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 Traditional sports |
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The native inhabitants of Gran Canaria are proud of the rich culture that they have sustained over the years. And this culture is powerfully manifested in their traditional sports, many of which are still being practiced up until now.
Gran Canaria s traditional sports signify many things to its players. It could mean a display of nobility, valour and artistry; or indigenous sports that demonstrate the richness and variety of the traditions. It could mean the development of great expertise in the handling of sticks and poles as a means for defense, or the learning of disciplines to cultivate skill and strength physically, mentally and even spiritually. Indeed, there s no doubt about it that traditional sports, for the natives, mean more than just a game of fun.
Here s a peek of what some are all about.
Levantamiento y pulseo de la Piedra (Stone Lifting and Pushing)
This is definitely not a game for sissys as it requires enormous physical strength and agility, as well as an efficient technique. The mechanics of the game is to lift and raise an extremely heavy stone to the height of the stomach, and then it is raised to the chest and shoulders and then further up. When the stone is directly above the head it is then called pulseo de la piedra (pushing the stone). This is the climax of the game, at the risk of the contestant s head.
This sporting activity originated in the rural areas where peasant farmers are able to display their strength and skill to their comrades, after a grueling day of work. The shape of the stone sometimes is varied especially since there is greater difficulty in getting a grip on certain stones with odd contours. In this case, it takes greater strength and skill to lift the stone if it is of a difficult shape.
Levantamiento del Arado (Plough Lifting)
Another game that is not for the weak of body, plough lifting requires enormous physical strength and utmost concentration. The mechanics of the game is simple since it is just to lift a plough. However, the hard part is that the plough can weigh as much as one hundred kilograms and it has to be lifted until it is into a vertical position.
Another version of the game, but equally as difficult, is to lift the plough into a semi-horizontal position and to hold that position while doing a full turn. For starters, lifting the plough entails the contestant to first grab the yoke, which measures no less than four meters in length.
In case you think lifting the plough is the worst part, you are terribly wrong. Putting down the plough is actually the most difficult part of the entire game. Sudden drops of the plow can merit a disqualification therefore the contestant has to lower down the plough slowly, in excruciating agony, all the while, showing it to the public. Sometimes, the contestant even has to stop halfway to do a complete turn before the yoke or other parts of the plough are set gently on the ground.
El Salto del Pastor (The Shepherd´s Leap)
El salto del pastor or the shepherd s leap is a practical game, born from a culture that saw the need to develop a certain skill - the skill to leap across mountains and be nimble as a little boy shepherd. This need was inevitable, what with Gran Canaria s unusual mountain landscape of difficult terrain, natural obstacles, large ravines, steep rocks and treacherous cliffs.
Because of this, the natives had to develop the skill and technique of crossing over through the use of a long wooden pole which they called a garrote. This wooden pole has a metal point fitted at its tip which is known as the regatón. With the aid of this pole, it made it easier for them to traverse across hills and steep rocks, as well as ravines, trenches, and slopes.
To develop this skill, the mechanics of the game then is to place the regatón upon the earth where one is standing, after which one jumps and slides down the pole to navigate a steep drop, repeating the leap and slide movement as many times as is necessary to reach the bottom of the ravine.
Aside from this test of mobility in the ravines, the garrote is also used elsewhere. This would include climbing up and jumping over walls, fast descents down steep rocks, calculated leaps, acrobatic leaps and leaps of enumerable styles.
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Juego del Palo (Stick Fighting)
This sport requires skill and balance under pressure, and even grace epically, since it involves agility in the wrists, arms, hips and feet. But don t take me wrong, this is not contained to be a girl s sport. A lot of factors matter in this game: the stances of the fighters, the characteristic manner in which the sticks are held, and most especially, how they are from moved one end and twirled to one s advantage.
The aim of the game is simply to "score," which takes in the form of hits through contact. This contact however, is restricted to the protected parts of the body only.
Techniques used in this sport include the following: "atajes" and "parados" refer to defensive blocking moves; "cuadras" refers to the stances that the contenders adopt; "mandados" and "tirados" are methods for attacking with the sticks.
In Juego del Palo, the sticks may differ in size but it is important that they are chosen with certain characteristics in mind, ahead of time. The right pole proves to be a major factor in getting a win for the game.
Lucha del Garrote (Pole Fighting)
Lucha del Garrote (Pole Fighting) is a game of irony, perhaps the toughest of them all. In this game it is of relatively lesser significance whether one has strength or not, for the aim is to defeat one s opponent without doing him harm.
This game is almost too noble to be called a fight. The techniques used in this sport are the unique enganches or method for immobilizing the opponent s pole and the revoleadas, or the technique of creating an opening for attack. In addition, there s also the zapatas and trabas that are used to knock one s opponent down. Lucha del Garrote or pole fighting has two characteristic attacking movements called el braceo and mudar las manos . However, in line with the note of irony in this game, it is not the size that matters, but the performance. It is not the strength, but the technique. And so with the weapons they use, the poles, winning is not determined by how strongly or largely they are made but on how the poles are gripped and wielded.
This form of fighting originated from a Canarian herdsman who had learned of using the poles with a different but not necessarily stronger technique. It started as a mere support tool in moving about on difficult terrain and later flourished to be a most reliable weapon to defend the herdsmen whenever the circumstances required.
Arrastre de Ganado (Pulling with Livestock)
In the arena of Arrastre de Ganado, both men and beast play together, with the men struggling to tame and conquer the beast. Unless they do so, they will not be a winner. Originating and popular in rural areas, this sports activity is done with animals -- cows and bulls in particular. The mechanics of the game is not as easy as it might sound - that of getting the livestock to drag a weight over a terrain in the shortest time possible.
As measured in the yoke, the weight that the livestock has to drag differs according to the category, but it ranges from 600 to 800 kg for cows and 800 to 1,100 kg for bulls.
The handler is known as the guayero or the boyero. There are certain factors that dictate the win of this game, first of which is the the skill of the handler. Beyond this, there s the strength of the yokes as well as the conditions of the terrain and the treatment of the animals. Animals may or may not be punished either during or after the competition, but there are no restrictions once the games begin.
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