Varzesh-e Pahlavani

Pahlevani and zoorkhaneh rituals is the name inscribed by UNESCO for varzesh-e pahlavani (, "heroic sport") or varzesh-e bastany (; varzeš-e bastani, "ancient sport"), a traditional Iranian system of athletics originally used to train warriors. It combines martial arts, calisthenics, strength training and music. Recognized by UNESCO as among the world's longest-running forms of such training, it fuses elements of pre-Islamic Persian culture (particularly Zoroastrianism, Mithraism and Gnosticism) with the spirituality of Shia Islam and Sufism. Practiced in a domed structure called the zurkhaneh, training sessions consist mainly of ritual gymnastic movements and climax with the core of combat practice, a form of submission-grappling called koshti pahlevani.