
The Gris-Gris Wrestlers of Senegal - samsolomon
https://maptia.com/christianbobst/stories/the-gris-gris-wrestlers-of-senegal
======
soneca
This article is very well written and gives a great notion on the sport. At
least from another foreigner point of view who lived there for only about 2
months.

One interesting thing I noticed is that the very big role of magic at the
fights doesn't fundamentally change how the sport is perceived and followed as
social and cultural phenomenom.

I would assume it would be followed with some trace of religious approach, but
no. It is the same of how other sports are followed on other countries and
particularly similar to fight sports with long preparations and relatively
short matches.

------
uniclaude
Very impressive photography work in this article.

I would really like to see how this type of wrestling evolves in the next few
years, and if we'll see champions try to join international MMA leagues like
UFC.

~~~
soneca
This kind of wrestling, as all _wrestling_ I can think of, has nothing to do
with MMA. This fights are much more similar to olympic wrestling than any
martial arts. It is actually less _physical_ or _violent_ (not sure what word
to use here) than olympic wrestling. Is all about getting the opponent to the
floor under some rules and then the fight is over.

Very different sports.

~~~
eru
It perhaps closer to Judo, if anything?

~~~
bane
Here's what it looks like in action:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHWw9UKzHAo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHWw9UKzHAo)

Surprisingly similar to games like Swiss Wrestling:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRJQpXMAm3E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRJQpXMAm3E)

And Korean
Ssireum:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5eyvFYjxgA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5eyvFYjxgA)

And Mongolian Wrestling: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry-
OuWGhjVg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry-OuWGhjVg)

And to a point even Sumo:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyA4kW-Y5rE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyA4kW-Y5rE)

And Igbo:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYkarWIhTDg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYkarWIhTDg)

Turns out it just seems to be a pretty human kind of thing to do.

------
pimlottc
Fantastic article! Vice also did an segment on Senegalese wrestling in their
HBO series, which included one of their reporters going through training and
competing in an actual match:
[https://youtu.be/2QtfxYOkXIA](https://youtu.be/2QtfxYOkXIA)

