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| Anti Lynching Parade in Washington, DC - Crisis Magazine, August, 1922. VOICE |
Musangwe Boxing is an ancient South African tradition that was
used to find the bravest of warriors and to teach men to fight for their tribe
and land. The Venda Tribe of South Africa is well known for continuing this
custom. Musangwe Boxing has only three rules. The fight can only end if one of
the fighters loses a massive amount of blood, someone is knocked out, or one of
the fighters raises his hand to give up. There are no scheduled match ups. Each
fight starts by a man coming into the center of a circle formed by the audience
with his hands raised. He then waits for someone in the audience to challenge
him. There is no money involved and the only reward is respect. It is taken
very seriously in South Africa and hundreds of people gather to watch each
battle. Many people would call this tradition barbaric or savage-like but I
disagree. It is their culture. It’s their tradition. It’s what they do and in a
time where many African Customs have been lost due to colonization, I think
it’s great that they are holding on to what their ancestors strived for.
“This is a sacred place. The blood of our forefathers and their
teeth have all fallen here. My grandfather was a fighter here in 1939 and then
my father, and then I started in the 1970s. There is so much crime these days.
Fighting here keeps the young men away from crime. It also teaches them not to
beat their women. They must be men to fight other men." African Fighter
Poison
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| Musangwe boxing |
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