Traditional wrestling in Africa; between initiation rites and cultural manifestation: Testimonies from Togo and Senegal

Wrestling in African societies

According to Daniel Rumet, wrestling is an apprenticeship in life: ‘To wrestle is to impose on the opponent a bodily state that he refuses while preventing him from achieving this result himself and respecting his integrity and the conventions known to all’. Wrestling in traditional society is a global cultural activity, the natural expression of an ethnic or tribal community. It draws on a range of realities characteristic of a given social group: social, cultural, technical, ethical and moral.

For thousands of years, traditional wrestling has been an integral part of the lives of dozens of distinct peoples across the African continent. This age-oldform of traditional wrestling is very popular in countries such as Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and South Sudan. Throughout these countries, traditional wrestling sessions are held to celebrate different cycles in life or agricultural production. They can be organised to celebrates owing or harvesting, weddings and births, and initiation rites. It was practised from one generation to the next and at specific times. Among the Joola of Casamance in Senegal, it begins at rice harvest time and continues until the start of the rainy season.

They may also be organised for initiation rites that young adolescents are required to undergo in order to become full members of the societies in which they grew up. In some societies, young girls are also subjected to them so that they can enjoy their status as mature women before joining their future families. They may also be organised as initiation rites that young adolescents are required to undergo in order to become full members of the societies in which they grew up. In some societies, young girls are also subjected to these rites so that they can enjoy their status as mature women before joining their future families.

Whether it is a festive ritual or an initiation, traditional wrestling in many of the countries where it is practised aims to anchor cultural cohesion and living together, but above all to refine bonds and develop camaraderie between wrestlers. What's more, wrestlers did it for honour and glory. Any victory was a matter for the clan. Defeat was a humiliation, a dishonour, an affront that had to be washed away at the next confrontation. Even within the same zone or region, age groups were measured against each other. The winner represented the zone and was its standard-bearer. These important aspects of traditional wrestling can be seen in different ways, both in the meaning of wrestling and its social function, and in the way the rules and techniques are practised. Depending on the country, wrestling sessions are generally held in the village square, in the fields or on football pitches.  

The location for the arena is usually chosen by the village elders. These notables usually look for a public square around which there is a large layer of sand, as wrestling is a sport that ends in falls. During the session itself, the spectators form a large circle inside which the wrestling is practised, each one supporting, in his own way, his colt in an eclectic and festive atmosphere but with strong and healthy emulation. Around the circle, certain places are reserved for the notables who watch over the smooth running of the session.

Traditional wrestling was codified and had its own rules that varied from one country to another. In Joola country, for example, in southern Senegal, wrestling is a combat carried out according to unified and universal rules, with the aim of overcoming the opponent by using technical and tactical actions supported by physical and psychological potential. It has to be said that during these traditional wrestling sessions, the whole community was present: women, men, young men and women. It was a moment of communion imbued with fervour and joy for the whole community.  

However, in the south of Senegal, particularly in Casamance among the Joolas, as well as in the north of Togo, in Kabyè country, wrestling sessions are cult rites involving the elders who make offerings and other libations to obtain the blessing of the gods well before the bouts take place. Whiletraditional wrestling without striking is the dominant form of wrestling throughout Africa, in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, a type of wrestling with striking is practised, a kind of syncretism that is unique of its kind in Africa and attracts huge crowds in stadiums transformed into arenas with their stars and all the show business that goes with it...

From the Kabyiè country in northern Togo to Casamance in southern Senegal, traditional wrestling is one of the initiation rites used to shape the minds of young people, helping them to become accomplished men.

The Evala in Togo, between tradition and modernity

Black Africa, in particular, has always lived in harmony with its traditions of rites, myths and customs. The Kabyè people of northern Togo are no exception. Every July, the Kozah region, with its capital Kara some 450 km from Lomé, has for centuries been the focal point of an initiation rite called Evala, devoted to traditional wrestling. The word Evala is the plural of Evalou, which is given to the young man who has begun the traditional rites of wrestling. It was in the middle of the 18th century that the first manifestations of Evala a sa challenge took place with the coronation of two atypical characters: a certain Tchablime from the village of Kpédaw and his opponent, Fawokézié from Kolidè. It was unusual to note the following in these two precursors of Evala wrestling: the first was over 2m tall, with a Herculean build, while the second was only 1.40m tall.

