The exact date of Birth of Zurkhaneh is not clear; however, some researchers such as professor Edward Brown & Dr. Mehrdad Bahar heheve that according to some documents, it goes hack to 3000 years ago. Zurkhaneh, during times has been known as “Langar-gali”, “Talim-khaneh”, “Ebadat-khaneh” and “Varzesh-khaneh” where athletic training, wrestling and other ancient exercises were practiced.
As the country of Iran has been invaded several times during the last two millenniums, those Iranians who have had strong feelings for justice and independence have at these times gone underground and built several cellars whose only access was by a small door These cellars were used as headquarters by these patriots to train young people in the techniques of war in preparation for the day when they would be called upon to strike at their enemies and drive them out their country.
Many times the foreign invaders destroyed these cellars, which later came to be called Zurkhaneh, meaning houses of strength chivalry & generosity, but the natives continued to build others in different places.
Those who received training in the Zurkhanch were later divided into two groups: knights and sportsmen. The knights were engaged in an open struggle against the invaders until one of their leaders, a man called Yaghob Layth Saffari, succeeded in establishing an independent monarchy in Iran.
The sportsmen, by replacing traditional war weapons with instruments related to exercise that is by using a Sang (meaning stone but actually made of heavy wood) in place of a shield, an Indian club (known as Meel in Persian) in place of a mace and a Kabbadeh (a device made of iron in the shape of a bow) in place of an authentic bow, continued to pmctiee their physical exercises in the Zurkhaneh.
In the middle of the Zurkhaneh, there is an octagonal shaped pit about one meter deep and 20 square meters in diameter where the athletes perform their exercises. Near the entrance of the Zurkhaneh there is a raised dias, called Sardam, on which sits a person who is named Murshed, meaning leader or coordinator, who chants poems taken form the well known book of Shahnameh, book of kings.
Wearing a pair of short leather pants or wrapping a piece of cloth around their waist, the sportsmen of the Zurkhaneh begin their exercises. Here they learn the lessons of faimess, purity, courage, high human ideals and spiritual perfection along with the techniques of warfare. They were also taught to offer help where and when needed and to try to solve the problems of their fellow men. In the past, the sportsmen started their exercises m the Zurkhaneh at dawn and ended after sunrise.
Nowadays, however, they often begin after sunset. The sportsmen hold the Zurkhaneh pit in high esteem since it is the place of good and pure souls. Thus when they set foot in the pit or leave it, they kiss the floor as a token of their respect.
One should bear in mind that the Zurkhaneh exercises are graceful in more ways than one. It should not be forgotten that although one can observe the elegance of the athletic performances in Zurkhaneh, they are performed regularly by those interested in gaining physical and moral strength and they are by no means exercises reserved for special occasions.
The traditional athletic actions in Zurkhaneh start with prayers said by the Murshed and it comes to an end with the utterance of the word “Amen” by the sportsmen and the attendants.
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