THE AFRICAN CONCEPT OF WRESTLING
“Life, without tradition, is death"
-Baba Balogun O. Abeegunde, Afrikan Martial Arts

Every tribe, or nation, in Africa has its own complex and complete martial arts systems.  In whatever language they speak, Africans, traditionally, refer to their martial arts simply as “wrestling”.  The African concept of wrestling, however, is quite different from the Asian or Western concept of wrestling.

In the African martial arts, to “wrestle” means to put your opponent on his back, belly, or side in order to render him more vulnerable to a finishing technique.  This goal can be achieved by any means: strikes, throws, sweeps, joint-locks, or weapon attacks.  Thus, if you hit your opponent in the head with a club and he falls from the force of the blow, you have – by African standards – wrestled him.





Creating Boundaries
"Eni ti o mo irora ko le je ojo "
-Awo Falokun Fatunmbi, Inner Peace

One of the key concerns of every young man is whether or not he will have the courage to defend himself and his family as an adult.  Most traditional male puberty rites include an extreme test of courage.  Following the test, the elder males define manhood and give admonitions on the appropriate and inappropriate uses of violence.  They might say Eni ti o mo irora ko le je ojo meaning the person who knows caution may not be a coward.  Then they will likely offer examples of why this bit of ancestral wisdom is true based on their life experience.  Another example would be to say Eni ti lo mo isasehin yio mo isegun meaning the warrior who does not know how to retreat will know defeat.  Both of these proverbs are designed to teach the young men the lesson of creating boundaries around their ability to properly defend their family.  One of the attractions of gangs in an urban environment is that they do provide a test of courage.  What is missing is the guidance from elders.