The first traditional wrestling matches recorded in Kabyè country date back to 1785, with the confrontation between Tchablime and Fawokézié. At the end of this historic duel, it was the myrmidon (a small, short figure) who overcame the colossus. Throughout the village, the giant was booed and mocked. From that moment on, with the intention of making amends for such an affront, the competition virus spread throughout Kozah. However, it was not until 1940 that Evala wrestling became modern, with competitions organised between different villages in the same canton. As well as initiation, the current organisation has incorporated a festive side to the rituals, creating a magnificent spectacle at each celebration. It has to be said that the reputation of the Evalas extends beyond the borders of Togo, attracting many tourists and visitors. It can also serve as a factor for African integration. For example, Senegalese wrestlers were invited to the 1998 Evala. The Evala generally takes place in the second week of July. The fights last eight days, from the second Saturday to the third. It is during this period that all the cantons organise their ceremonies.

The Évala ceremony is performed by young people from the Kozah prefecture, who are generally between 18 and 20 years old. This ceremony enables young people to join the adult class. The most popular event during this period is wrestling in an arena, usually a football pitch. After the initiation stage, the wrestling matches pit two teams in series of four or five against each other in spectacular battles in a specially prepared arena. The wrestlers clash and grapple, bare-chested, as relatives, friends and onlookers look on, cheering them on to the sound of horns, gongs, castanets and tom-toms. Several phases of confrontation between the contending camps culminate in the proclamation of the winners according to the number of victories achieved over the course of the game. The cantons, under the control of the traditional chiefs, organise successive encounters between villages. This succession of battles between villages leads to the final phase, in which the two best villages meet and one village wins. Evala is the very first initiation into manhood for young Kabyè adults. To this end, these young adults undergo extensive psychological and physical preparation.

The traditional aspect of the ceremony is revealed by the presence of the wise men of the community. It is these wise men who ensure that the rules are respected, directing and arbitrating the tournaments. The dates on which the ceremonies are held are fixed by consulting the oracles, followed by authorisation from the high priest known as Tchodjo. After the fights, the traditional priests make a tour of the sacred places to thank the ancestors for approving the ceremony. The primary purpose of this operation is to train the young adolescent to been during, courageous and stoical. A ritual ceremony with multiple dimensions, Evala is the first in the order and one of the great initiatory events. It marks not only the passage from adolescence to adulthood, but also the affirmation of the Kabyè cultural identity. The primary aim of the Evala rite is to accustom the young Kabyè to endurance, courage, self-sacrifice and stoicism, the cultural aspect of which is enhanced by the sacrifices the initiate must make: fasting, sexual abstinence and scarification, which are the outward signs of the future warrior defending the city. The initiation rite is therefore made up of catching, internment and other much more trying ceremonies.

Eating dog meat is a central and essential part of the Evala ritual. For the Evalouaspirant, this consumption is not done simply for pleasure or voluntarily. Rather, it is a necessary prescription for carrying out the initiation rites. The initiate, whether he likes it or not, is obliged to eat dog flesh to acquire the qualities recognised in this animal: endurance, tenacity, strength and intelligence. Indeed, custom recommends that, wherever possible, the animal should be bought by the maternal uncle of the boy who is to undergo initiation. The Evala is therefore a socialisation test for the adolescent, who is required to fight for three consecutive years. After the rites, they take on a new social status with rights and obligations. This entry into the circle of initiates gives them the name of Evalou. He acquired very important prerogatives, including the right to farm on his own account, to consult soothsayers, to marry and to defend the city in the event of an attack. Conversely, young people who shun this initiation are not considered or accepted in certain circles that they themselves dare not approach. As such, they suffer reprisals from the community and their own parents. Nowadays, with the prevailing modernism and the proliferation of imported religions, shunning can be tolerated.

