NGUNI STICK FIGHTING

Nguni Stick Fighting is a stick fighting art that has been around for centuries and comes from the Nguni in South Africa. They use 2 sticks, one held in the middle by the left hand was for parrying and the other was held at the end in the right hand was for striking. All the boys do this in their leisure time, mostly during the dry months when not taking care of crop. Girls have been known to do it, but not as much. Boys were given their first stick when they are about 4 or 5 years old. Blows are usually aimed for the head and if a strike hits he yells "Yivume" which means "admit that the stick has reached you". If one successfully parries or blocks a strike they yell “Hlala” which means “You are foiled”. Stick fighting taught the members of society social values, gender roles (not necessarily good), worthy nature and respectability of physical endeavors. It allowed boys to assert themselves, achieve a social identity in competition with others, and possibly achieve a degree of “Independence” that is unavailable to the commoner.

Source

The basis for most of my information can be found at people.bu.edu/palegi/imidlalo.html