Loita Galega (Galician Wrestling)
A Galician folk wrestling style with a grip on work trousers called maón or a belt called faixa. Fifteen seconds of control over the opponent or a lead in points wins.
Quick Facts
SpainCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Loita Galega (Galician Wrestling)
About Loita Galega (Galician Wrestling)
Loita galega is a Galician folk wrestling. The name is also written luta galega, a Castilianised form, and in Galician the correct form is loita. The grip is taken on sturdy work trousers called maón or on a belt called faixa, so the bout is fought through clothing. Wrestlers fight barefoot in a ring that was historically about 3.30 metres wide, marked by a threshing floor of straw sheaves. Today the fighting area is four metres. Under A Cambadela club rules, the winner holds the opponent under control for fifteen seconds, gains a lead of ten points or performs a technique worth four points. Folk tradition names no founder. According to Galicia Confidencial, the oldest evidence is a document from 1812, which also mentions wrestling by women. Wrestling by girls and women is also described by Rosalía de Castro in Follas Novas from 1880 and Emilia Pardo Bazán in the story El Molino from 1900. Before unification, regions had their own forms: xogar ás abarcas, tumba or os caiados. Research into the tradition began in 1986 at a meeting in Ourense. Today it is kept alive mainly by the club A Cambadela, which the newspaper says gets no institutional support.
History
According to Galicia Confidencial, a document from 1812 held in the Biblioteca Mundial del Deporte describes wrestling in Galicia, including wrestling by women. We have not verified the primary document ourselves. Rosalía de Castro described wrestling by young men and women in Follas Novas from 1880, and Emilia Pardo Bazán wrestling by girls in the story El Molino from 1900. The dictionary of Marcial Valladares from 1885 lists the verb aloitar. According to materials of the club A Cambadela, the tradition lived on until the fifties or sixties of the twentieth century and then only in some areas, for example part of the province of Lugo. Research began in 1986 at a meeting in Ourense, led among others by Severino Gómez, the club's technical director.
How it differs
Unlike Olympic wrestling, loita galega allows grabbing the trousers and the faixa in throws, and after a fall the bout may continue on the ground. Strikes, pinching, grabbing the fingers and face and putting hands on the head are forbidden. It differs from the León lucha leonesa in that the grip is not limited to the belt.
Technique
Maón are sturdy blue or black work trousers. Sailors folded them about four fingers above the knee, farmers four fingers below. The faixa protected the belly and was also used for carrying loads. In throws, both trousers and faixa may be grabbed. In the abarcas style, each opponent holds one arm over the shoulder and the other under it, and the hands must not be released. The club A Cambadela divides techniques into four groups: perna, cadril, ombro and rolo.
Training
Wrestlers go barefoot, trousers rolled to the knees. According to the club A Cambadela, faixa colour marks technical level. The club, based in A Estrada, aims to promote the wrestling, analyse throws and unify the rules. We have not been able to find a training schedule in the sources.
Ranks and progression
By club rules, a partial touch of the back scores one point and a full touch two. Staying on one's feet adds a point, and so does pushing the opponent out of the ring. The bout ends with fifteen seconds of control over the opponent, a ten-point lead, three throws worth two points or a technique worth four points. The fighting area, the círculo vivo, is four metres across with a seven-metre protective zone. Historically wrestlers used a ring of straw sheaves about 3.30 metres across.
Today
Today the wrestling is kept alive mainly by the club A Cambadela, which according to Galicia Confidencial gets no institutional funding and pays for promotion itself. The club works with the Federación Galega de Loita on unifying competition rules and published its competition regulations in 2014. We have not found a declaration as cultural heritage or a UNESCO inscription.
Did you know
Wrestling took place not only on threshing floors at harvest time but also on barns, river barges, beaches and in fishing harbours. Local names for the wrestling include xogar ás abarcas, a tumba, os caiados, chimpa or tombadela. The caiados variant often began on the knees or on the ground.
Frequently asked questions
What do you grab in loita galega?
Sturdy work trousers called maón or a belt called faixa. Both are allowed in throws.
How do you win in loita galega?
According to the rules of the club A Cambadela, by fifteen seconds of control over the opponent, a lead of ten points, three throws worth two points or a technique worth four points.
Did women wrestle loita galega too?
Yes. Wrestling by women is mentioned in a document from 1812 and was also described by Rosalía de Castro and Emilia Pardo Bazán.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.