In other words, this initiation rite is a means of promoting honour through the cult of bravery, and gives its village or regional champions an important social capital to safeguard.

What does wrestling represent in Senegal?

In African tradition, wrestling plays an important role in the socialisation process. Wrestling has always held a special place in human society. It is seen as a means of training and educating individuals. In the rural world, wrestling is an opportunity for friendly encounters between neighbouring villages. It is a training ground for people from different communities. Senegalese wrestling, or Lamb in Wolof, is a very popular traditional sport in Senegal, particularly in the Sine-Saloum region in the centre, among the Sérères, and in Casamance in the south, among the Joola. In these regions, and particularly among the Joola, wrestling is a heritage of social integration.  

In Joola society, for example, wrestling remains, alongside initiation, a determining factor in the young adolescent's integration into social life. Itis here that they discover the stratification of society, the limits of hierarchy, and the fundamental differences between the circles of men and women. Wrestling reflects the organisation of society. The social functions of wrestling can be defined along five lines: the relationship between the wrestler and his entourage, the relationship between wrestling and kinship, the relationship between wrestling and friendship, elders and wrestling, and finally the contribution of wrestling to bringing peoples together. Wrestling is also a training ground for all young boys, and through it adults measure their courage, their will to win and their spirit of self-sacrifice.

In traditional society, wrestling was a way of demonstrating the vitality of a group, by polarising all its forces around a person who represented it. The group identified with its wrestler and the wrestler constantly referred to the group. Thus, the wrestler had a transversal relationship with the essential components of his society, which are as follows: the relationship between the wrestler-champion and his group or community, where the wrestler drew his strength from the group which, in its own way, participated in the fight being waged by his champion. It was common knowledge that a champion who cut himself off from his group lost part of his strength; the age group represented young people of the same age. It is within this age group that the strength of a wrestler can be measured against the others, and finally the role of the mother, sister and scholars who felt particularly mobilised to protect their sons and ensure victory. Wrestlers would wear their sister's loincloth, sent and given to them by their mother, all symbols of moral and physical swelling and replenishment.

Traditionally, the first wrestling matches take place after the rainy season, pitting wrestlers from surrounding villages against each other in championships called mbaapat. Among the Sérère and Joola ethnic groups, the wrestling matches coincide with the end of the harvest.  The winner of the tournament can take home livestock, cereals and other goods. In addition to its sporting dimension, wrestling also has a cultural and folkloric dimension, highlighting Senegalese cultural traditions through entertainment.  

Wrestling in which punches are allowed: a new development in Senegal

Whiletraditional wrestling is directly linked to the cultural heritage of Senegalese society, it is also a factor in education and social integration, forging and shaping the individual through socialisation. Nowadays, however, there is little presence of this sport on a national level, as most people tend to focus on professional wrestling with striking. Initially an amateur sport, Senegalese wrestling has become a professional sport attracting more and more young athletes and spectators. It is said that during the colonial era in the 1920s, a Frenchman who owned the El Malick cinema in Dakar was the first to organise wrestling matches. The wrestlers were paid through ticket sales. But it was not until the 1970s that wrestling became more professional, particularly in Dakar.

At present, wrestlers' fees amount to tens of millions of CFA francs (around a hundred thousand euros). The wrestlers are grouped into teams and belong to the Federation, the National Wrestling Management Committee, commonly known as the CNG, which is the sport's governing body. Although wrestling has become a professional sport, it has not yet shed its traditional mystique. As well as its sporting dimension, Senegalese wrestling has a cultural and folkloric dimension. Wrestlers often try to intimidate their opponents by wearing gris-gris or adopting a certain gait when they enter the arena.

Wrestling is surrounded by numerous mystical rituals, all of which are songs of bravery designed to galvanise the wrestlers. All this is followed by ceremonies to ward off bad luck before each bout. In addition to the physical preparation of the mbër (the Wolof word for wrestlers), the procession of marabouts accompanying the athletes into the arena crystallise saving prayers that are supposed to give victory to their protégés, who wear gris-gris, talisman and ritual baths. Before each confrontation, the bërekat, or wrestler, performs the bakk, which consists of singing about his prowess in order to intimidate his opponent and seduce his audience by dancing to the rhythm of the tam-tam. These songs are also sung by the official griots and griottes, known as ndawràbbin. Wrestling in which punching is permitted is organised according to very strict and complex rules. They are enforced by three referees.  

