The Naadam Festival, which is celebrated each summer, originated many centuries ago as a test of courage, strength, daring and horsemanship, all necessary for a nomadic people.
The largest nationwide festival is celebrated in Ulaanbaatar beginning on July 11 annually. Herdsmen, from all over the country travel to Ulaanbaatar to view and take part in horse races, wrestling and archery competitions, the three men's games.
Mongolian Wrestling Competitions sometimes involving 1024 contestants, are an exciting spectacle. As there are no weight classes and 16 contests are held simultaneously, the competition progresses quickly. The one who wins five rounds gets the first honorable title - Falcon, with seven rounds one gets the title Elephant, and if you win the whole competition you'll get the title Lion. To become a title Giant or Champion one has to win at two Naadam Festivals, without loosing a single match. Mongols honor their wrestling champions and give them high titles. There are some champions who have won the nationwide Naadam contests as many as ten times, accordingly their titles sound like this: The Eye-Pleasing Nationally Famous Mighty Invincible Giant, Horseracing is the favorite sport of the Mongols. The herdsmen bring their best horses from great distances to participate in the Naadam festival. The races, which take place on the steppe over distances of 15 to 30 kilometers, are the test of endurance for the horses and riders, boys and girls, most of them as young as six years old. The races are organized according to the age of horses. Archery competitions continue a tradition dating back to the Hunnu empire (3rd century B .C.), when it was intended to sharpen military skills > Contestants use compound bows fashioned from sinew, wood, deer horn and bamboo, and strung with deer tendon. Men shoot 40 arrows made from willow branches and griffon vulture feathers from distance of 75 meters and wnmftn shnnt 9n arrows frnm fifl meters fit A tfirrsftf