Editing Naadam (section)

===Wrestling===
[[Image:Naadam 2023, Ulan Bator 08.jpg|thumb|230px|Wrestling in the 2023 Naadam festival in [[Ulaanbaatar]]]]
{{Main|Mongolian wrestling}}
A total of 512 or 1024 wrestlers meet in a [[single-elimination tournament]] that lasts nine or ten rounds.  Mongolian traditional wrestling is an untimed competition in which wrestlers lose if they touch the ground with any part of their body other than their feet or hands. When picking pairs, the wrestler with the greatest fame has the privilege to choose his opponent.  Wrestlers wear two-piece costumes consisting of a tight shoulder vest (''zodog'') and shorts (''shuudag''). Only men are allowed to participate.

Each wrestler has an "encourager" called a ''zasuul''.  The zasuul sings a song of praise for the winning wrestler after rounds 3, 5, and 7.  Winners of the 7th or 8th stage (depending on whether the competition features 512 or 1024 wrestlers) earn the title of ''zaan'', "elephant".  The winner of the 9th or 10th stage is called ''arslan'', "lion".<ref name=blackbelt>[https://books.google.com/books?id=o84DAAAAMBAJ&dq=ulan+bator&pg=PA22 "The Maulers of Mongolia"], ''[[Black Belt (magazine)|Black Belt]]'' magazine, July 1969, p. 22</ref> In the final competition, all the "zasuuls" drop in the wake of each wrestler as they take steps toward each other. Two-time arslans are called the titans / giants, or ''avraga''.<ref name=blackbelt/>