A match lasts twice ten minutes and may go into extra time. The wrestlers fight bare-handed and without any protection. The match ends as soon as one of the wrestlers falls. A fall is deemed to have occurred when the wrestler's head, buttocks or back touch the ground, or when there are four supports, two hands and two knees, on the ground. A wrestler may also be awarded victory if his opponent is no longer physically or medically fit to wrestle. Today, wrestling with kicks is a real social phenomenon that mobilises many young people who see it as a way of getting rich quickly, as the fees it offers are staggering.  

The undeniable icon of wrestling in Senegal is Mohammed Ndao, known as Tyson. Bornin 1972 in Kaolack, this Sérère wrestler has been making a name for himself since 1995 by knocking out, as the saying goes, all the sport's historic champions such as Mohammed Ali, Moustapha Gueye and Manga II. Tyson quickly realised that he could build his popularity, beyond his sporting success, by taking care of his image and his message. By disseminating the salient features of his biography, he was able to broaden his appeal. His image was forged in the following way.

Born into a working-class family, he had to stop his studies before passing his A-levels and found himself facing unemployment, like all the broke young people of his generation. Profoundly influenced by the myths conveyed by the American ideology of the self-made man, Mr Ndao built his destiny by sheer strength of hand. Aware of his athletic qualities, he first tried his hand at boxing and basketball before choosing traditional wrestling. In fact, Tyson's particularity was to successively break with all the habits and customs that were previously part of the Senegalese wrestling landscape.

Traditionally, wrestling is a very closed world, where family connections are often necessary to succeed. Moreover, it is customary to have been spotted and to belong to one of the big stables, the name given to wrestling clubs. From his earliest successes, Tyson endeavoured to project the image of a young man who had succeeded through hard work alone, without worrying about the prejudices of his elders. It's a powerful message for young people who aspire to break free from certain shackles in order to express their thirst for autonomy and their right to have their say. By moving to Pikine, the largest suburb of Dakar, where all the problems of Senegal's urban youth are concentrated (extreme poverty, unemployment, delinquency, promiscuity, etc.), Tyson further affirmed his exemplary role.

The figure of Tyson was largely built on his ability to succeed on his own, i.e. by making a double break, firstly with the internal rules of the very closed world of wrestling, and secondly with the principles of the traditional educational model. In the latter, individual trajectories had to follow the path defined by their elders, in particular their parents' generation, and, in some cases, by inheritance, particularly in cases where they belonged to a caste or a large religious family. Young people identified with this desire for emancipation and affirmation through differentiation, expressed in particular in physical, spiritual and cultural practices.

Mohamed Ndao Tyson's success paved the way for the success of many young, voiceless people. Past and present celebrities in striking wrestling include, but are not limited to, Mohamed Ndao Tyson, Robert Diouf (Mohamed Ndiaye), Boy Bambara, Mbaye Gueye (Tigre de Fass), Moustapha Gueye, Manga 2, Yakhia Diop (Yekini),Mor Fadam, Bounama Touré (Toubabou Dior), Ibrahima Dione (Gris Bordeaux) Lac de Guiers 2, Eumeu Sène, Modou Lo and others Bombardier. Wrestling has become so popular that the Senegalese government has set up a national arena for it.

Traditional wrestling in Casamance: a practice as ancient as rice-growing

The Ziguinchor region, the regional capital of Casamance, forms a vast natural region in the south of Senegal. Geographically, it is bordered to the north by the Gambia, to the south by Guinea-Bissau, to the east by the Kolda region and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean. This region, which is mainly made up of Joolas, has three departments: Ziguinchor, Oussouye and Bignona. It has a varied climate and is watered by the wide arm of the Casamance River and its tributaries. As a result, it is covered by forest and has natural conditions favourable to economic activities. Thanks to the many climatic variations, the Ziguinchor region is rich in agricultural produce. Farmers grow a wide range of crops, including rice in the floodplain, as well as millet, sorghum, maize, cotton and bananas.

