National alpagut champions named
The Shagan Olympic Complex hosted the third National Alpagut Championship on March 11.
The tournament brought together 370 athletes from country's 30 regions. Young athletes aged between 8 and 18 years competed in various weight categories, Trend Life reported.
The championship was held with the assistance of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The national anthem of Azerbaijan was played at the official ceremony.
Firstly, attendees paid a tribute to the martyrs of the Karabakh war.
The President of World Alpagut Federation Farid Alizadeh, President of Azerbaijan`s Capoeira Federation,Taleh Orujov, MP Ganira Pashayeva, the head of the Center of National Costumes Gulnara Khalilova, officer of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces Ramil Safarov, World Youth Championship Farhad Ajalov, Kickboxing World Champion Ramal Aslanov attended the event.
In their remarks, President of Alpagut Federation Agil Ajalov, first Vice-President of the Federation, MP Ganira Pashayeva, President of National Kickboxing Federation Adil Aliyev, the author of the martial arts, modern Alpagut, Secretary General of the Azerbaijani Association of Martial Arts Vasif Namazov noted that the state has created all conditions for sports development. Azerbaijani sportsmen achieve great success at world and European Championships, Olympic games and various international competitions. A special attention is also paid to veterans.
The tournament aims at the development of ancient martial arts of the Turkic nations, the promotion of healthy lifestyles, education of younger generation in the traditions of patriotism and high moral qualities, training of athletes and judges, selection national selections for participation at international competitions.
The guests watched Alpagut battles with the participation of athletes representing the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan. The concert program featured popular singers.
Members of the public and journalists, who contributed to the development of Alpagut in the country, were awarded with honorary diplomas.
"Mübariz alp" club (Surakhani) was announced a winner in Aypara competition.The second and third places went to teams from Agdam and Absheron districts, respectively.
"Dinamo" club (Baku) won in Batur competition. Teams of Neftchala and Absheron regions got second and third places, respectively.
The gold in "Jaimas" competition went to athletes from Neftchala. The athletes from Garadagh and Kurdemir region grabbed silver and bronze medals.
Alpagut is a martial art with its canons, traditions and philosophy. The word Alpagut consists of two words- Alp which means ‘warrior’ and kulsal that means ‘saint’. These are saint soldiers who battled for the sake of national and universal ideals.
Preserving its uniqueness Alpagut could retain its relevance nowadays. A lot of alpagut sports schools opened in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, Australia, Iran, USA, Canada, Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The ancient sport which unites mixed Turkic martial arts represents three systems: Aypara, Batur, and Jima.
The first one is similar to full contact karate, but there are also grabs and throws. The Batur system is similar to the fighting. However, it is not allowed to fight on the ground more than 20 seconds.
The Jaimas system is similar with K1 and Thaiboxing.
The fighting usually takes place in the wolf and falcon circle. Wolf and falcon circles are the totem that belongs to the Turkic world. The fighting lasts 9 minutes.
Former Formula 1 driver, David Coulthard, visited Baku on March 15 to take a closer look at Baku City Circuit, the newest street circuit in Formula 1, as it prepares to host its second successive Grand Prix on June 23-25.
Coulthard began his stay in Baku by immediately taking a tour of the street track, inspecting some of its key features which proved such a unique challenge to the drivers last summer.
Today’s tour - taking place just over three months before the return of F1 to Baku’s streets and just a week ahead of the season opener in Australiaallowed Coulthard to return to the scene of last year’s fastest street race and see for himself how much progress has already been made along the track’s route as Baku City Circuit continues its daily preparations to ensure the street circuit is once again operational in time for the second race weekend in the city this coming June.
As part of this morning’s ‘track walk’, the former Williams, McLaren and Red Bull driver also got the chance to closely examine what has already become one of the iconic images in Formula 1 - the 7.6 metre narrow, uphill, winding section by Turn 8 to Turn 11 at the city’s Old Town walls.
His tour also took in Turn 18, where cars race past the Maiden Tower, Baku’s ancient defensive structure, as well as the ‘dual carriageway’ section of the circuit. Finally, he was also taken to the circuit’s main straight along Baku’s picturesque seaside boulevard, which last year witnessed Valtteri Bottas set a new F1 street circuit speed record in his Williams car, recording an official speed of 366kph along the circuit’s main straight (later unofficially recorded as reaching an astonishing 378kph).
Coulthard, speaking at a specially arranged press conference on March 15, voiced his pleasure in coming back to Baku.
“It is a real honor for me to be invited to Baku ahead of the 2017 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The welcome I have received from everyone since my arrival has been wonderful and further confirms my already positive impressions of this city from last summer when it staged such a remarkable debut race weekend,” he said.
Coulthard, added that Baku is truly a delight to visit, with its beautiful mix of the old and the modern, as well as its many eastern and western influences.” I feel absolutely confident that this summer’s race will be even better than last year. The track’s narrow sequences in particular will prove especially challenging to the wider 2017 cars, so I hope we will see some increased action this year. I really can’t wait to come back here this summer.”
During his stay in Baku, Coulthard also engaged with local fans in a series of events staged across the city, as well as with the 2017 FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX staff.