Leonese fight

The Leonese wrestling or aluche is a traditional autochthonous sport from the Spanish province of León. It is a custom and tradition transmitted orally from generation to generation, maintained through the centuries to the present day, which has been adapted to the forms and conventions of modern sport without losing its own essence, becoming a federated practice. with regular competitions.

It was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest of an intangible nature on June 29, 2017.

Name

The Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia defines "fight" as a fight between two, in which, holding each other with both hands of their respective leather belts, each tries to find his opponent on land, according to certain rules; it's popular fun.

With these terms aluche or luche, aluchar and other derivatives, we understand all those fighting activities that take place in the province of León and geographically or culturally related areas, and known as Lucha Leonesa.

Aluche is a sport that has been practiced since time immemorial, which was transmitted orally from parents to children generation after generation, and which has remained alive to this day, becoming one of the oldest sports in Spain.

Territorial and temporal scope

The traditional practice of the aluche spread following the routes of Transhumance and was preserved mainly in the northeastern area of the province of León, updating from the twenties of the century XX with his transfer to the capital. The aluche groups are held mainly in towns that have been integrated into two areas, the Mountain and the Ribera, areas divided by the León-Bilbao railway line.

Traditionally, the groups formed in the summer festivals but in reality there was never a clear link with the annual or festive cycles. At present there is a competition calendar that includes a winter league and a summer league.

History

This type of fighting activities are common to all cultures of humanity and have a remote origin, for entertainment purposes and related to one's own subsistence.

Estrabón, in his description of the customs of the ancient Hispanic peoples, points out that fighting was a common practice among the inhabitants of the northwest of the peninsula. During the Middle Ages, fighting was included as part of the education of knights, along with other arts such as chess, making verses or shooting arrows, and in this way it appears in different documents such as Disciplina Clericalis by Pedro Alfonso, Vidal Mayor, written by Vidal de Canellas, the Siete Partidas of Alfonso X the Wise, the Book of Good Love of the Archpriest of Hita, or in the work of Juan del Encina or Miguel de Cervantes.

At the end of the XV centuries-XVI, the use of gunpowder in wars will impose a new type of confrontation and strategy and, consequently, important changes will be produced in the character and sense of the fight, which will go from being an exercise exclusive to nobles in their training for war, to an activity practiced fundamentally by the people.

It is from this moment that we find the first direct news about the Leonese struggle between the shepherds, in the Satirical Colloquios, of 1553 by Antonio de Torquemada, and in The seven books Diana, by Jorge de Montemayor. Likewise, in the 1586 work by Pedro de la Vecilla Castellanos, El León de España, Cantos IV y V, we find a detailed description of the Leonese struggle, framed in the province of León. Other quotes and references are also collected in works by Miguel de Cervantes.

Pascual Madoz, in the Geographical-statistical-historical dictionary of Spain and its overseas possessions, in the voice "La Vecilla", clearly refers to a type of struggle that, unlike other struggles Existing in the peninsula, it was not carried out with arm's length, but rather by grabbing clothes or a belt, although this point is not specified.

In 1913, Antonio de Valbuena in his work Caza Mayor y Menor, wrote an extensive study on the development of the aluches, their tricks, grips and everything related to the fight in Pedrosa del Rey.

Until 1930, the year in which wrestling from León became a federated sport, with a regulatory organization and regulations, integrated within the Spanish Federation of Wrestling and Associated Disciplines, they existed in the northwest of Spain, under the name of traditional fighting games, different types of fights and forms of grappling.

Originally, the aluche was an activity related to different professions and trades, practiced by ranchers, shepherds, millers, stonemasons, etc., as a game that was learned together with the traditional trade, which was practiced both at work and in the celebrations and festivities and that was transmitted orally from parents to children.

Traditionally, wrestling was the indispensable festive activity in all festivities and pilgrimages; if there were no fights there was no party. It is a traditional game inherited from antiquity, for some a heritage of Romanization and for others with a Celtic origin. It began with the cry of "Is there anyone who fights or do I wear shoes?", a formula that survives in the traditional circle that confronts two regions divided by the Hullero del Norte, Montaña against Ribera.

Traditionally, the aluches worked outside the rules and regulations, always respecting the ancient traditions and customs of their ancestors transmitted exclusively orally. In the absence of written regulations, numerous variants with their own characteristics were developed, which have been disappearing as regulated fighting has been imposed.

In 1920, on the occasion of the IX Centenary of the Fuero de León, what for some was the first regulation was drafted, although in reality it only contains a brief and concise description of the regulations; in a second attempt in 1929, Olegario Llamazares drafted the Bases of the Aluches. But in reality it was not until 1933 when what we can call the first wrestling regulation was drafted, in which the different variants existing up to now were unified, the attire was unified, the grip on the belt was imposed and they were described in a different way. specific and detailed falls and other rules to follow.

Currently, wrestling is a federated sport, with clubs for its practice, schools for its teaching and follows a regulatory norm, developing its most followed matches by the fans between June and October, the Summer League or Trophy of the Regularity, which in many cases brings together up to 2,500 people in towns of less than 250 inhabitants, which multiply their population by up to ten percent on these occasions.

Description

Basically, the wrestling from León is a fight between two contestants, who, holding their belts with both hands, and using strategies known as tricks, fight to knock down the opponent and take him to the ground.