Origin and development

The people who lived there were the Baïnouck, who lived from fishing, hunting and gathering. They also grew rice, millet and groundnuts. They are currently found in the Niamone area. So, to talk about the history of traditional Joola wrestling is to relive its origins. The origins of Joola wrestling go back to the first inhabitants of this area. In those distant days, wrestling was not practised in the way we see it today. Rather, it was a peaceful form of warfare. One village would invade another using the physical strength of its warriors. It was only after terrible battles that a village managed to neutralise its opponent. Fighting was therefore a necessary and essential part of the initiation of young people, who would later have the duty and obligation of defending and protecting their villages.

After the harvest, a village might wake up one day and light a large fire in the public square, beside which the tom-toms would beat out songs announcing the start of a wrestling session. The surrounding villages, hearing these songs, would come to attend this ceremony. It's the start of the traditional wrestling season. Wrestling is practised in this environment at all ages in different phases: childhood corresponds to the wrestler's initiation phase, while adolescence corresponds to the selection phase during which the young wrestler, referring to his physical development, thinks he is equal to the adult.

With its own codes and rules, traditional wrestling consists of healthy competition and total fair play. As such, there is often talk of prohibitions in organised sessions when an individual exceeds the limits of the rules established by society. For this reason, wrestling, which is an activity practised by humans, is full of prohibitions that regulate the way it is carried out. For example, it is forbidden to pinch the opponent's body, to grab the hair, ears and genitals, to hit the head and fists, let alone the knees, during and after the fall, to point the fingers in the opponent's eyes and even less to spit on him.  

Significance of wrestling

Traditional Joola wrestling is an ancient sport that has accompanied human evolution from the earliest times to the present day. For the Joola, wrestling was a sign ofphysical strength and virility, a means of increasing work capacity, keeping young people fit and combative, and a way of forging friendships. This act, known as Kassofor, had great social significance. It was based above all on the importance of physical, moral and intellectual educational training. Contact with the opponent forms the basis of practice as a sport. The action of attack-defence is the main physical concept. The communion between giving and receiving obliges the wrestler to have a sense of his own possibilities and those of his opponent: the speed of the opponent's actions is an essential notion in practice. Courage, the will to surpass oneself, the constant search for the opponent's imbalance as a means to victory, which is the ultimate goal, are all psychological characteristics of the wrestler. In addition to this, there are other meanings to be found in traditional Joola wrestling.

Wrestlers and their elders

Among the Joolas, wrestling is not just a matter for the young, it's also a matter for the old. According to tradition, the elders act as intermediaries between the young wrestlers and the various protective spirits known as Boekin in the village. They are the ones who make sacrifices through the various Boekin in the village before each wrestling session so that the joy can take hold and the wrestling can take place peacefully. They also have the occult knowledge that young wrestlers need to protect them from evil spirits and spells. Finally, they are the ones who give the orders for the wrestlers to go and wrestle a particular village.

Wrestling and friendship

In the Joola environment, friendship is a very important value. As a result, young people whose parents are friends never wrestle, whatever the nature of the match. Similarly, two villages linked by friendship or kinship never fight each other. As a result, certain old men who are aware of the ties of friendship or kinship between villages or young wrestlers, keep an eye on these aspects during wrestling sessions.

Folklore aspect

Traditional wrestling in the Joola environment is a grip wrestling rather than a percussion wrestling. It is also known as folk wrestling and involves two wrestlers. Folk wrestling is always accompanied by songs, dances and rhythms: songs to glorify the wrestler if he wins or to give him courage and commitment; dances to enable the wrestler to rejoice and be jubilant after a victory; and rhythms to provide a good melody and synchronisation, as well as to give beauty to the dance of the wrestlers and those accompanying them. These three elements are essential in the life of the Joola, even outside wrestling.

