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Senegal's traditional wrestling: A valuable social heritage

Thursday March 09 2023
Traditional wrestlers

A Senegalese traditional wrestler is held by his opponent at a competition in Senegal's capital Dakar, May 10, 2009. PHOTO | FINBARR O'REILLLY | REUTERS

By THE CONVERSATION

Traditional wrestling plays an important role in much of Senegalese society and is one of the country’s national sports.

Traditional wrestling is mostly practiced in Senegal’s rural areas where not only is it regarded as a sport, but also has a profound social and cultural role. However, it’s now being overshadowed by a very popular, modern professional wrestling. A synthesis of boxing and traditional wrestling, these matches are massive social events.

Traditional wrestling is particularly important within the Joola community, in Southern Senegal, and the Serer community in Central Senegal. Together, these communities make up about 18 percent of the country’s population.

The practice is traditionally taught to young men in special schools during their initiation into adulthood.

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Information on how to wrestle has been passed down through oral history by griots (traditional West African troubadour-historians) as well as by the elders from Joola and Serer communities.

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The young men learn about society, hierarchy, as well as the fundamental differences between the traditional roles of men and women. The training schools also bring together people from different communities. This means, particularly in rural areas, wrestling allows for friendly encounters between neighbouring villages.

Senegalese traditional wrestling isn’t just a sport. It’s a valuable social heritage that must continue. However, it’s now being overshadowed by a very popular, modern professional wrestling.

Senegalese wrestling significance

Because Senegalese traditional wrestling has been passed down through oral history, there’s almost a total lack of written documents on it. As a specialist on wrestling, which I’ve researched at length, I want to highlight that all that we know about the history of traditional wrestling was told to us by the elders and griots.

According to the elders and griots, wrestling was a means of settling conflicts between kings through wrestlers. Aside from this, it was practiced as a recreational sport.

Wrestling in the Serer community has some added cultural dimensions. It is also a literature, a ritual, and a festival. Wrestling is accompanied by different rhythms which change according to the wrestler himself and the participating group. It can be slow, silent, fast, jerky or fiery. It creates a story, speaking directly to the wrestler, but also to all the participants.

Chants such as “The chests scream when a great wrestler goes down, let’s go, it’s already dark!”, or “I’m a regular in the arena, but I won’t go around looking for talismans, my strength is enough!” are often sung by their supporters.

Wrestling is not just a sport; it has a considerable socio-educational aspect.

Wrestling training schools exist for all young boys. Through it, adults measured the boys’ courage, urge to win and their spirit of self-sacrifice. Because of this, it brings honour to a person’s village or region, and is an important form of social capital to safeguard.

Read: The close-knit life of Nubians is what keeps their culture

Socially entrenched

Traditional wrestling is more than the sole individual that wrestles. There are five key social dynamics around wrestlers: the relationship between the wrestler and his entourage; the relationship between wrestling and family relationships; the relationship between wrestling and friendship; between the elders and wrestling; and finally, the contribution of wrestling to bringing people together.

Traditional wrestling also matters to the community. It’s an expression of ethnicity, tribe or class. Wrestling in traditional society was a sign of the vitality of a particular community. The community rallied all its forces around a single character – the wrestler – as its representative.

The relationship between the wrestler and his community is therefore key. There are three relationships in particular that stand out:

  • The wrestler-champion and his group or community: the wrestler draws his strength from this group which supports and encourages him in his preparation as well as during the fight. It’s believed that a champion who cuts himself off from his group loses part of his strength.
  • The age group: this represents young people of the same age. It is within this age group that the wrestler can measure his strength over others.
  • The role of the mother, the sister and the “scholars” (the community’s wise men) who felt mobilized in particular to protect their “son” and ensure his victory. Wrestlers will often wear their symbols. For instance, wearing a sister’s loincloth means that the wrestler is fighting for the honour of the family.

Shift to professional wrestling

Traditional wrestling is part of Senegal’s cultural heritage, encompassing social integration and education, but its true form is dying out. Today, most people tend to focus on professional wrestling.

Apart from the Flag of the Head of State – a national wrestling tournament dedicated to the head of state and bringing together wrestlers from all regions of the country – which is organized by the Senegalese National Management Committee (the body responsible for the administration of wrestling), traditional wrestling is absent from the country’s cultural policy projects and programs.

The Senegalese sports and culture ministries must invest in preserving as well as highlighting the country’s traditional society, including traditional wrestling.


Ousmane Ba is a researcher at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar

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