Musangwe (Venda Bare-Knuckle Fighting)
The Venda bare-knuckle contest in Limpopo; fought at Christmas with no gloves, and winning brings no prize at all.
Quick Facts
South AfricaCharacter & Origin
Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
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About Musangwe (Venda Bare-Knuckle Fighting)
Musangwe is the traditional bare-knuckle contest of the Venda people in the South African province of Limpopo. It is held every year over the Christmas period, by local tradition without a break since the nineteenth century, and its main venue is a cattle dip near the village of Tshifudi. The fighting is with bare fists; gloves and any other protection are not allowed. Head-butts, knees and clinch work, by contrast, are permitted; striking an opponent who is already down is forbidden. A fight ends the moment one of the men bleeds, is knocked out or gives up; there is no time limit and no scoring. The entrants are divided into age categories that begin with boys called mambibi, aged nine to twelve, continue through rovhasize for those between thirteen and eighteen to the adult groups, and end with the oldest, who are known as the legends; the youngest fight in the morning so that spectators can arrive for the adult bouts in the afternoon. Winning brings neither money nor a prize. The point lies elsewhere: by its own tradition musangwe is meant to teach young men courage, respect and how a quarrel is settled and closed rather than allowed to grow into a long village feud. Historically it also served to pick out fighters. No founder and no year of origin are documented; this is a folk tradition without codified rules and without a governing body.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.