Black Combat Arts Institute.
AFRICA · EXTINCT
Bara-bara
A wrestling style of Upper Guinea, practised by the Malinké. The bout begins at a distance of at least one metre; every grip is then allowed, loincloth included. Victory when the back, belly, sides or nape touch the ground; the fight may continue on the ground.
ORIGINS & SOCIAL FUNCTIONS
A wrestling style of Upper Guinea, practised by the Malinké, village contests where the young men's worth is measured before the community, in the West African world of wrestling as institution.
THE GAME
The combat begins at a distance of at least one metre; every grip is then permitted, loincloth included. Victory when the back, belly, flanks or nape touch the ground; the struggle may continue on the ground itself.
PLACE IN THE FAMILY
The bara-bara belongs to the great Sahelian-Guinean takedown pole: the fall as sole verdict, here extended to ground fighting. Its open grip code, everything permitted once the distance is closed, makes it one of the family's most complete wrestling grammars, the base from which the more constrained games carve their paradoxical rules.
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. Bara-bara. In: The Atlas of the Black Combat Arts [online]. Black Combat Arts Institute, 2026. Available from: https://www.blackcombatarts.com/atlas-en/bara-bara [accessed date].
RELATED PRACTICES
→ Tyori, Loincloth wrestling, Guinea
→ Kokowa, Takedown when the back touches
→ Krikara watita, Bringing the opponent onto the back