Traditional Sports
At first, the traditional sports ofthe Yi people possess the ethnic features and the culture forged by the mountainous environment, producing a series of competitions characterized by recreation and bodybuilding. The traditional sports culture ofthe Yi was originated from the ancient times, the survival of the Yi depended mostly on manual labour. The ancient Yi people dwelt among mountains and forests infested with beasts during the Neolithic period,therefore, the living condition was fairly poor. For the sake of survival and self-defense, it is necessary to carry out the most primitive productions ranging from hunting to picking wild fruits. The skills ofrunning fast, jumping high, climbing quickly, throwing accurately as well as archery became their vital life skills, so that their survival ability was completely determined by the level ofthese skills. With the changes ofproduction mode from hunting,picking to farming, some sports activities were gradually formed in the life ofthe Yi people.
Secondly, religious belief and sacrificial activities occupied a high position in the appearance, development, preservation and spread of the Yi traditional sports culture.Similar to the development process of ancient western sports, the development of the forming of the Yi sports culture was deeply influenced by the religious activities. The tradition ofoffering sacrifices to various gods has always been passed down from generation to generation. And the activities of totem worship prevailed among the Yi people, tigers,lions and oxen were used as patterns of totems and natural landscapes, animals and plants were applied to naming totems. Various primitive religious activities such as witchcraft,divination and ancestor worship were also popular. In these activities, the date, time and forms were fixed and some sports competitions and dance were made during sacrifices.Now, the Yi people are proud of the Tiger Dance, which derives from the totem of tigers.They imitate the actions of tigers including pouncing, rolling and springing when dancing the Tiger Dance and this dance is indeed good for one’s health. Other dances featured with sports also come from the ancestor worship and sacrificial activities ofthe Yi ancestors.
(1) Wrestling
Enjoyed by a wide range of the Yi people, the Yi wrestling of is a long-standing competitive event. The participants range from little boys to adults. Due to the wide distribution, the dates for holding wrestling games are different for the Yi people in different places, but they respectively have their own prescriptive time for wrestling. In Weishan County and Chuxiong Prefecture in western Yunnan, this game is held on June 24 and 25 of the lunar calendar, namely, the period of the Torch festival. Moreover, wrestling is also held at weddings of locals. In Mile and Shilin Counties in southern Yunnan, the date of wrestling games is in the second and third months of the lunar calendar. Some of the rest ofthe Yi hold this game in the New Year ofthe Yi People, the Lantern Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. In recent years, however, most ofthe Yi people stipulate that the date for holding wrestling games is fixed on June 24 of the lunar calendar during the torch festival in order to facilitate the arrangement of production. What’s more,many Yi villages have begun to hold their own wrestling competitions respectively.
Speaking of rules, there is no time limit or requirement about weights in the wrestling game ofthe Yi in Yunnan. Generally, young rookies enter the competition at first. After the one-on-one competitions, the loser leaves voluntarily and the winner stays at the field for a new round of game. In a game, a player can throw the other player above his back to the ground by grasping the other one’s waist and then firmly holding one leg ofthis opponent.In a round ofcompetition, the person who makes the opponent’s shoulders touch the ground is the winner, which is akin to rules of the international freestyle wrestling. Awards can be received if a participant defeats two opponents in a row, but that are classified into five prizes. Five kinds of ribbons with different length are fastened to the arms of the winners,representing the corresponding prizes. The best-performing winner is able to win the title of“Strong Man”, and his arm should be wrapped in a ten-meter ribbon by umpires. In the end,“Strong Man” and other winners who win more than three rounds of games are qualified for attending the award ceremony. Later on, the folk band and audiences gather round the winners to walk a victory lap around the field, and the sounds of firecrackers and applause are everywhere in the village.
(2) Whipping Tops
Another long-standing competitive event of the Yi people is whipping tops, which is mainly popular in the Yi villages ofYuanjiang County, Yuxi City. Weighing about one to two thousand grams, a big wooden top with a flat head is used in the game, and the size is as big as that of a bowl and shaped like a cone. An about-one-meter linen thread with a feather at one end is tied to a fifty-centimeter whip. At the beginning ofthe game, the linen thread is wrapped around the upper part of a top. And then one participant as the defender throw the top to the ground with all their strength, the top will spin very quickly on its axis.The other one as the attacker also repeats the same process, however, what varies is that the attacker needs to hit the spinning top of the defender with his or her own top. Ultimately,the side whose top is still spinning is the winner. Actually, whipping tops is always held in the form ofgroups, without any time limit. But it emphasizes a requirement that the number ofparticipants should be equal in each team.
Modern whipping tops game has changed somewhat in standards of the venue,equipment and rules, making this sort of competition fairer and become an official game as a contribution ofYunnan to the National Ethnic Games.
(3) Left-Foot Dance
Left-foot dance, in which dancers take the left foot as the first step of the dance, is a kind of recreational activity formed from the long-term production and life practice of the Yi people. The tunes vary from traditional ones with a long history to new ones reflecting the new life of the society. Young men and women sing joyfully as the form of antiphonal singing with the accompaniment of musical instruments, and simultaneously, they hold hands with each other to form a circle. They dance from left to right, and no matter which tune they play, the left foot is taken as the first step. Left-foot dance is an indispensable activity in every festival in Yi villages, which vitalizes the atmosphere.