Nuba Wrestling
مصارعة النوبةTraditional wrestling of the Nuba from the Nuba Mountains in Sudan's South Kordofan. In Khartoum it became Sudanese wrestling, drawing thousands of spectators.
Quick Facts
SudanCharacter & 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 Nuba Wrestling
About Nuba Wrestling
Nubian wrestling is the traditional wrestling of the Nuba from the Nuba Mountains in Sudan's South Kordofan. The Christian Science Monitor wrote in 2015 that people used to wrestle only at harvest time, and Green (2001) states that wrestling in Sudan and Nigeria was usually tied to the farming cycle. According to the New York Review of Books, some Nuba date it to the second millennium BC. According to the New York Review of Books, wars drove many Nuba to the outskirts of Khartoum, and in 2001 the Nubian community there renamed the sport Sudanese wrestling. A 2022 dissertation by Hayes at the Australian National University states that Sudanese wrestling emerged over the last three to four decades from various rituals of the Nuba Mountains and draws thousands of spectators to a stadium in Khartoum. The rules differ by source. The Christian Science Monitor writes that whoever first touches the ground with his back loses. According to the New York Review of Books, in the mountains a knee or hand on the ground means defeat, while in Khartoum the loser must lie fully on the sand. Wrestlers rub themselves with ash, which according to the same publication absorbs sweat together with sand, makes gripping harder and, according to some, protects against the evil eye.
History
Green (2001) states that wrestling in Africa is known from Egyptian engravings and paintings of Sudanese Nubian wrestlers. The Christian Science Monitor writes that the Nuba come from the Nuba Mountains in Kordofan, about 400 miles south of Khartoum, and that among the mostly farming Nuba people wrestled only at harvest time. According to the New York Review of Books, children begin wrestling around the age of seven and champions are called faris, knights. According to the New York Review of Books, wars drove many Nuba to the outskirts of Khartoum, and the Haj Yusif district became a little Jebel Nuba. In 2001 the Nubian community there renamed the sport Sudanese wrestling. The 1991 film Nuba Wrestling by Rolf Husmann and Werner Sperschneider documents weekly tournaments of Nubian immigrants in Khartoum, which, according to its description, strengthen their ethnic identity in a hostile urban environment.
How it differs
The Japanese diplomat Murotatsu said, according to AFP from 2013, that Sudanese wrestling resembles freestyle wrestling and is completely different from sumo. According to CNN, the arena in Khartoum is much larger than in Olympic wrestling.
Technique
The Christian Science Monitor describes wrestlers with torsos smeared with ash and amulets on their arms. According to the paper, opponents lock heads and arms, charge each other and try to flip the opponent onto his back. The New York Review of Books writes that ash on the face and torso is, according to some, the only truly traditional wrestling attire and protection against the evil eye. According to the paper, the sand wrestlers rub on their hands and bodies with the ash absorbs sweat and makes gripping harder.
Competition
The Christian Science Monitor writes that whoever first touches the ground with his back loses, and that Khartoum bouts last four minutes, whereas in Kordofan they wrestle until there is a winner. According to the New York Review of Books, in the mountains defeat is a knee or hand on the ground, in Khartoum the loser must lie fully on the sand. When time runs out, usually after four or five minutes, the referee declares a draw. In Khartoum bouts end with the evening prayer, and in the mountains, according to the paper, people often wrestled by full moon. According to CNN from 2015, the arena in Khartoum is much larger than in Olympic wrestling and sand-covered. According to CNN, a Japanese coach taught Sudanese wrestlers the Olympic rules. According to CNN, Japan and Sudan launched the Wrestling Diplomacy project in August 2014.
Today
Hayes states in the dissertation that Sudanese wrestling draws thousands of ethnically diverse spectators and athletes, mostly from the working class, to a stadium in Khartoum. The Christian Science Monitor wrote in 2015 that people wrestle three days a week at the stadium in the al-Haj Yusuf district, that it is the most watched sport in Sudan after football and, according to the paper, the official national sport. According to it, fans slap banknotes onto the winners' foreheads, but prizes are not enough to live on. According to AFP, the government built the Haj Youssef stadium in 2010, and in 2019 bouts were suspended after the violent dispersal of protests on 3 June. After war broke out between the army and the RSF on 15 April 2023, wrestlers fought on both sides, according to the New York Review of Books, and some died. The wrestler Mudawi Hassan fled to Ethiopia.
Did you know
According to the New York Review of Books, a good bout often ends with the loser carrying the winner on his shoulders. The Christian Science Monitor lists wrestlers' nicknames such as The Fat Tiger, Influenza or Dictionary. According to AFP from 2013, bouts in Khartoum are accompanied by drums, dancers in feathered headdresses and an animal-horn trumpet.
Frequently asked questions
How do you lose in Nubian wrestling?
According to the Christian Science Monitor, by touching the ground with the back. According to the New York Review of Books, by a knee or hand on the ground in the mountains and by lying fully on the sand in Khartoum.
Why do wrestlers rub themselves with ash?
According to the New York Review of Books, for some ash is the only truly traditional attire and protection against the evil eye. Together with sand it absorbs sweat and makes gripping harder.
What is Sudanese wrestling?
According to the New York Review of Books, the name given to the sport in 2001 by the Nubian community in Khartoum. According to Hayes's dissertation, Sudanese wrestling emerged over the last three to four decades from rituals of the Nuba Mountains.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.