Traditional female wrestling in Joola country: an ode to gender equality

Although in Togo the maternal family of young initiates has more power than the paternal family in the rites leading to the apotheosis of the Evalas, women are not involved in traditional wrestling as such, as is the case with the Joolas of Casamance in southern Senegal. Clearly, traditional wrestling is the preserve of men in most African countries. But in Senegal's Casamance region, a long tradition of women's wrestling has survived. This explains why most of the members of Senegal's national Olympic team come exclusively from this region.  Despite the passage of centuries, Joola society has evolved but retained the fundamental structures of the past and sacrifices to fetishes. Before each wrestling ceremony, Joola society holds prayers.

In Oussouye, for example, the Joola Kassa organise the Kamagnène, a traditional annual festival of thanksgiving to Atemit, God, for a good harvest. On this occasion, women's wrestling sessions are organised. The opening of the official ceremony is marked by the wrestling of teenage girls. These girls already have ambitions to become champions and the elite of women's wrestling. In this way, they acquire a good reputation. At a time when traditional women's wrestling held pride of place, young adults were its elite. They are the generation that most mobilises the population. Young adult girls wrestle until they get married. Any young girl of wrestling age must go to the ceremony and take part. Exceptions are made in cases of disability (illness or handicap). Two adult girls of the same generation may wrestle if they do not live in the same neighbourhood and are not related or friends. Their weight difference, despite the absence of a weigh-in, must not be very great.

Wrestlers compete independently and without the assistance of officials. Weight category and age are not taken into account; the girls wrestle by generation, ‘Diamané’.This generation is determined by those who are the same age or one year older. They show off their superiority and technique, but also their flexibility and intelligence. Elhewor the arena is the enclosure where wrestling competitions take place, with two clearly separated parts: the area around the circle, reserved for spectators; the middle or centre of the circle, reserved for those who are to wrestle; and the corners of the circle reserved for the wrestlers and those accompanying them. However, the combat area may differ from one village to another or from one neighbourhood to another. Usually, the layout of the people means that this area is represented as a circle, but it can also be represented as a square or a rectangle.

The projection area is often covered with sand in this locality of Oussouye. This form of wrestling in this department does not require the delimitation of a wrestling area. Instead, the spectators mark the boundaries. As far as the team boxes are concerned, there are several depending on the number of villages or neighbourhoods to be wrestled in. The wrestlers are placed in groups on either side of the circle, depending on the number of villages or districts. Wrestling in Oussouye concerns everyone insofar as the champion is not for herself or her family but represents a whole society that identifies with her. The wearing of gris-gris and the intervention of a marabout are not permitted. However, consultation of Ukine fetishes is approved because the department is under the jurisdiction of a king.

These fetishes provided a second force derived from mystical powers. Women's wrestling in the department of Oussouye begins standing up and ends with the first fall. It is very similar to Olympic wrestling, especially the throwing techniques. Insofar as we have wrestling by generation, the match is by invitation. The girls who go to wrestle have a loincloth that covers their breasts and another that they tie between their legs, Houpeut, and braided and well arranged roast tree leaves.

Women's wrestling generally takes place in the morning. The programming is done by the girls. On the other hand, women's wrestling, Houmabeul, is organised in Oussouye as a royal festival. The date of the ceremony is set by the king. Two weeks before Houmabeul, prayers are said only by the inhabitants of the village of Oussouye. On the fifteenth day, people from neighbouring villages flock to Oussouye. Many people come to watch the women's wrestling. The festival is an opportunity to exchange sporting and socio-cultural experiences. The women use a scarf to cover their breasts. This traditional form of Joola wrestling does not prohibit the wearing of bracelets, other ornaments or fingernails that could injure the wrestler. The wrestlers are free to decide whether or not to wear these objects (bracelets, necklaces and braided rowan leaves placed around the ‘Sibal’ feet or the head).