There are different variants and modalities of fighting in other parts of the world, the Galhofa in Portugal; the Gouren in Brittany; the Glima in Iceland; the Schiwingen in Switzerland; the Backhold in Scotland; the Sardinian Strumpa, the Bukc or Khuresh from Mongolia; the Korean Ssireum; Sumo, also known as the fight of the gods, originally from Japan; the Laamb of Senegal or the Tarahumara in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

Likewise, the aluche presents a clear relationship with traditional struggles, today practically disappeared, that took place in Spain in other provinces. In Zamora, "the turns or tangles" of Muga de Sayago and the one that was practiced in the Guareña region, very similar to the "Valto" Leonés. In Salamanca, "the fight of the cross or fight of the flag", and in Palencia, "throw to the belt" or the "aluche montañés" that were practiced in Guardo and Velilla. In Cantabria the "engarrucha y aluches", "emboticar" and "take a few turns"; in Asturias, "la Trincha", "la lucha de vueltar" and "la lucha del corro"; the "loita" in Galicia; the "fight of Roncal" in the Pyrenees and "try to join" in the Balearic Islands.

Faced with all these manifestations, the aluche or Leonese fight, presents its own and differentiating characteristics, being together with the Canarian fight, the only two traditional fights that have managed to survive in modern times in our country.

Modes and characteristics of the game

Scenario of the struggle

Leon fight race in La Mata de Curueño

The circle is the space for the fight, made up of the people who attended the show. This term, run, also defines the fighting activity itself. On special occasions, grandstands were built and in some cases circles or wrestling rings were built. Currently there are wrestling venues in towns such as Gradefes, Villafruela, Villafañe, Mansilla de las Mulas, Riaño or in the city of León.

The ring is eighteen meters in diameter, it will be on grass when the fight takes place outdoors and on mats indoors.

Indumentary

The clothing consists of simple shorts and a linen or cotton T-shirt. The wrestler performs barefoot. Traditionally the grip was the pants themselves, but the use of the belt was regularized and imposed in the first half of the XX century. At present, the regulatory tanned leather belts, three centimeters wide, are used. The wrestlers hold each other upright, starting from a position in which the belly of both is separated between 10 and 15 centimeters, one hand in front and the other in the middle of the back.

Duration of combat

The current norm establishes that fights are usually fought with two "whole" falls (which can be achieved with the sum of "halves") and with a maximum duration of each fight of one minute and thirty seconds, lasting up to three minutes in the finals.

Mañas

Lion fight

It is the name given to the technical gestures used to demolish the opponent, which in the Leonese wrestling can be performed using arms or legs. The arms hold, "pull", pull or push, but do not hit or release the hands from the grip. This is undoubtedly one of the singularities of the Leonese fight compared to other fights such as the Canary Islands.

Among the best-known tricks are the hip hit, the swing, and the cadrilada, which consists of lifting the opponent, using the hip support, "cadril" in León. The tricks executed using legs are the most numerous and have multiple variants.

Among the simplest, the one known as the zancajo, consists of locking the opponent's leg, to make him fall, being also very practiced the garabito, the finger, the median, etc.

Trophy

Traditionally there were prizes that, depending on the importance of the group, ranged from the typical roscón or marzipan, sometimes shared with the loser, to the rooster or lamb and on some occasions a cash prize. From this traditional custom, the prize of the "marzipan" for the wrestler who defeats the most rivals and the "rooster" for the one who remains standing after the last fight survives in the "Montaña contra Ribera" ring. And from this, the name of the champions as "roosters" survives. At present, competitions usually have trophies and cash prizes as prizes.

Oral heritage and associated material

The Leonese wrestling has its own vocabulary associated with it. The peculiar words used in the game, as well as the set of sayings and expressions, sayings and proverbs associated with this field, have endured throughout the centuries and single out and identify this sport.

The word «trick», which has semantic connotations referring to skill and experience, takes on a special meaning here with the well-known saying «trick is better than strength».

The names of some tricks, such as tripping, tripping or three feet, have been incorporated into everyday language.

The importance of the aluches in the culture of Leon has left its mark on art, both in sculpture, painting and engraving. The Romanesque miniature in a codex of the XII century, kept in the Archive of San Isidoro de León, stands out, as well as the Romanesque one, the corbel of the apse of the Monastery of Santa María de Gradefes and the capital of the interior of San Isidoro de León or the Gothic of the cloister of the Cathedral, with scenes that are probably the oldest representations of the Leonese fight, notable examples of the importance and meaning of the struggle in the society of the moment and at present.

Leon wrestling is a traditional autochthonous sport, legacy of a custom and tradition maintained through the centuries that has been adapting to the forms and conventions of modern sport without losing its own essence, becoming a federated practice with competitions regular and organized, which is part of the historical-cultural heritage of the autonomous community of Castilla y León. By virtue of its traditional character and current validity, it is part of European and international organizations and is integrated into competitions in these fields in which struggles of popular origin are a sports, cultural and social link.

Transmitted orally from generation to generation as a usage or custom that favors sportsmanship and nobility, currently the Leonese wrestling is the oldest sporting event held in León, one of the oldest in Spain and Europe, and enjoys deep social roots and growing vitality.