KOKOROGO OR KURUMBA WRESTLING IN BURKINA FASO: AN ATYPICAL TRADITIONAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON THE VERGE OF DISAPPEARING

In the Lorum provinces of Burkina Faso, people engaged in traditional games and physical activities to fill their leisure time or recreation. One such activity is wrestling, a recreational sport practiced and passed down through generations among the Kurumba or Fulcé people. By focusing on this traditional Kurumba wrestling, our objective is to understand the socio-cultural functions it fulfills within the Kurumba community. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used to collect data. The research reveals that traditional Kurumba wrestling reflects the Kurumba people\'s identity and serves as a channel for cultural and religious socialization. However, the results also show that this ancestral practice is disappearing despite its core values. The research suggests revitalizing it through codification to establish it as a local sport, followed by its integration into school curricula. Keywords: Kokorogo, wrestling, kurumba, tradition, socio-cultural functions