Village Lutte

One of the nights of our weekend excursion to Toubacouta featured a traditional wrestling tournament in a nearby village. After having seen a big time lutte live in Dakar and watching them every weekend on tv it was really neat to see where it all comes from. There are some, not many, who claim that traditional wrestling in Dakar has become distastefully corporatized and has lost its “traditional sense”. That having been said, nearly all the same elements that I see in the stadiums of Dakar were present in the ring of this village (the name of which I’ve forgotten). The non-stop drumming and singing and the wrestler’s dancing, acts of intimidation, pre-fight rituals, and charms were all there, though to an understandably more modest extent. The dramatic showmanship of the wrestlers was also a testament to one way in which today’s more popular, “modern” form of lutte has influenced the traditional version.

From what I’ve gathered, lutte was originally a competition between villages in which each would select their best wrestlers to fight for the honor of the village or to settle disputes. The venue in this village consisted of a bunch of sticks connected with rope in a circle that designated the fighting arena.  All around the circle were spectators, drummers, and singers making it a really entertaining atmosphere for the event. It was really hard to follow the format of the tournament due to fact that there were always two fights going on at one time. We eventually gathered that it was the pretty typical knockout format with the winner advancing and the loser, often times, having an emotional meltdown as he had to be dragged out of the arena by companions or supporters. On this night the victor  (being interviewed here) took back to his village a 50-kilo bag of rice.

All in all it is pretty remarkable how similar my two live lutte experiences have been. In spite of the absence of a packed stadium, endorsements, hummers, and prizes equivalent to tens of thousands of dollars, the excitement and passion is still very much a part of the experience. Regardless of venue lutte is something I will watch whenever I get the chance, and something I will certainly miss every weekend when I leave.