Lutte Traditionnelle (fr. for ''Traditional Wrestling'') is a style of

West African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...

folk wrestling A folk wrestling style is any traditional style of wrestling, which may or may not be codified as a modern sport. Most cultures have developed regional forms of grappling. Europe Britain Traditionally wrestling has two main centres in Great ...

, known as Laamb in

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and in

The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

, Evala in Togo, and KoKowa / Kokawa in Hausa areas of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, or simply ''Lutte Traditionnelle'', in

and

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

. International competition takes place during the

Jeux de la Francophonie The Jeux de la Francophonie (Canadian English: ''Francophonie Games''; British English: ''Francophone Games'') are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the Francophonie, mostly French-speaking nations and former colonies of France ...

and the newly organised Championship of African Lutte Traditionnelle.

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. In Nigeria, and Hausa areas of Niger, Kokawa has become regularised to the West African standard. There the striking component has been hived off to a separate boxing event called Dambe. Both are performed on the same traditional ring, though Dambe has become the preserve of traveling cofraternaties of fighters.

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.

International organisation

Lutte Traditionnelle has grown in organisation and popularity throughout much of West 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

and since 2000, is overseen by a coordinating body which organises the African Championship of lutte traditionnelle. In 2008, the

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of twelve countries of West Africa. Collectively, the present and former members comprise an area ...

(ECOWAS) organised its first international championship for Lutte Traditionnelle in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, inviting teams from eleven nations: Senegal,

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

, Guinée Bissau,

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

and la

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

. Nigeria won the competition, marking the first time an Anglophone nation (outside the Gambia) has won a major Lutte tourney. 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 :de:Gambisches Wrestling, and the French language article :fr:Lutte sénégalaise.
Le Niger gagne le championnat d’Afrique de lutte traditionnelle
Christophe Schmidt, Afrik News, 18 April 2000.

Le Monde 27 April 1995.
Government of Senegal: COMITE NATIONAL DE GESTION DE LA LUTTE

External links

*
Lutte
Afrik News category for Lutte Traditionnelle newspaper reports. *
Report from the 29th annual Nigerien National Championship of the Lutte Traditionnelle
22 February 2008, Dosso,

. {{folk wrestling Sport in Africa Wrestling in Africa Sport in Senegal Sport in Niger Sport in Burkina Faso Sport in Togo Sport in the Gambia African martial arts Folk wrestling styles