Training in Lausatök glima also developed strength, reflexes, endurance and courage, the perfect foundation Viking warriors needed to survive in battle.
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These techniques could be used for self-defense, and this training formed the basis for Viking armed and unarmed combat. Viking Age children learned balance, grappling, wrestling, and pain techniques, from training in Lausatök sport glima. Glima was so important for Viking society that their most popular god, Thor, was also the god of wrestling. Glima wrestling competitions were extremely popular and wherever the people of the north gathered, glima was a big part of the entertainment. The people of Viking Age Scandinavia loved all forms of sport, but glima was by far the most widespread sport. Scandinavian children began training in these forms of glima at the age of 6 or 7, and glima was practiced by male and female alike. Glima as a sport covers several types of Scandinavian folk wrestling Lausatök is free-grip wrestling, Brokartök is trouser-grip wrestling, and Hryggspenna is back-hold wrestling. The martial art of glima is separated into two categories, sport glima and combat glima. It is a no-nonsense way of fighting that cuts out all unnecessary movements, and has been tried and tested in single combat and on the battlefield, with life and death on the line. Glima was created and developed by warriors who had to survive attacks from all kinds of weapons. Glima techniques include grappling, wrestling, throws, hand strikes, elbow strikes, kicks, chokes, locks, pain techniques and weapon techniques, and glima is comparable with the best complete martial arts systems from around the world. In Old Norse, Glíma means ‘glimpse or flash’, which describes the techniques of this Viking martial art. Although people all around the world have heard of Vikings, few have heard of the Viking martial art of Glíma. The reason for the Viking warriors fighting prowess is found in the way they trained both with and without weapons.
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On land and at sea, Vikings had the skills to survive against the various forms of warfare they encountered in their travels around the world. In the Middle East in the year 922, Muslim diplomat Ibn Fadlan wrote that he had never seen more perfect physical specimens than Viking warriors, and that they were the fiercest fighters he had ever seen. In the East, Viking warriors were admired and feared as the elite fighting force called the Varangian Guard. Throughout Europe, Vikings were admired and feared as they opened up trade routes, fought to keep them open, and carved out kingdoms. It is also the only period in history named after warriors. The Viking Age is the 300 year period of history between 790 - 1100 A.D.