Laamb – la lutte sénégalaise
Pro Wrestling, Senegal Style – NYTimes.com
Senegalese wrestling (fr. Lutte sénégalaise, Njom in Serer language, Laamb in Wolof) is a type of Folk wrestling traditionally performed by the Serer people and now a national sport in Senegal and parts of The Gambia, and is part of a larger West African form of traditional wrestling (fr. Lutte Traditionnelle). The Senegalese form traditionally allows blows with the hands (frappe), the only of the West African traditions to do so. As a larger confederation and championship around Lutte Traditionnelle has developed since the 1990s, Senegalese fighters now practice both forms, called officially Lutte Traditionnelle sans frappe (for the international version) and Lutte Traditionnelle avec frappe for the striking version. Senegalese wrestling – Wikipedia
Laamb glossary:
laamb – traditional Senegalese wrestling. Laamb is the Wolof word for wrestling which is borrowed from Serer Fara-Lamb Siin (Fara of Mandinka origin whilst Lamb of Serer origin) the chief griot who used to beat the tam-tam of Sine called Lamb or Laamb in Serer. The lamb was part of the music accompaniment of wrestling in pre-colonial times as well as after Senegal’s independence. The Serer word for wrestling is njom which derives from the Serer word jom (heart or honour). In French it is called Lutte sénégalaise.
gris-gris (pronounced gree-gree) – also spelled grigri, is a voodoo amulet originating in Africa which is believed to protect the wearer from evil or brings luck, and in some West African countries is used as a method of birth control. It consists of a small cloth bag, usually inscribed with verses from the Qur’an and containing a ritual number of small objects, worn on the person. Although the exact origins of the word are unknown, some historians trace the word back to the African word juju meaning fetish. An alternative theory is that the word originates with the French joujou meaning doll or play-thing.
mbër – Laamb wrestler.
bàkk – a type of dance performed before a match. (not sure if this is something that is still done or something that was done before it became a national sport)
Janga Wolof 