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Table of Contents
Kenyan Indigenous Games #1: Wrestling (Enyameni, Ndikano)
A number of communities in Kenya practice traditional wrestling, including the Abagusii where it is known as enyameni and the Ameru where it is called ndikano.
Generally, these games feature two strong men, each preferably married, aged between 25 and 45 years.
These men battle it out in an open field with a charged crowd cheering them on.
Winning the game requires a combination of both strength and strategy. He who fells his opponent is declared the winner.
These traditional forms of wrestling risk losing their significance as people shift their interest towards foreign forms of wrestling.
Indigenous Kenyan Games #2: Stick Fights
You will find some sort of stick fighting among several different communities in Kenya, especially herding ones.
The sport is also very popular in Lamu on the Kenyan coast.
If you visit Lamu, you will often find crowds enjoying a stick fight at the waterfront.
This form of stick fighting is believed to have originated from Oman, which has historical ties with Lamu that stretch back more than a century.
Kenyan indigenous games are traditional forms of play and sport that developed within the country’s different communities and were passed down through generations. They include board games, physical contests, running and chasing games, throwing activities, wrestling, jumping games, memory games, and games involving singing, imitation or storytelling. Because Kenya is home to many different cultural communities, there is no single list of games that represents the entire country. The games associated with the Luo, Kikuyu, Kamba, Meru, Embu, Maasai, Luhya, Swahili and other communities can differ considerably.
These games traditionally served purposes beyond entertainment. Running, swimming, throwing and wrestling, for example, could develop abilities connected with hunting, fishing, defence and everyday life. Other games encouraged memory, calculation, observation, strategic thinking and cooperation. Games were also ways for older members of a community to pass knowledge and social values to younger people.
Indigenous Games in Kenya 3 & 4: Bao and Ajua
One of the best-known Kenyan indigenous games is Bao, a traditional mancala-type board game particularly associated with the Swahili coast. Different Kenyan communities have their own names and forms of related games. Among the Luo, for example, the game is known as Ajua, while related versions have been known as Giuthi among the Kikuyu and Ntotoi among the Samburu.
Bao involves moving seeds, stones or other counters around pits in a board. Players have to anticipate their opponent’s moves and make strategic decisions about where to distribute and capture counters. Consequently, the game involves considerably more mental calculation than its simple equipment might suggest.
Ajua has also had an important social dimension among the Luo. Recent scholarship describes it as a setting in which questions of age, gender and social identity could be expressed and negotiated. This illustrates how an indigenous game can tell us something about the society in which it developed, rather than being merely a pastime.
Traditional Games in Kenya: Kati and Other Children’s Games
Kenyan indigenous games also include many active children’s games. Kati, for example, is a traditional catching and throwing game involving two groups of players. Depending on the particular rules being used, some players remain inside a designated area while others attempt to hit them with a soft ball. Such games require agility, speed, dodging ability and teamwork.
Other games involve hopping, jumping or negotiating spaces marked on the ground. Ten-ten, for example, is a Kenyan form of hopscotch in which players hop through marked spaces while manipulating a small object. These games require balance, coordination and concentration while also providing opportunities for children to play together.
Rules of Traditional Wrestling and Tug of War in Kenya
Kenyan traditional wrestling and tug of war are examples of indigenous physical games that have been practiced in different forms by Kenyan communities.
They were not necessarily governed by one nationwide rulebook. Instead, rules could vary from one community, locality, age group or occasion to another. Historical accounts of Kenyan traditional sports describe wrestling and tug of war as games of physical challenge, alongside activities such as running, throwing and archery.
Rules of Traditional Wrestling in Kenya
Traditional wrestling in Kenya generally involved two competitors testing their strength, balance and ability to bring an opponent down.
One documented example comes from the Akamba, where a wrestling game called Ngindano was played by young boys.
Competitors were paired according to size and height, and spectators formed a circle around the wrestlers. The objective was to tumble the opponent, with the winner determined by the number of times each competitor fell.
This is important because there was not necessarily one set of “Kenyan traditional wrestling rules.”
The rules depended on the particular community and version of wrestling being played.
Common features included:
- Two wrestlers competed against each other.
Wrestling was normally an individual contest rather than a team game. - Competitors were matched according to physical characteristics.
In the documented Akamba version, boys were paired according to their size and height. This helped make the contest reasonably balanced. - The contest took place on a suitable surface.
Traditional Akamba wrestling was practiced in places such as grazing fields and river areas, particularly on relatively flat surfaces covered with grass or sand. - The objective was to bring the opponent down.
Rather than scoring points for individual techniques in the modern wrestling sense, traditional contests could determine victory by the number of times one wrestler managed to make the other fall. - The spectators helped define the playing area.
In the Akamba example, spectators formed a circle around the competitors. This created a boundary and prevented the wrestlers from simply moving away from the contest. - Strength was important, but technique mattered too.
A successful wrestler needed balance, timing, body control and the ability to take advantage of an opponent’s movement.
Traditional wrestling also had a social purpose. It could provide young people with physical training, recreation and an opportunity to demonstrate strength and skill. More broadly, traditional Kenyan sports were connected with community identity, character development and preparation for demanding activities.
Rules of Tug of War in Kenya
Tug of war has also existed as an indigenous Kenyan strength game. A particularly useful historical description comes from the Akamba, whose traditional version closely resembled modern tug of war. Teams pulled against each other using a rope, and the contest continued until one team was defeated according to the agreed rules.
The documented Akamba rules included several interesting details:
- Teams had equal numbers of players.
- Players were preferably of similar size.
- A rope was used, with the teams positioned on opposite sides.
- A centre line was marked on the ground.
- The team lost when its first member on the rope crossed the centre line.
- Teams could agree beforehand on how many pulls constituted a victory.
- A common arrangement involved two pulls, with a third pull if the score was tied 1–1.
- Before the main competition, teams could have practice pulls, which also served as a warm-up.
- Players had to remain steady and motionless before the start command.
- A designated boy gave the command to begin.
- Players could be disqualified for sitting down, using external support or crossing designated restriction lines.
- Participants were expected to observe instructions from the official or commander.
Modern educational versions of Kenyan indigenous tug of war simplify the arrangement. Two equal teams stand on opposite sides of a centre line, each holding the rope. When the starting command is given, both teams pull. The objective is to draw the opposing team across the designated line. Proper grip, stance, teamwork and sportsmanship are emphasized.
There has also been a more formally documented Kenyan tug-of-war ruleset. A 2015 rules document specifies eight players per team, one coach and four substitutes, with only the eight competing players on the ground during a pull. It also specifies restrictions on substitutions and states that players should not sit or lie down while pulling.
Traditional Wrestling vs. Tug of War
The two games test physical strength in very different ways. Traditional wrestling is primarily an individual contest, where one person’s balance, strength and technique are tested against another person’s. Tug of war is a team contest, where the combined strength, timing and coordination of several people determine the outcome.
Both, however, have something important in common: success depends on more than raw strength. A wrestler needs balance and timing, while a tug-of-war team needs its members to coordinate their pulling effort. This helps explain why these games were useful forms of physical training as well as entertainment.
For Kenyan communities, these games also formed part of a much larger indigenous sporting tradition. They provided opportunities for young people to compete, develop physical abilities, interact socially and learn rules of cooperation and discipline. Their modern versions may look familiar, but the traditional forms are particularly valuable for understanding how different Kenyan communities organized play and physical competition before modern organized sport became dominant.