Pahlevani and zoorkhaneh rituals

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Pahlevani and Zoorkhaneh rituals (Pahlavani Sport / Zoorkhaneh Sport) is the name inscribed by UNESCO for Varzesh-e Pahlavāni (Persian: آیین پهلوانی و زورخانه‌ای 'heroic sport') or Varzesh-e Bāstāni (ورزش باستانی 'ancient sport'), a traditional system of athletics and a form of martial arts originally used to train warriors in Iran (Persia). Outside Iran, zoorkhanehs can now also be found in Azerbaijan, and Afghanistan, and were introduced into Iraq in the mid-19th century by the Iranian immigrants, where they seem to have existed until the 1980s before disappearing. It combines martial arts, calisthenics, strength training and music. It contains elements of pre-Islamic and post-Islamic culture of Iran (particularly Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism) with the spirituality of Persian Shia Islam and Sufism. Practiced in a domed structure called the zurkhāneh, training sessions consist mainly of ritual gymnastic movements and climax with the core of combat practice, a style of folk wrestling...

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