Turkish get-ups are so brutally effective that I went searching for more exercises of Turkish origin. Several links later, I turned up this website: www.turkishwrestling.com
Be warned that a number of the images from the video capture gallery have somewhat homoerotic overtones.
I hope the martial arts and steroid gurus here can weigh in with answers to these questions:
1. Some of the wrestlers are in tremendous physical condition, do you think they got that way solely from training or is there any hint of chemical assistance? The financial incentive to dope does not seem to be a huge factor so I'd tend to believe it's a result of arduous training.
2. Does anybody know the specific exercises they incorporate in the functional training they do?
3. Are Turkish get-ups of Turkish origin?
There is also a fascinating article on Turkish army discipline you might want to check out: www.turkishwrestling.com/turks.html
Those pictures are only homoerotic to gays/queers looking to get off on that. The reason for the holds done inside the clothing is for grip control. If you watched the actual tapes, you will see that “inside the pants hold” followed by a very quick body throw. They are allowed to oil the body, this makes control difficult without holding onto clothing. Wrestling is all about controlling your opponents’ hips, that is why you will see so many crotch area holds. These guys may use juice, but I doubt it based upon their financial ability to buy roids. This type of wrestling is all about proving who is the toughest man. The conditioning of a wrestler is primarily due to practice grappling, the more you do it, the better you get. Wrestling is highly anaerobic, that is why they are in good shape. If you want to know what it is like to wrestle, sprint “all out” for five straight minutes. Try it sometime. You will gain a new respect for the endurance it requires. As for what type of training wrestlers’ use outside the mat? Pull-ups, rope climbing, peg board climbing, squats, push-ups. Grip strength is of great importance. I am not certain if the Turks are responsible for the developement of every wrestling hold that has “turk” attached to the name. I think it is because they tend to use them more in competitions.