TEHRAN, October 12 (AFP) - A burst of patriotic poetry, a broadside of drumming, a bellow to the imams, a curse to the enemies. Eight huge men enter the ring and begin excercising. Welcome to Iran`s House of Strength. A unique mixture of weightlifting, wrestling and dance with a hint of circus that dates back to before the Arab invasion in the 7th century, Zurkhaneh (House of Strength) is Iran`s most ancient sport and still very much alive. Most definitely a male-only preserve, men come to the Zurkhaneh to perform bodyweights exercises, juggle clubs weighing up to 30 kilos and lug massive shields -- all to the thump of drums and an outpouring of Persian poetry. It is a place where religious fervour for the Shiite imam Ali, pride in the pre-Islamic mythological hero Rustam and appreciation of the great poet Ferdowsi merge seamlessly with athletic exploits that take years to master. "This sport is mixed in with our culture, history and religion. The sport is not only about athletics. It has soul and its soul comes from our culture and religion," Ali Reza Safarzadeh, the head of Iran`s Zurkhaneh federation, told AFP. Late one Tehran night in the month of Ramadan, dozens of people are packed into a Zurkhaneh, shoeless and cross-legged, to witness an evening of Varzesh-e Bastani (ancient sport).

Amid intensifying drumming and the crash of bells two young men appear, naked from the waist up and wearing beautiful embroidered shorts, and begin sparring in a highly balletic wrestling match. A group of eight stout men with bulging pectorals enter the metre-deep octagonal pit (the Gaud) that forms the arena for the Zurkhaneh and prepare to show their strength. "Felicitations on the birthday of the second imam and curses to all the enemies of the first imam," roars a bearded pahlavan (champion) who leads the group, referring to the first imam of Shiite Islam, Ali, and the second, Hassan. A poet sings as the drumming picks up to an intense and deafening momentum. "Iran is my sanctuary and my home! If all of us die it is much better than to give our land to the enemy!" he cries. They begin. The men spreadeagle themselves, legs akimbo on the ground in a bridge position, and start performing an elaborate series of swooping press-ups, all intensely choreographed to the music and poetry. An equally burly man takes centre stage and hurls two massive `mil` (Indian clubs) into the air, catching them from their high descent after performing a forward roll with the grace of a waif-like rhythmic gymnast, to gasps from the crowd.

There is a sense of continuity with the ancient past which is rarely seen in athletic sports. Zurkhaneh is said to have originated when Persian warriors were forced to practice their martial arts pursuits secretly in their homes after the Arab invasion. As the centuries went by the sport became legalized and a tradition. Qassem Labbani, a sprightly old gentleman who looks on with knowing interest in the back row, is 80 but could be mistaken for much younger. He says he has been practicing Zurkhaneh for 60 years. "The sport of Zurkhaneh is basically about helping people to be a gentleman and helping to look after people," he said, echoing a constant refrain about the importance of the purity of the athletes and their moral values. The men are now taking it in turn s to spin round the pit like dervishes, arms aspread, their bodies a whirl of effort and motion, before collapsing drenched in sweat and dizzy, into the arms of their Zurkhaneh brothers. Other Zurkhaneh activities involve the lifting of weighty wooden shields (sang) whose adornments show how multiple aspects of Persian culture are intertwined in this sport.

These are emblazoned with pictures of the mythical Persian archer Arash, the hero of Ferdowsi`s "Book of Kings" Rustam as well as the names of the prophet Mohammed, his daughter Fatemeh and the Shiite Imam Ali. Another key aspect of Zurkhaneh is the pulsating music and poetry provided by a hand drum (tombak), bells, and a poetry reciter known as the Morshad. "The Morshad`s job is to guide but he himself has to be immaculate. He must not smoke, he must have health in body and mind and always have God in his mind. He has to guide the athlete and be a pure Shiite," said Shir Khoda, one of the best-known Morshads in Iran. But for all the people packed into the building tonight, the challenges of the modern world still pose problems for Zurkhaneh, with richer rival activities poaching interest from Varzesh-e Bastani. "Zurkhaneh is still popular but unfortunately 70 percent of our young people do not come, as there are no sponsors and no money in it. If you took all the money and sponsors out of football even that would die," said Hamid Shariar, 45, a pahlavan still sweating from a succession of astonishing spins in the Gaud.

Safarzadeh, the head of the federation, acknowledges that even this most ancient of sports has to adapt to survive and says that this year a Zurkhaneh league will be introduced. "In order to attract youth to our sport we are working on the music and singing. We are working to update the sport with new initiatives. We want to reconstruct it technically and culturally.".