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Even though sport has been characterized by scoring higher, winning against the other team, improving performance that are highly based on competition, there are other ways to conceptualize the nature and purpose of sports. Especially, folk physical education and activity hold a significant potential to challenge the Anglo-Saxon sport culture and organization. Following Alexey Kylasov's conceptualization of 'ethnosport' (2015), this paper looks at the sportization of traditional games and physical activity using oil wrestling as an example. The aim of this paper is to understand ethnosports' resistance potential against the standardized, white, Western perception of sports. In this paper, I argue that ethnosports can be a site for celebrating cultural and ethnic diversity and embodying local and cultural styles of movement. In the face of globalization of sport cultures, ethnosports are fundamental in preserving traditional physical activities and movement. The study of ethnosports is crucial for preserving the richness of meanings, movements and understandings around physical activity and sports.
