Black Combat Arts Institute.
AFRICA · EXTINCT
Gbe
A wrestling of the North of Ivory Coast, practised by the Senufo people, in two variants: to the tom-tom, built on strength; to the balafon, where the leg sweep is the only hold sought. A takedown is scored as soon as any part of the body other than the feet touches the ground.
ORIGINS & SOCIAL FUNCTIONS
A wrestling of the Senufo people of northern Ivory Coast, living in two variants — one to the tam-tam, one to the balafon: two orchestras, two temperaments of the same game.
THE GAME
To the tam-tam, a wrestling of strength; to the balafon, the sweep is the only grip sought. The takedown scores the instant any part of the body but the feet touches the ground.
PLACE IN THE FAMILY
The gbe's two variants demonstrate the family's central law: the music is not accompaniment but rule — change the orchestra and the game itself changes, from force to finesse. The balafon variant, all sweeps, refines the vertical pole to a single permitted weapon: constraint as the engine of art.
SOURCES
Olivier Malo, La capoeira et les arts de combat noirs : histoire effacée, techniques invisibles, 1905–1984, doctoral thesis in History, Université des Antilles, 2020.
HOW TO CITE THIS ENTRY
MALO, Olivier. Gbe. In: The Atlas of the Black Combat Arts [online]. Black Combat Arts Institute, 2026. Available from: https://www.blackcombatarts.com/atlas-en/gbe [accessed date].
RELATED PRACTICES
→ Gba sée sé — Neighbouring Ivorian wrestling
→ Zida — Leg sweep, ground contact scores
→ Galico — Striking wrestling