"Mexican Wrestling"



 

                                                                  



I remember the lackadaisical summer afternoons visiting my favorite cousin in the City of Tlaxcala, in central Mexico. My cousin Martin and I had a lot in common - the love of playing all day in the street, horseback riding, playing as young entrepreneurs engaging in small “businesses” that would earn us enough money for all the ice cream we could eat, or better yet, going to Lucha Libre, the idiosyncratic art of Mexican wrestling!


Free-style wrestling is practiced in Mexico with its own unique style. It truly is a mixture of raw athleticism and theatrical sequences. Wrestling remains a very popular spectacle nationwide, and in the summer season the league went to the City of Tlaxcala.


It is said that this sport was introduced in 1863 during the occupation of the French Empire in Mexico. In 1933 the Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (Mexican Wrestling Enterprise) company was founded. The founding of that organization was instrumental in turning wrestling from a regional pastime to a national phenomena. 



My father, who was very fond of wrestling and boxing especially, took my cousin and I to wrestling matches on many a hot summer afternoons. Of course, even with the heat we wore the masks of our favorite wrestlers!


The mask is the most sacred thing for the wrestlers because part of this folklore also contains a mystery as to the fighter's face, giving an element of “incognito” to the man behind the mask and thus each fighter has his own elaborate lore and legend. My cousin and I loved to learn about and recount the stories of each one of them. Even today the atmosphere of the audience is electric, full of energy and color. Maybe you want to witness a show like this one day and select your favorite fighter or and have his mask! I assure you that even through wrestling you will learn many words and expressions in Spanish! Gracias! Viva la lucha libre!


www.carlotaroa.com

www.spanishtodaytutoring.com




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