This is ‘Musangwe 2024’ – The art of war

Every Festive season since the 1800s, boys and men collect in the Tshifudi cattle dip to test their mettle. The Venda tribe in North East South Africa compete in a tournament held in Limpopo Province of North South Africa.

With temperature reaching over 30’C, men compete with little shade and shelter against others to prove themselves not only to others, but to themselves.

This used to be a ritual to select the bravest warriors, but in the modern day is used to usher young boys into manhood. It integrates a notion of identity and belonging.

Looking like regular boxing, the fist fighting escalates into unnatural, uncontrollable, and unpredictable pugilism. Musangwe also allows head butting, knees, and clinching. Fighting a knocked down opponent is against the rules, but people have been known to stomp on their opponent and taunt them to gain crowd support.

Once a downed competitor regains his composure the fighting starts back up. When a fighter wants to admit defeat, he raises both hands in the air in surrender. Winning the fights doesn’t normally offer any money or a reward. Fighters choose to participate in Musangwe because it feels empowering. The art of manlyhood in a traditional manner.