While most of the world has been riveted to the latest war bulletins, rising costs of living or planned protests, a few young men and women have been training all year for horseback archery, building up their body strength for tug-of-war, training falcons and producing beautiful crafts, to participate in the World Nomad Games in the rugged mountain valleys of Kyrgyzstan.

Although this is the sixth World Nomad Games, the earlier games have not been on the sports radar the way the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the football World Cup or Wimbledon are. This year, thanks to the expanding reach of social media, “the spirit of people echoing across time” reached out to us from the scenic shores of Kyrgyzstan Lake Issyk Kul.

There are sports we never knew the names of, such as tenge ilu [grabbing coins on horseback], assyk atu [knucklebone shooting] and zhamby aatu [horseback archery], as well as some familiar games from bygone days, such as kok boru known to us as buzkashi. Participants dressed to reflect ancient cultures with an ease that made it difficult to visualise the jeans and T-shirts they probably wear the rest of the year. There were no specialist Nike, Adidas or Puma logos, no famous sports........

© Dawn (Magazines)