irish boxing, it is, however, undeservedly on the periphery of attention of people interested in fighting and self-defense techniques. Perhaps the reason for this is a break in tradition, perhaps it is the trends that brought first oriental disciplines to the fore, then capoeira, and now English boxing.

History of Russian fist fights

We can find the first mention of Russian fist fighting in The Tale of Bygone Years. Nestor writes: “Aren’t we living like bastards... with all sorts of flattering morals, predominant from God, with trumpets and buffoons, and harps, and mermaids; We see that the game has been refined, and there are a lot of people, as if they are pushing each other’s shame away from the spirit of the intended business” - in general, he criticizes.

Reading this, one should understand that, with its roots in pre-Christian cultural tradition, fistfights could not be expected to be treated differently by an Orthodox chronicler.

We do not know and cannot know about the origin of fist fighting and its possible ritual significance for the ancient Slavs for the same reasons. Nevertheless, there is enough historical and artistic evidence about the development of fist fighting from the 11th to the 20th centuries - poems and folk songs, decrees prohibiting fights, and police reports, records of eyewitnesses and ethnographers, by which we can judge the rules of fights and the order of the battles.

1. Trinity Day near the Tsarev settlement, 1900. 2. Mikhail Peskov “Fist Fight”
under Ivan IV." 3. “Wall to wall” battles. 4. Modern fist fights.

So, for example, Nazimov says in his memoirs: “Local authorities seem to turn a blind eye to this... custom, probably not having in mind the positive instructions of their superiors, and perhaps they themselves were secretly spectators of such massacres, especially since many significant people in the city, champions of antiquity, considered these amusements very useful for the development and maintenance of physical strength and warlike inclinations of the people. And it was difficult for the Arzamas mayor, that is, the mayor, to cope, with the help of 10-15 guards and even a full disabled team of 30-40 people, with a gathering of fighters, which, in addition to the numerous spectators egging them on, extended, according to eyewitnesses, up to 500 people.” .

And Lebedev writes in an article for the magazine “Russian Antiquity”: “It was not a fight, quarrel, enmity or anything like that at all, but something like a game. Meanwhile, the blows were inflicted seriously, causing bruises and even death. Fist fights exist in many countries, but everywhere they are of a competitive nature - one-on-one, such as boxing in England, or a duel, which we had in pre-Petrine Rus'; but in the form that they have in Russia - in the form of competition between huge gatherings of crowds, one against the other, this has never happened anywhere. Prowess and excess strength asked to come out and found a way out in such a peculiar game.

V. Vasnetsov

There is very little information about fist fights, and we will look in vain for it in history or manuals and monographs; news about them can only be found in church teachings and memoirs. Meanwhile, there were many government orders about “fist fights”, and we even had to fight against this kind of “sport.”

Usually, fist fights took place on major holidays, in the summer they were held on the streets or squares, and in the winter on the ice of frozen rivers and lakes - there was always enough space there. Fist fighting was not a purely “regional” pastime. In Moscow, battles took place on the Moscow River near the Babyegorodskaya dam, at the Simonov and Novodevichy monasteries and on the Sparrow Hills, in St. Petersburg - on the ice of the Neva and Fontanka.

The battles were accompanied by festivities, spectators gathered at the site of the skirmishes, and with them peddlers with goods and beaters with hot honey and beer. Fights that took place with the connivance or even in the presence of representatives of the nobility (for example, Count Orlov was “a big fan of fist fights”) could be accompanied by gypsy orchestras and even small fireworks.

Most of the fighting took place during Maslenitsa week -
before Lent people sought
not only get drunk, eat,
but also, as far as possible,
give free rein to your fists.

Of course, spontaneous skirmishes also regularly occurred when two streets or two banks of a river could not share something. Well, or they couldn’t share it for a long time, but only periodically remembered it.

1 YOURSELF

Private one-on-one fights, similar in form to traditional English boxing, but safer. It was necessary to comply with the rules that did not allow the participants in the fight to slide into a chaotic dump and limited them in the use of dishonest techniques and dangerous blows and grabs. There must be a winner in the fight, but the loser must also remain functional enough to move on with life. Although this did not always happen, everything depended on the situation - for example, the merchant Kalashnikov, about whom Lermontov wrote, beat his opponent to death. However, he had no other choice, and the victory was worth it.

