Accipiter22
Banned
I'm not sure what to make of this...I say good for them
from cnn:
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- It is early evening in West Africa, and two young men in loincloths cover themselves in fine red dust and prepare to do battle. But this is no rural village scene.
Television cameras follow the fighters' every move, and outside the stadium the streets heave with the traffic of one of the region's most modern capitals.
Traditional wrestling, practiced for centuries in the Senegalese countryside, has evolved into a modern sports phenomenon.
Every child in the city knows the names of the biggest stars of the ring -- Yekini, Bombardier and the American-styled Mike Tyson -- each of whom can make up to $120,000 U.S. a fight. The sport is nationally televised, and important matches can fill a 60,000-seat stadium.
Many other traditional sports have declined in recent years because the public isn't interested enough. But among Senegal's youth, passion for their country's ancient pastime is still alive and well.
Senegalese are avid sports fans in general. A strong fitness culture makes joggers a common site on the streets of Dakar. In the homeland of international star El Hadji Diouf, soccer matches draw crowds to every television.
Girls decide who to marry
But wrestling is "more interesting than soccer, because it's ours," said Ousseynou Diakhate, 22, a wrestler in the northern Senegalese town of Louga, who has been fighting professionally for three years.
Even in the provinces wrestlers can make up to $400 per match, but Diakhate insisted that they don't do it for profit. "It's the traditions that nourish us," he said. "But if we make some money from it, all the better."
The origins of this national sport lie in the rhythms of village life.
"If the harvest is good, young men come together to measure their strength, and girls watch to see who they want to marry," said Youssou Mbargane Mbaye, wrestling historian and head of an association of traditional praise singers.
Chants, pomp, pageantry
The wrestlers enter the ring festooned with prayer beads and cowrie shells. They circle, pawing at one another in feigned attack, then suddenly grip each other's shoulders and engage. Dust flies and legs flail as each man tries to catch the other off balance.
The action is intense but brief, and within a minute or two one wrestler has been thrown to the ground. The ecstatic fans leap over plastic chairs and knock over barriers in their haste to congratulate the victor.
The pomp and pageantry of traditional wrestling is nearly as important as the fight itself.
Wrestlers and their entourages dance wildly around the ring to the beat of drums and traditional flutes, while women chant songs of heroism and strength. The beginning of the fight is signaled when one wrestler places a drum in the middle of the ring, and the challenger overturns it.
"You have to dance well, and know how to put on a good show," said Dauda Diouf, 36, a Dakar-based businessman who organizes matches in the city.
Spiritual preparation
Each fight is preceded by days of spiritual preparation. Marabouts, leaders of mystical Muslim brotherhoods, fashion amulets and talismans for the fighters. These tokens can include Koranic verses, plant derivatives or goat bones for fighters to bite as they step into the ring.
Mbaye said that in Dakar, however, the focus is increasingly on money. Cash prizes began to be offered in the 1960s, replacing the traditional offering of a sack of rice or a cow. Since then the purses have grown.
The dynamics of wrestling in Dakar also changed with the introduction of a new set of rules that allow wrestlers to punch each other. Now violence has become an essential part of a sport that traditionally relied on complicated maneuvering and gymnastics.
"It's a foreign element. It comes from boxing," said Mbaye, who said that the more violent the game is, the more paying spectators it draws. "Now the only thing the young men care about is the amount of money they make."
Yakhya Diop Ndoye, 14, a spectator at a Dakar match, says he wrestles at home with his friends in the traditional style without hitting but that he dreams of becoming a professional athlete who can bloody his opponent with impunity.
"When they hit each other, they get more money," he said.
He and his friends hoot excitedly as two fighters exchange blows in the ring.
Violence isn't the only aspect of traditional wrestling to capture the popular imagination in recent years.
Wrestler named 'Mike Tyson'
In the mid-1990s Mike Tyson, whose real name is Mohamed Ndao, adopted an American flag as his symbol and ushered in a new era of Americana.
"It made people dream of going abroad," said Mbaye. Now even fighters in the villages sport American flags.
Kindergarten teacher Jeanne Faye, 31, said that for herself and for many other young people, Tyson's legendary 1999 victory over longtime champion Manga 2 brought the sport into the modern era.
"Wrestling was really traditional before," she said. "My father watched it, but I never did until Tyson beat Manga 2. He was the youngest fighter of his generation, and no one expected him to win."
For the youth of Senegal, where obedience to elders is still customary, the match was something of a coup.
"It was like young over old," said Faye. "Lots of my friends are interested now."
However, even in Dakar, where promoters can spend up to US$400,000 (more than euro300,000) to organize big fights, Sunday evening wrestling still reflects its rural roots. Praise singers are always on-hand to spin oral histories around fighters and invited guests, and as celebrity athletes grow wealthier, the spiritualism surrounding the match becomes more pronounced.
