From the horse archers of the steppe to a modern sport in 50+ countries: what a Turkic martial art is, where it comes from and how Alpagut rebuilt it.
China gave the world kung fu, Japan karate and judo, Korea taekwondo, Thailand Muay Thai. The Turkic world has one of the richest warrior traditions in history, and it has long been known internationally through its wrestling styles. What it did not have was a complete martial art, one that joins striking, defence and throwing in a single system with its own philosophy. Alpagut was created to fill that gap. It does not replace traditional Turkic wrestling; it stands beside it.
For more than two thousand years the peoples of the Eurasian steppe lived on horseback. The Huns organised their armies in units of ten, a hundred, a thousand and ten thousand, a system that later Turkic states carried forward. The warrior had to master four skills: riding, archery, the sword and wrestling. Turkic tradition attributes a saying to Mete Khan: “I rode many horses, shot many arrows, used the sword many times and wrestled much.”
The steppe also shaped its weapons. The curved sabre took form in southern Siberia in the 6th century and was carried west by the Avars, Khazars, Hungarians and Turkic peoples. In Old Turkic the word er meant both “man” and “warrior”. In steppe society, every man was also a fighter.
The Turkic warrior tradition was never only about technique. The Orkhon inscriptions of the 8th century and later works such as Kutadgu Bilig (1069–1070) describe a code built on keeping your word, protecting your people and treating a defeated opponent with dignity. Alpagut keeps this code in its oath and its Nine Qualities, among them courage, respect, wisdom, patience and loyalty.
Alpagut does not claim to have come down unchanged from ancient times. It is a modern martial art rebuilt on Turkic military heritage. Scattered elements of the old warrior tradition were gathered from sources, matched to modern sports science and put into one system. Many respected martial arts were born this way: modern judo was founded by Jigoro Kano in the late 19th century, and historical European martial arts (HEMA) are rebuilt today from old fighting manuals.
The system was created by Vasif Namazov and presented in Baku in 2014. It has its own terminology drawn from Old Turkic roots, ten SAN degrees, an examination system, a referee corps and competition rules.
Alpagut is now practised on four continents in more than 50 countries. It is governed by the World Alpagut Federation. Five World Championships have been held: Baku 2018 and 2019, and Bursa 2022, 2023 and 2025. Competitions run in five disciplines, from limited-contact striking to belt wrestling and tactical self-defence.
Alpagut is open to everyone, whatever their origin, language or belief. It is not directed against any people or culture. Its aim is to carry a warrior culture into the present as a sport, a discipline and a school of character.
The 6th World Alpagut Championship will be held on 3–6 December 2026 in Ankara, Türkiye.
World Alpagut Federation — international governing body for the sport of Alpagut, established 2014, present in 50+ countries.