Even though it is not as popular as it used to be today, wrestling was once the first sport that came to mind when speaking of Turkish in the world. It was our wrestlers who gave birth to such a legend. The most magnificent among these wrestlers is known as Koca Yusuf. Unfortunately, the life of Koca Yusuf, who even played matches in France and America, ends with a sad end.
Generation Y men remember well that when you go to a guest house and there is another boy your size, the adults say, ‘Let’s wrestle!’ they would say. This is not actually a game, it is a legacy left to us from our ancestors thousands of years ago. Because even the Turks riding horses in the Central Asian steppes They used to wrestle as a sport and to get stronger. Wrestlers like Koca Yusuf come from this tradition.
Among the countless wrestlers from our country, the name Koca Yusuf undoubtedly has a special place. Because he is literally He became a wrestler who brought the whole world to its knees. He received the nickname Terrible Turk after his wrestling matches in France and America. Unfortunately, he did not have a long life because on the way back, an unexpected accident happened to Koca Yusuf and made him immortal in our memories.
Who is Koca Yusuf, the brave son of the wrestler’s bed?
Today, it is in the village of Karalar in the town of Shumen, within the borders of our neighbor Bulgaria. Yusuf, who was born in 1857, He received his first wrestling lessons from his father and grandfather when he was still a child. At that time, the Shumen region was known as the wrestler bed of the Ottoman Empire because the best wrestlers were trained here.
Unfortunately, Yusuf’s youth was not a very pleasant one, because rebel Bulgarian gangs frequently raided Turkish villages in the region. Even though the environment was chaotic, Yusuf was lucky because he was taking lessons from the most famous wrestlers of the period such as Şumnulu Dursun Pehlivan, Nasuhçulu Kel İsmail Pehlivan and Pomak Osman.
Yusuf became the chief wrestler with the nickname Big Yusuf:
Yusuf, who is 1.91 meters tall and weighs 138 kilos, was when he first entered the world of wrestling. He was known as Yusuf of Karalar or Yusuf of Şumnu. After his apprentice started to be called Little Yusuf, he became known as Big Yusuf. Finally, he received the nickname Big Yusuf and went down in history that way.
He had the wrestling match that changed his fate with Kel Aliço in 1885. Kel Aliço was the chief wrestler in Kırkpınar for 27 consecutive years and He was also the chief wrestler of Sultan Abdülaziz. At the end of the match, which started at sunrise and lasted until almost the end of the day, Koca Yusuf became the winner and Koca Yusuf became the chief wrestler.
Big Yusuf’s back has never seen the face of the earth:
Koca Yusuf, who became the chief wrestler, continued wrestling. Bald Aliço’s apprentice Defeating Adalı Halil added to his fame. Wrestling with the most famous wrestlers of the period such as Kara Ahmet, Katrancı Mehmet Pehlivan, Filiz Nurullah, Kurtdereli Mehmet and Hergeleci İbrahim, Koca Yusuf’s back did not touch the ground even once.
According to the story, Big Yusuf was defeated once. In a match refereed by Kel Aliço, wrestler named Çolak Mümin defeated Koca Yusuf. When the referee saw this, he deemed Koca Yusuf defeated. Thus, Koca Yusuf suffered his only known defeat. Çolak Mümin ended his wrestling career due to the injury he suffered in this match.
‘Wrestling in Europe is considered jihad for you.’
According to the book titled Kings of Wrestling, written by Edmond Desbonnet, French wrestler Joseph Doublier came to Turkey to look for a new wrestler. He found Katrancı Mehmet Pehlivan, Kurtdereli Mehmet Pehlivan, Filiz Nurullah, Filibeli Kara Osman and Koca Yusuf according to their taste and invited them to Europe.
Koca Yusuf actually had no intention of going to Europe, but the ulema he consulted gave him advice. When he said that showing the power of Muslims to the whole world was a kind of jihad for him. He accepted this offer. Koca Yusuf, who went to Paris in 1894, quickly learned the rules of mat wrestling, which was different from our wrestling.
Koca Yusuf, who stayed in France for three years, brought down all the famous wrestlers in Europe at that time. When you can no longer find a European rival He faced Turkish wrestler Hergeleci Mahmut Pehlivan for an exhibition match. This match, known as the most brutal wrestling match in history, could only be stopped by police intervention.
‘Scary Turk’ passenger to America:
American organizers, who saw Koca Yusuf, who was famous in Europe at that time, invited him to New York City in the United States. Koca Yusuf played 33 known matches here and won all of them. When he defeated world champion wrestler Evan Lewis twice in a row, he was given the nickname The Terrible Turk.
According to the novel The Substitue: A Football Story, written by Walter Camp, Koca Yusuf threw his opponent out of the ring during a match with Ernest Roeber in 1898. The audience thought that the man was dead and stood up. A similar incident occurred during his match at the Metropolitan Opera House. However, Big Yusuf was not fighting to the death, he was just a little heavy-handed.
How did Big Yusuf die? Unfortunately, it was not possible to return to my homeland:
On May 21, 1898, Koca Yusuf boarded the French-flagged transatlantic La Bourgogne to return home. La Bourgogne collided with the British-flagged freighter Cromartyshire off the coast of New York in the early hours of July 4. Unfortunately All passengers and crew, including Koca Yusuf They lost their lives on the ship that sank right there.
None of them have been confirmed, but there are some claims about the death of Koca Yusuf. According to a claim He got on the rescue boat, but it sank because it was too heavy. According to a different claim, he converted the money he earned in the USA into gold and carried them on his belt. Despite his efforts, he could not get out of the water due to the weight of these gold coins.
It is said that Big Yusuf had a grave:
In the book Children and Women First, written by Sunay Akın, According to the story of the Wrestler Defeated by the Ocean After La Bourgogne sank, some bodies washed ashore in the Azores. Among them was Koca Yusuf, who attracted attention with his majesty and traditional Turkish clothes. He was buried here along with other corpses.
In the matches he played in Europe and America We told the life story of Koca Yusuf, the chief wrestler who brought the world’s most famous wrestlers to their knees. Since it is not always possible to verify the sources of the period, it is also possible to encounter different details about Koca Yusuf’s life.
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