A Fascinating History of Kimmo Pohjonen and the Helsinki Nelson Accordion Wrestling

It was in the mid 90s when Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen was performing at the Kaustinen Festival in Ostrobothnia, Finland and met an old accordion player who told that he used to play at wrestling matches in the 40s and 50s. Kimmo thought the old man was joking. After listening more, Pohjonen became intrigued and after investigation found that this story was in fact part of an old, almost forgotten tradition that occurred in Finland from the 20s to the 60s. This tradition died at the end of the 60s, Pohjonen discovered, as loud amplified music became popular and eventually came into the wrestling matches, eventually replacing the live accordionist. Pohjonen’s research uncovered more interesting background facts. Before each wrestling match, local newspapers would carry a printed advertisement for the event, listing the names of the wrestlers, the referee and the accordionist. In those days, the accordionist was considered nothing less than a star, equal in stature with the fame of the wrestlers. The purpose of including the accordionist’s name in the newspaper ads was not only because of the player’s drawing power but to lure budding young ladies to the matches, adding a more lively, social atmosphere to the events. After the matches, there would follow dances with the accordionist playing dance tunes. The concept of the event was as much social as it was sport. Upon learning these stories, Pohjonen was instantly inspired to re-create for modern times the tradition of accordion meets wrestling. He investigated further, seeking out old accordion players and more stories of wrestling match events. While playing a match, the accordion player had a specific function beyond mere entertainment. He needed to be highly skilled at reading face and body language of the wrestlers, which would influence his playing. Specifically, he watched faces and bodies carefully to see if the intensely muscular grips between the two bodies might be so powerful as to result in some involuntary, extra-bodily, lower-region audio emissions, namely ‘farts’. An experienced accordionist would be so finely tuned to the wrestlers’ movements and expressions that if he detected that a release of an “air-monkey” was imminent, he could strategically and quickly add an effect or play more loudly in order to hide the sound of the offending expulsion. (Apparently, in former times, the sound of a “barking rat” was considered by some to be slightly rude.) Therefore, the job of the accordionist was to provide not only entertainment but an atmosphere where audience members would be happily oblivious to any potentially embarrassing or offensive sounds! There was one particular event where a wrestling pair was on the mat, embattled in an extraordinarily long match lasting for many hours. In those days, there were no time limits for matches, they could last for up to ten hours. The World Record for the longest wrestling match was 11 hours and 40 minutes at the Olympic Games in Sweden in 1912 between Finn Alfred Asikainen and Russian Martin Klein. After battling for an almost interminable duration, the two wrestlers became totally exhausted and finally when they reached the limit of their endurance, they noticed the accordionist playing a jenka (a type of Finnish schottische). Suddenly, rising from the mat and still in grip embrace, they began to dance the jenka, making their exit off to the sidelines in time to the music. At some point, politics eventually wormed its way into the wrestling arena, bringing with it irreversible problems and corruption. For example, a referee with particular political motives might disregard the actual winner of a match and would instead name the loser as “winner” for his own political reasons or benefit. When this happened, fights would break out on the mat, not just between wrestlers but between wrestlers and referee. This intriguing history provided Pohjonen with a thrust of creative energy to go all the way on his mission to bring this strange and unique tradition back to life. In 2005, Pohjonen found a producer willing to help him achieve his goal. His first step was to make a visit, with his accordion, to a Helsinki gym to try and find wrestlers that might be interested to participate. Pohjonen played accordion, watched wrestlers warm up, stretch, practice and engage in actual matches. He was met with disinterest, suspicion and even hostility from most of the more than thirty wrestlers present. However, ten wrestlers were not only interested in Pohjonen’s idea but were enthusiastic and eager to join. Accordion Wrestling was then born. Director Ari Numminen next joined with Pohjonen to make a modern performance combining sport, music, dance, theatre, real-life tradition and their collective imaginations. All the traditional elements and stories which Pohjonen had absorbed have been incorporated into the design and creation of Accordion Wrestling. Many of the movements and dances are based on actual wrestling holds and manoeuvres while much of the choreography is based on pre-match warm-ups and practices, taking spectators behind the scenes to what is rarely witnessed by outsiders. The wrestlers themselves were also able to express their individual creativities. The final result is a tribute to the tradition of Finnish accordionist with Olympic wrestling, the sport that is proudly, Finland’s most successful as regards Olympic gold medals. Accordion Wrestling is a performance that opens a window to the past to show what a Finnish wrestling event might have been like and offers a vision of how it might be today had it not disappeared.. sounduk now brings a special version of Accordion Wrestling to the UK in 2012 including two members of the British Wrestling Foundation, Krasimir Krastanov and Oleg Druzhynets, who both represent Great Britain. Kimmo Pohjonen: Accordion Wrestling are performing at the RNCM in Manchester on the 6 June. www.rncm.ac.uk