Boxing. MMA. Tough guy sports that most of us would say were the hardest sports. But then again most of us haven’t been to West Africa, have we? So we haven’t seen two dudes fight ‘Dambe‘ style…
Similar to boxing, it’s an ancient sport that sees two men fight in a kickboxing style, but there’s one vital difference… The striking arm (usually the right) is wrapped in cloth and cord.
Backstreet and illegal Dambe fighting will sometimes see fighters then dip that cloth/cord wrap in sticky resin and then tiny shards of broken GLASS.
Sometimes fighter don’t leave ‘the ring’ alive…
The left hand is called ‘The Shield’ and is only for blocking blows or holding, not hitting. The wrapped right hand is for smacking with.
Sometimes the lead leg is even wrapped with chain…
Each fight is split into three rounds. Though there is no time limit per round. Instead, a round ends when one of these three things happens:
1) There is deemed to be no fighting or activity.
2) A fighter or official calls a stop to the round.
3) Someone’s body touches the ground.
Here’s a news report from CNN on it featuring a fight. This is brutal stuff…
