28. Mongolian Wrestling
Genghis Khan has gone down in history as being one of the most successful warrior kings who has ever lived, spanning the massive Mongolian Empire. Mongolian soldiers were trained since birth to be incredibly strong fighters. Wrestling is considered to be one of the essential “three manly skills”, along with riding horses and archery. Even to this day, wrestling is still one of the most popular sports in Mongolia. In the rules of the match, if any part of your body besides your feet touch the ground, you lose. This leaves two opponents deadlocked and grappling with one another, trying to pull the other down. Usually, the strongest wins.
While this sport is mostly played by men, women can play, too. Marco Polo wrote of a Mongol princess named Khutulun who was so good at wrestling, she was able to defeat all of her potential suitors. According to legend, she won 10,000 horses from these men who couldn’t defeat her in wrestling. She was also said to be so strong, that she could grab a fully grown man off the ground while riding at full speed on horseback. Obviously, she was an incredibly strong woman. Today, man women still practice Mongolian wrestling.