Mbaye explained that fighters now buy much more powerful magic than they ever could in the village.
from cnn:
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- It is early evening in West Africa, and two young men in loincloths cover themselves in fine red dust and prepare to do battle. But this is no rural village scene.
Television cameras follow the fighters' every move, and outside the stadium the streets heave with the traffic of one of the region's most modern capitals.
Traditional wrestling, practiced for centuries in the Senegalese countryside, has evolved into a modern sports phenomenon.
Every child in the city knows the names of the biggest stars of the ring -- Yekini, Bombardier and the American-styled Mike Tyson -- each of whom can make up to $120,000 U.S. a fight. The sport is nationally televised, and important matches can fill a 60,000-seat stadium.
Many other traditional sports have declined in recent years because the public isn't interested enough. But among Senegal's youth, passion for their country's ancient pastime is still alive and well.
Senegalese are avid sports fans in general. A strong fitness culture makes joggers a common site on the streets of Dakar. In the homeland of international star El Hadji Diouf, soccer matches draw crowds to every television.
Girls decide who to marry
But wrestling is "more interesting than soccer, because it's ours," said Ousseynou Diakhate, 22, a wrestler in the northern Senegalese town of Louga, who has been fighting professionally for three years.
Even in the provinces wrestlers can make up to $400 per match, but Diakhate insisted that they don't do it for profit. "It's the traditions that nourish us," he said. "But if we make some money from it, all the better."
The origins of this national sport lie in the rhythms of village life.
"If the harvest is good, young men come together to measure their strength, and girls watch to see who they want to marry," said Youssou Mbargane Mbaye, wrestling historian and head of an association of traditional praise singers.
Chants, pomp, pageantry
The wrestlers enter the ring festooned with prayer beads and cowrie shells. They circle, pawing at one another in feigned attack, then suddenly grip each other's shoulders and engage. Dust flies and legs flail as each man tries to catch the other off balance.
The action is intense but brief, and within a minute or two one wrestler has been thrown to the ground. The ecstatic fans leap over plastic chairs and knock over barriers in their haste to congratulate the victor.
The pomp and pageantry of traditional wrestling is nearly as important as the fight itself.
Wrestlers and their entourages dance wildly around the ring to the beat of drums and traditional flutes, while women chant songs of heroism and strength. The beginning of the fight is signaled when one wrestler places a drum in the middle of the ring, and the challenger overturns it.
"You have to dance well, and know how to put on a good show," said Dauda Diouf, 36, a Dakar-based businessman who organizes matches in the city.
Spiritual preparation
Each fight is preceded by days of spiritual preparation. Marabouts, leaders of mystical Muslim brotherhoods, fashion amulets and talismans for the fighters. These tokens can include Koranic verses, plant derivatives or goat bones for fighters to bite as they step into the ring.
Mbaye said that in Dakar, however, the focus is increasingly on money. Cash prizes began to be offered in the 1960s, replacing the traditional offering of a sack of rice or a cow. Since then the purses have grown.
The dynamics of wrestling in Dakar also changed with the introduction of a new set of rules that allow wrestlers to punch each other. Now violence has become an essential part of a sport that traditionally relied on complicated maneuvering and gymnastics.
"It's a foreign element. It comes from boxing," said Mbaye, who said that the more violent the game is, the more paying spectators it draws. "Now the only thing the young men care about is the amount of money they make."
Yakhya Diop Ndoye, 14, a spectator at a Dakar match, says he wrestles at home with his friends in the traditional style without hitting but that he dreams of becoming a professional athlete who can bloody his opponent with impunity.
"When they hit each other, they get more money," he said.
He and his friends hoot excitedly as two fighters exchange blows in the ring.
Violence isn't the only aspect of traditional wrestling to capture the popular imagination in recent years.
Wrestler named 'Mike Tyson'
In the mid-1990s Mike Tyson, whose real name is Mohamed Ndao, adopted an American flag as his symbol and ushered in a new era of Americana.
"It made people dream of going abroad," said Mbaye. Now even fighters in the villages sport American flags.
Kindergarten teacher Jeanne Faye, 31, said that for herself and for many other young people, Tyson's legendary 1999 victory over longtime champion Manga 2 brought the sport into the modern era.
"Wrestling was really traditional before," she said. "My father watched it, but I never did until Tyson beat Manga 2. He was the youngest fighter of his generation, and no one expected him to win."
For the youth of Senegal, where obedience to elders is still customary, the match was something of a coup.
"It was like young over old," said Faye. "Lots of my friends are interested now."
However, even in Dakar, where promoters can spend up to US$400,000 (more than euro300,000) to organize big fights, Sunday evening wrestling still reflects its rural roots. Praise singers are always on-hand to spin oral histories around fighters and invited guests, and as celebrity athletes grow wealthier, the spiritualism surrounding the match becomes more pronounced.
Mbaye explained that fighters now buy much more powerful magic than they ever could in the village.
