The Lou Chu wrestling is among the sports which increases the morale of heroism and valiancy in sportsmen. It has long been practiced in
Mazandaran province and has become a part of culture of the people in the region.
Louchu is consisted of two words: lou (edge) and chu (wood), i.e. the edge of wood. It is referred to a 3-meter long wood with a 6 to 12 cm diameter which a material is raised on it.
It is raised near the wrestling site as the symbol of the event, and the prizes including sheep and cows or other gifts are tied to it.
Louchu in its formal form is held in the vacant days of the villagers, mostly in religious and national festivals, before or after harvesting rice, or coincide with local bazaars or at weddings.
The holders prepare all things and annon nce the site and time of the louchu to the wrestlers and people in the target villages.
One to three veterans judge each wresting contest; they are called "main mejo" which means walker around, because they walk inside the wresting site to observe the contest carefully.
The wresting begins by initial ceremonies like playing music and calling for a rival by a wrestler. Wrestlers
...see more try to bring some point of the rival's body to the surface.
If a wrestler feels he may be hurt, the claps down to announce his submission.
Some famous technique are "dast cup", "ghaz ball", "berat", pas cup"and "tash cup" observing heroism, avoiding selfishness and insolence, respecting rivals and observing Islamic and moral behaviors are strongly recommended in louchu.
Hitting shoulders, taking ears or fingers, beating the head or body by hand, or hurting intentionally is faulty actions. The final winner takes all prizes tied to the wood, and put the wood on his shoulder as the sign of victory and takes it to his village as the fellow-villagers accompany him.
Expersle believe louchu is different from free-style wresting. Unfortunately louchu is not original as before because it is mixed up with free-style wresting.
Even the clothes are different from the original ones nowadays.
The traditional cloth of the louchu was woven by thick materials and was called "chagha" and "karbas". It was thick and durable to avoid tearing when a rival got it by force.
As there is no cloth like that for louchu, some technics like "band" and "pas kase" are not used any more.
As free-style wresting, a time is set for every contest of louchu, while there was no time limit in the past and the winner may have battled for hours to win.
Also, when one won a contest, his rival avoid wresting with him for a year as a sign of respect.
The louchu wresting is held in many parts of Mazandaran namely Fereydonkenar, Bandpey and Joybar. The most famous louchu wrestler is Imam Ali Habibi, the Olympics and world wrestling champion
