The Proto-Olympics: Mongolia's Weird, Inspiring "Three Games Of Men": "The name Naadam is short for Eriin Gurvan Naadam, which translates to "The Three Games of Men," and is a sort of miniature — miniature only in that it's comprised of three events — olympiad. Like the Olympics, Naadam features an elaborate opening ceremony. But while London's featured the usual derp-o theme songs, this year's just-concluded Naadam in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar opened with a (possibly geopolitically significant) two-song set from the Chinese rock band Banana Monkey. An iconic image defines the games, but Naadam's answer to the Olympic rings are nine totems driven into the earth. They're called the Nine Yak Tails, and Naadam wrestlers perform an arm-waving eagle dance around the Yak Tails before every bout. You are maybe starting to see how this is different from the Olympics."
'via Blog this'