Illustration for the work of M. Yu. Lermontov “Song about the merchant Kalashnikov”

From “himself against oneself” one should highlight the “blow against blow” duel: the participants, standing still, exchange blows, the order of which is determined by lot. It was forbidden to evade blows; only blocks were allowed. The fight ended when one of the opponents was knocked down or surrendered.

Private duels also existed among the nobility, although in this environment preference was still given to armed “duels.”

2. FIELD

Legal battles, when the fight took place between the plaintiff and the defendant or their representatives, “contractual fighters.”

Mass battles were divided into two types
1CHAIN ​​FIGHT, OR “CHAIN-Dump”

Everyone fought against everyone. This type of combat was the oldest and most dangerous type. Here the rules supposedly applied, but who could monitor their implementation there? By its nature, the “clutch-dump” was reminiscent of modern football fair-play - you chose an opponent based on strength, won, and moved on to the next one.

WALL FIGHT, OR “WALL TO WALL”

This is what traditional fistfights are now associated with - the most spectacular and famous type of Russian fistfight.

Those who retreated regrouped, changed fighters and, after a break, entered the battle again until one of the sides won a final victory.

For your information. The name “wall” comes from the battle formation adopted in such clashes - the sides lined up opposite each other in a dense line, consisting of several rows, and walked towards the enemy’s wall with the goal of breaking through it and putting the enemy to flight.

The time and place of the battle were chosen in advance, the opposing sides, walls, leaders were appointed - governors and specific rules were stipulated. The leader of the wall was called differently in different places: bashlyk, head, headman, battle chief, old man.

On the eve of the battle, the leader, together with representatives of his wall, developed a plan for the upcoming battle: he singled out the strongest and more experienced fighters and distributed them to places along the entire wall to lead the separate groups that made up the battle line of the wall. During preparation, reserve fighters were also appointed to carry out decisive attacks and special groups were allocated in order to knock out a specific enemy from the battle. During the battle, the leaders of the parties not only directly participated in it, but also encouraged their fighters and adjusted tactics on the fly.

In P.P. Bazhov’s tale “The Broad Shoulder,” the bashlyk’s instruction to his fighters is given: “He placed the fighters in the best way he thought, and punishes them, especially those who used to be at the root and were considered the most reliable. “Look, I don’t have any self-indulgence. There is no need for us if you compare your strength with some Grishka-Mishka for the amusement of the girls and pawnbrokers. We need everyone to stand together with a broad shoulder. Act as you are told."

In the time remaining before the fight, the participants prepared for it - they ate more meat and bread, and took a steam bath more often. There were also “magical” methods of preparation. So in one of the ancient medical books the recommendation is given: “kill a black snake with a saber or knife, take the tongue out of it, and screw green and black taffeta into it, and put it in the left boot, and put the shoes in the same place. As you walk away, don’t look back, and whoever asks where you’ve been, don’t say anything to him.”

There were also completely “magical” rituals - for example, “breaking” (something like a ritual dance) before a fight, reminiscent of the movements of a bear, the cult of which existed in ancient Rus'.

Before the start of the fight, the fighters solemnly walked through the streets. Having arrived at the appointed place, they lined up in three or four rows, depending on the number of participants, and began to bully their opponents with shouts and gestures. At this time, the boys, representing the walls, converged between them into a “dump-coupling”. When all the participants were already sufficiently excited, the team leaders shouted “Let’s fight!” and the walls came together.

Rules

There were restrictions that also applied to self-vs.-fights:
1. It was forbidden to hit a fallen, crouching (crouching was considered to have surrendered) or retreating enemy, as well as an enemy who was unable to stop the bleeding on his own (“they don’t beat a smear”) or who was seriously injured. The battle had to be fought face to face - attacking from the side or, moreover, from the back was strictly prohibited (“from the wing, in the neck, in the rear”). It was also forbidden to grab clothes, blows had to be struck above the waist, and any weapons were strictly prohibited. For a piece of lead hidden in a mitten, the culprit faced severe punishment.

