Lutte Traditionnelle

Lutte Traditionnelle (fr. for "Traditional Wrestling") is the name used to describe related styles of West African Folk wrestling, known as Laamb in Senegal, Boreh in The Gambia, Evala in Togo, and KoKowa or simply "Lutte Traditionnelle", in Niger and Burkina Faso. International competition takes place during the Jeux de la Francophonie and the newly organised .

Variation

Since the 1950s, a number of West African traditions have been assimilated into Lutte Traditionnelle as it has become a major spectator sport and cultural event. The major variation has become Laamb, or Senegalese Wrestling, which allows punching ("frappe"), the only of the West African traditions to do so. As a larger confederation and championship around Lutte Traditionnelle have developed since the 1990s, Senegalese fighters now practice both forms, called officially "Lutte Traditionnelle sans frappe" (for the international version) and "Lutte Traditionnelle avec frappe" for the striking version. [ [http://www.sports.gouv.sn/article.php3?id_article=63 Government of Senegal: COMITE NATIONAL DE GESTION DE LA LUTTE] .]

Goal

Two fighters compete in a circular ring, in more formal events bound by sand bags. Each fighter attempts to eject the other from the ring, though they can win by knocking the other off their feet or onto all fours. [See a guide to the sport at : [http://www.afrik.com/article8454.html Tout savoir sur la lutte sénégalaise] : interview with Abdou Wahid Kane, professor of the Sociology of Sport at the Institut national supérieur de l’éducation physique et du sport de Dakar. Badara Diouf, Afrik News, 30 May 2005. ]

International organisation

Lutte Traditionnelle has grown in organisation and popularity throughout much of Wes Africa since the 1980s. Alongside national championships in many nations, several organisations have organised international tournaments, which in turn have necessitated a harmonisation of rules. International competition takes place during the Jeux de la Francophonie and since 2000, is overseen by a coordinating body which organises the African Championship of lutte traditionnelle. In 2008, the Communauté économique des Etats de l'Afrique de l'ouest (CEDEAO/ECOWAS) organised its first international championship for Lutte Traditionnelle in Dakar, inviting teams from eleven nations: Senegal, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Gambia, Guinée Bissau, Togo, Liberia and la Côte d'Ivoire. Nigeria won the competition, marking the first time an Anglophone nation (outside the Gambia) has won a major Lutte tourney. [ [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/jeune_afrique/article_depeche.asp?art_cle=APA53838larbioaedec0 L'arbitrage décrié au tournoi de lutte traditionnelle de la CEDEAO] . APANEWS, 6 July 2008.]

References

*Portions of this article were translated from the German language Wikipedia article , and the French language article .
* [http://www.afrik.com/article75.html Le Niger gagne le championnat d’Afrique de lutte traditionnelle ] , Christophe Schmidt, Afrik News, 18 April 2000.
* [http://pagesperso-orange.fr/jacqver/texte/laluttetradit.htm La lutte traditionnelle africaine s'offre ses premiers championnats] , Le Monde 27 April 1995.
* [http://www.sports.gouv.sn/article.php3?id_article=63 Government of Senegal: COMITE NATIONAL DE GESTION DE LA LUTTE] .

External links

* [http://www.afrik.com/lutte Lutte] , Afrik News category for Lutte Traditionnelle newspaper reports.
* [http://gouren.nexenservices.com/breve.php3?id_breve=70 Report from the 29th annual Nigerien National Championship of the Lutte Traditionnelle] , 22 February 2008, Dosso, Niger.