{"id":8629,"date":"2017-08-22T20:08:59","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T20:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=8629"},"modified":"2017-11-20T22:00:03","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T22:00:03","slug":"swiss-national-sports-schwingen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/swiss-national-sports-schwingen\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss National Sports: Schwingen"},"content":{"rendered":"

All countries have some sport that has some tradition, or that is extremely popular. The United States, for example, has American football, baseball and basketball. Brazil and Germany have football\/soccer, the British have rugby and cricket, the Canadians ice hockey… But what about the Swiss? There are actually three national sports. And I have never heard of any of them and I am from the adjacent Germany! So, let’s explore what they do down there! Today, we start with\u00a0Schwingen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Other posts in the series:<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. Hornussen<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

3. Steinstossen<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Swingers!<\/h2>\n
\"Turnerundsennenschwinger\"<\/a>

Schwingen<\/em> is practiced on S\u00e4gemehl <\/em>(sawdust) (Image by Roman Koch at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC BY SA 3.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

In German, a\u00a0swinger club\u00a0<\/em>is definitely not related to a sport. In Switzerland, they would probably think about this sport, though.\u00a0Schwingen\u00a0<\/em>is a kind of wrestling, where both sportsmen wear a\u00a0Hose\u00a0<\/em>(pants) made of\u00a0Zwilch\u00a0<\/em>(drill). After the opponents give each other a hand, they grab each other by that\u00a0Hose\u00a0<\/em>and try to get the opponent with the back on the ground. They do this with Schw\u00fcngen\u00a0<\/em>(swings). The\u00a0Kampf\u00a0<\/em>(fight) ends when the winner holds the Hose\u00a0<\/em>of the loser with at least one hand and when the loser touches the ground with both shoulder blades or at least with two third of his back. After the fight, the winner traditionally pats off the S\u00e4gemehl\u00a0<\/em>off the back of the loser.<\/p>\n

A match is called\u00a0Schwingfest\u00a0<\/em>(swing fest) or\u00a0Schwinget<\/em>, and is held on a round pitch of 7 to 14 meters in diameter. It is filled with\u00a0S\u00e4gemehl\u00a0<\/em>(sawdust) to make the ground a bit softer.<\/p>\n

There are many different ways to grab somebody, just like with other martial arts. To get an idea, check out this video:<\/p>\n