2. The battle was fought strictly with fists; sources speak of the use of three types of blows, corresponding to the striking surfaces of the weapon:
- a blow with knuckles, which was interpreted as a thrust with a weapon;
- the base of the fist, which corresponded to a crushing or chopping blow;
- with the heads of the phalanges of the fingers, like a blow with a butt.

The most common blows were to the head, to the solar plexus (“to the soul”) and to the ribs (“under the mikitki”). Pushes with shoulders or two hands were allowed.

Mandatory uniforms for participants included thick hats and fur mittens to soften the blow. Rovinsky, in his book “Russian Folk Pictures,” published in 1900, writes: “Before the battle, whole cartloads of leather mittens were brought; factory workers and butchers gathered in batches from different factories; There were hunters from merchants, in fur coats and even from gentlemen. The whole crowd was divided in two and lined up in front of each other in two walls; the fight started, in small battles, “groovy” one on one, then everyone else went wall to wall; the reserve fighters stood aside and took part in the fight only when their wall began to be pressed by the opposite wall.”

Progress of the battle

The battle took place in three stages: first, teenagers representing the opposing sides converged, after them unmarried young men joined the fight, and the last to enter the battle were adult men. Sometimes these stages were divided among themselves - the boys finished, the young men came together, and sometimes the battle was not interrupted, the participants simply entered the wall gradually.

Nazimov writes: “And so the matter began with boy skirmishers, who, noisy and teasing the other side, jumped out alone, struck one another, knocked them down and again ran away “to their own.” Individual clashes became more frequent, and now in groups, one attacked the other, shouting and yelling. The “walls” came together, and with a terrible roar, whistle, and screams, like a stream breaking through a dam, “wall to wall” quickly rushed - the real battle began.”

The fight was conducted to dislodge the enemy from the “battlefield” or to break its wall. Various tactics drawn from military experience were used: attacking with a wedge-pig, replacing fighters of the first and third ranks, and various maneuvers. Maxim Gorky in his novel “The Life of Matvey Kozhemyakin” describes a fist fight this way: “The city people fight with cunning<…>the heels of good fighters are pushed out from their “wall” against the chest of the Sloboda residents, and when the Sloboda residents, pressing on them, involuntarily stretch out like a wedge, the city will strike together from the sides, trying to crush the enemy. But the suburbanites are accustomed to these tactics: quickly retreating, they themselves envelop the townspeople in a semi-circle...”

An important category of fighters were hopes - powerful guys who tore apart the enemy’s wall. Often hope was let in by opening the wall and left alone with the masters of one-on-one combat, which apparently was a fairly effective tactic.

The battle ended with a joint drinking party between the warring parties with bonfires and a feast.

Despite the authorities’ struggle with fist fights, their condemnation by the church and even legislative prohibitions, even the Soviet government was unable to completely suppress this tradition. Thus, a newsreel from 1954 shows (with inevitable disapproval) a fist fight in the village of Kuplya in the Ryazan region. Mention of these shots was found by B.V. Gorbunov, and the newsreel itself was found by A.S. Tedoradze and
I. A. Buchnev:

Some of the last living bearers of the tradition were found in the late nineties of the last century in the village of Atamanov Ugol, Tambov region. Looking at these strong old men, it is not so difficult to imagine what the walls of their youth were like.

The current country fight clubs and football skirmishes can also be considered, albeit with a stretch, as a continuation of this tradition. Therefore, we will conclude the article with another quote from Lebedev:

“All that can be said in conclusion of what has been stated is to cite the words of the chronicler: “... our land is great...”, etc. and add that fist fights have survived all laws and have been preserved - for the intelligentsia they took on the appearance of an athletic struggles, on the stages - as a paid spectacle, but among the people themselves continue without restrictions and everywhere, not even passing through the capitals, where they apparently should become an anachronism; and it is practiced in the same types and scenes as in hoary antiquity, except not so often and not on such a grandiose scale.”