CANARIAN WRESTLING Freakie-Do

CANARIAN WRESTLING

Freakie-Do

Canarian Wrestling is the traditional sport par excellence. From its creation to the present day, it has had periods of both darkness and splendor, and even prohibitions. It is a sport that far from creating conflicts, has united different peoples of the Archipelago with a common goal: to preserve, above all, this symbol of Canarian identity.

According to the technical regulations of the Canarian Fight approved in La Laguna (Tenerife) in 1989, it tells us that:

«»The Canarian Wrestling is a vernacular sport of the Canary Islands, characterized by its skill and nobility, having as a basic principle the imbalance of the opponent until he makes him touch the ground with any part of his body other than the sole of the foot using the called tricks or techniques, both hands and feet»».

HISTORICAL TOUR

The origin of the Canarian Fight goes back a long time, although there are discrepancies about it. In 1527 Viera y Clavijo tells that the advance party organized a fight in order to celebrate the birth of Felipe II. The journalist Antonio Ayala maintains that, after the Conquest of the Islands, wrestling was exported to Switzerland since there is a practice there that had many similarities; theory that has been countered by other sectors, arguing that the fight is of pre-Hispanic origin. >One of the many problems we encountered is that, among some of the chroniclers, there was a general apathy when it came to being faithful to reality, since for many of these chroniclers everything that was wild, primitive and pagan was not worth mentioning, so the information has reached us in a totally biased way.

At the beginning of the 1940s, specifically in 1943, the first Spanish Wrestling Federation (F.E.L) was established and had its headquarters in Tenerife, and later a provincial split took place.

FEATURES

The Canarian Fight consists of one of the two fighters knocking down the other, enough for the latter to touch the ground with part of his body except with the sole of his foot. The fight takes place on a circular terrain called "terrero", which is made up of two concentric circles with diameters Generally, the terrain is made of sand or beaten earth, but also, depending on the place, the floor can be made of modern materials, as is the case with tatamis, which are normally used for the practice of martial arts.

Initially, these terreros were located in public squares, and could be indoors or open, as is the case of the bullring in Tenerife, or the Campo de España in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

In times past, the wrestling arose spontaneously in rural areas after the working day, or in urban areas such as beaches or parks where there was adequate land for the practice of sport, in this way it begins to fight individually or forming bands or piles.

This is how small trips between neighborhoods, municipalities, and even islands, for the competition, begin to generalize.

When the regulations were established in the 1940s, some styles disappeared and new rules, weight categories, teams, etc. appeared.

The agarrada is the confrontation between two fighters; It begins when they «grab» each other the right mouth of the pant with the left hand and the other hand in the sand.

Each team is made up of 12 fighters, winning the fighter who obtains one or two partial victories.

The grips originate different terms of application of the same (art, skill, geito). Among the tricks or gripping techniques are the most common, which are the following: Donkey, Thigh Grab, Cango, Pardelera, Touch Inside, Touch Back, Chascón, etc.

Within the teams, there is the figure of the Puntal, which is the fighter who meets outstanding technical and physical conditions. In turn, there is also the figure of the Mandador, who is the person in charge of selecting the fighter to jump onto the ground.

FUTURE OF THE CANARIAN FIGHT

It can be affirmed that the Canarian Fight is fully established throughout the Canary Archipelago. Considerable investments have been made in terms of building infrastructure for the practice of this sport, while many private entities act as sponsors.

It could be said that Lucha Canaria has a greater number of followers in rural areas and especially on the islands.

On the other hand, the institutions have created Schools jointly with the School Federations. A project for the dissemination and practice of this sport, not only in the insular area, but through exchanges with Latin American countries such as Venezuela and Cuba, where there is a wide representation of descendants of Canarian emigrants, who have transmitted the island traditions to their children.

BIBLIOGRAPHY For the elaboration of this section it was necessary to consult several works among which are: ANTEQUERA AMOR, F.J., (1996): Canarian wrestling, more than just a sport. Canarian Popular Culture Center, Madrid.

MATEOS SANTANA, A., (2000): The Canarian Wrestling, Essence of a unique sport. Canarian Wrestling Federation, Sports Directorate of the Government of the Canary Islands.