Wrestling was the most widespread and most popular sport in Viking Age Scandinavia. It was an important part of Norse society, practiced by males and females of all ages.
Laustak Viking wrestling contains throws, takedowns, sweeps, trips, reaps, pulls, pressure techniques, and grappling on the feet and on the mat. Training in this sport builds strength, stamina, balance, perseverance and a resilient spirit.
Løse-tak glima rules can be found at the bottom of this page.

December 21, 2016

LAUSTAK COMPETITION RULES by Tyr Neilsen

December 21, 2016/ AVK

glima tyr neilsen

LAUSTAK RULES

Rules for Laustak competitions in accordance with the Norwegian Wresting Federation.

Loose-grip/Free-grip Viking Wrestling

• The contest is started when both athletes take the Handsal grip.

• In the competition form of Laustak (Loose-grip/Free-grip), the athlete who manages to make their opponent fall to the ground and remain standing out of reach, or is the first athlete up on their feet and out of reach, wins.

• According to Viking Age rules, 3 drops to the knee was enough to win the game, if a full throw could not be implemented.

• A throw is counted when any part of the body from the knee and above, touches the ground.

• Brøderfall is when both fall at the same time. No win is counted with brøderfall (brother-fall). The win is counted with the first contestant standing and cannot be taken down by the opponent on the floor.

• If you are thrown, you can grab any part of opponents body before and after landing, to continue. If the person who initiated throw/takedown is within grabbing range, glima grappling and pain techniques can be used from the ground.

• After being thrown or taken down, a competitor can win from the ground, by keeping hold of their opponent, forcing them to the ground, then standing up and getting out of grabbing distance first.

• The winner is the competitor standing out of reach whilst the other competitor is on the ground.

• Laustak slaps to the body are allowed. (Fast and light slaps to distract, not hard slaps to hurt or injure)

• It is not allowed to strike with any other part of body, other than palm of hand.

• When in doubt, the judge's assessment is final.

Rules for Sport Laustak Competition – Full Overview

Win by Fall:

The aim of the contest is to win by what is called a fall.

In a Laustak match, a 'fall' is when a competitor ends up with knees/legs/body on the ground after being thrown, tripped, pulled or pushed, and the competitor who initiated the fall stands out of rach of the competitor on the ground.

Win by technical superiority:

From Handsal, hands, feet, knees, elbows and shoulders can be used to take an opponent down.

If a fall is not achieved by a clean throw, sweep or other takedown, a competitor can win with technical superiority, which means that he has controlled the fight and got his opponent to his knees three times .

If a contestant wins by forcing his opponent down this way, he wins the contest on technical superiority.

Win by Walk-over:

A ‘Walk-over’ is when a competitor steps over the opponent on the ground, and is out of reach before opponent can grab them.

Contest

There is a 5 minute time limit in regulated contest.

If there is no clear winner within 5 minutes, the referee gives the contestants a 1 minute break, then allows them to compete for a further 5 minutes. This can can happen for a total of 3 extra rounds of 5 minutes each.

If after the 3 extra rounds, there is still no clear winner, contest will go to judges decision.

Win the judge's decision:

If none of the competitors achieve a win with clean technique or technical superiority, the competitor who dominated the game in the referees judgment will be awarded victory.

Win by Injury:

If a competitor is injured and unable to continue, their opponent will be awarded the victory. This is also called a medical omission.

The term also includes situations where the competitor becomes ill, has too many injury breaks, or bleeds uncontrollably.

If a competitor is injured due to opponent performing an illegal act, and therefore cannot continue , the opponent is disqualified.

Win by Disqualification :

If a competitor receives three warnings for illegal acts, he/she will be disqualified.

In other circumstances, such as excessive brutality, the fight is stopped immediately and the athlete disqualified for the tournament. This requires a majority decision from the judges.

Team Points in tournaments:

In a team competition, a team consists of competitor/competitors for each weight class and overall points are awarded depending on individual performance .

Example:

If a contestant wins their weight class, the contestant’s team will receive 10 points. If the contestant comes in tenth place, the team would only receive 1 point. Towards the end of the tournament, each team’s scores will be set together and the team with the most points will win the team competition, with subsequent ranking.

Teams Tournament:

A long contest or challenge is a meeting between teams where contestants compete in specific weight classes. A team receives one point for each victory in a weight class regardless of how the result is achieved. (clean win or decision) The team that gets the most points at the end of the tournament wins the team tournament.

With point similarities between the teams, this can be solved in two ways: One way is to have a best- of - three final competitions. The second way is to judge matches by considering in priority the following:
1 Most victories by adding together the points from the matches
2 Most points for fall, Walk-over, contestant withdraws, or disqualification
3 Most matches won on technical superiority
4 Most rounds won on technical superiority
5 Most technical points in total in tournament
6 Least achieved technical points in the tournament
This works in a similar manner when there are 2 teams or more than two teams in this situation.

Til árs ok friðar

Tyr Neilsen