The prevailing ritual is a set of practices specific to each country, village or neighbourhood, including songs, dances, invitations, challenges and symbolic incantations. The traditional Joola wrestling ritual in the department of Oussouye is enlivened by musical instruments such as the Kabisseu and the Yandang in the rural community of Mlomp and the Ehembele and the Etangtang. Then come the songs and dances of the Ekonkone wrestlers. The women don't usually sing when they go out to wrestle, but they sing to accompany the men in the Ekonkone dance. They also make symbolic challenges and incantations, just like the men.

In the department of Oussouye, the challenge is by invitation. A wrestler moves towards the opposite camp to invite her opponent by pointing her finger at her. The challenged opponent accepts by nodding. As soon as a wrestler manages to get an opponent, she returns to her camp to receive the final advice or waits for the opponent to come and find her in the centre in a crouching position. The technique is generally performed standing up and ends on the ground when one of the wrestlers falls or is thrown, or when one of her shoulders touches the ground. Sometimes, during the fight, one of the two opponents passes behind the other. In this case, she is considered the winner. This traditional form of wrestling in the department of Oussouye does not allow the loincloth used as a Houpeut jester to be taken, but it is permitted to take the leg, arms, head or trunk.

Like all sports, women's wrestling is governed by rules established by the society in which it is practised. Joola wrestling has precise rules. At the start of the ceremony, the king gives a speech setting out the general principles. It is forbidden to hit the opponent or to use inappropriate language. These blows may even injure the opponent, leading to the spilling of blood, which is synonymous with a declaration of war. Next, the wrestler is not allowed to grab an opponent's piece of clothing. For the opposing side to score a point, the female wrestler must have been knocked down. After the fight, the female wrestlers shake hands fraternally to mark the end of this wrestling ceremony.

Ultimately, both among the Kabyè of Togo and in Senegal, particularly in the Joola and Sérère environments, traditional wrestling is a crucial, even decisive, link in the socialisation process aimed at forging the minds of young adults to cope with the vicissitudes of life by making them citizens of integrity, honest, combative and ready to face adversity. Alongside wrestling in which punches are allowed, which is seen as a social lift in the urban environment of Dakar, and traditional women's wrestling among the Joolas, which supplies the Senegalese Olympic team, these wrestling variants all contribute, in their own way, to shaping African adults who know where they come from, so that they can adapt to tomorrow's ever-changing globalisation.  

The author, Gilles Eric FOADEY, is Senegalese-Togolese, a journalist and specialist in development communication; an interpreter and translator.

A former Head of Communications at the AU Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), he lives in Johannesburg and works at the African Union Commission in the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security.

He is also the author of a number of documentaries on issues such as citizenship and governance, adolescent reproductive health and the environment.    

‍

Reference List

https://www.afrikdepeche.tg/evala-linitiation-les-differentes-etapes-et-lorganisation-de-la-lutte/

https://theconversation.com/au-senegal-la-lutte-traditionnelle-est-un-patrimoine-dintegration-sociale-200305

ABAKI Luc :« Comprendre les joutes Evala en Pays Kabyè »

BADJI Abdou: La luttetraditionnelle diola: étude et perspectives 1982

CISSE Serigne Aly (1995) «Sénégal Carton rouge », Niamagne Editeur, Presse de l'Imprimerie Saint PaulDakar

FALL Cheikh Bounama : Analyse desdifférentes formes de corps de la lutte, 1992.

FAYB Joseph Victor: La luttetraditionnelle son importance, sa signification en fonction des Ethos et desHabitus Ethniques au Sénégal

Thibaut (1979) « Sport etéducation physique »

SAMBOU K. : « De la luttetraditionnelle à la lutte olympique: Exemple de la lutte traditionnelleféminine Joola 2002-2003 »

DIEDHIOU Etienne Maïmye, Mémoirede Maitrise « De la pratique de la lutte traditionnelle féminine a lapratique de la lutte olympique féminine »

HARVARD Jean Francois« Ethos du « Buul Faale » et nouvelles figures de la réussite auSenegal » in Politique africaine

DIALLO Amadou Oury « Lalutte traditionnelle sans frappe » ; Mémoire de Maitrise, INSEPS1986 

‍

‍