Black Combat Arts Institute.
AFRICA · LIVING
Nguni stick fighting
A stick duel of southern Africa, known locally as Nguni, the favoured pastime of herdsmen and of the young. Two players fight at a time; participants may group into sides and take turns until a team emerges the winner, in bouts that can run for hours before a delighted crowd. Banned in parts of southern Africa for its bloodiness, it is still played in the rural areas, with trained and chosen fighters.
ORIGINS & SOCIAL FUNCTIONS
The favoured pastime of the herdsmen and the young of southern Africa, the Nguni stick fight belongs to the pastoral world: the stick is the herdsman's daily instrument before it is his weapon, and the duel is the school in which boys measure themselves before their peers. Judged too bloody, it has been banned in various parts of southern Africa, and has survived the bans in the rural areas, where fighters are trained and chosen.
THE GAME
A battle of sticks played by two people at a time. Participants may group themselves into sides and take turns until a team emerges as the winner; a game can last more than five hours, and is spectacular to watch. Opponents are advised to keep from hurting one another, the game can turn very bloody, and the fighters are trained and chosen, the spectators seated around in amusement. Banned in various parts of southern Africa, it is still played in the rural areas.
PLACE IN THE FAMILY
The herdsmen's duel of southern Africa extends the family's stick pole to its southern shore, alongside the mayolè of Guadeloupe, the cocobalé of Puerto Rico and the stick fighting of Trinidad. Its team rotation, sides taking turns until one emerges the winner, echoes the alternation of roles that the thesis identifies across the Black combat arts: the duel absorbed into a collective, regulated, spectacular form.
SOURCES
NAFIR, The Newsletter of the Nuba Mountains, Sudan, vol. 4, no. 1, April 1998.
HOW TO CITE THIS ENTRY
MALO, Olivier. Nguni stick fighting. In: The Atlas of the Black Combat Arts [online]. Black Combat Arts Institute, 2026. Available from: https://www.blackcombatarts.com/atlas-en/nguni-stick-fighting [accessed date].
RELATED PRACTICES
→ Moro stick fighting, Stick contest of the Nuba Mountains
→ Mayolè, Stick combat elsewhere in the family
→ Cocobalé, Stick and machete in the circle