Darsele senza farsi male. Tecnica ed etica nell’apprendimento della pratica del gouren (la lotta bretone)

To wrestle and not to brawl. Technique and ethics in learning gouren (Breton wrestling), by Dario Nardini Breton wrestling (“gouren”) is a “traditional” style of grappling wrestling that is practiced in Brittany, France. During the last century, it has been transformed into a competitive and institutionalized sport. Notwithstanding, practitioners still feel inspired by what they call the “ancestral spirit” of gouren, that is supposed to date back to the Celtic origins of the practice itself. In line with this ascription, Breton wrestlers state gouren’s values are different from those that characterize other styles of competitive wrestling (such as competition, athletic performance, and aggression). Correspondingly, they collectively enhance the social, historical, cultural and convivial aspects of gouren, instead of pursuing sportive excellence. Therefore, even if the teaching methods of Breton wrestling have been elaborated by the Gouren Federation drawing on the model of the most popular contemporary combat sports, coaching in gouren is a mutual practice where any hierarchic division between the “Master” and apprentices is purposely avoided. Breton wrestling trainings happen in a social and mutual spirit, where everyone is involved, and anyone can be teacher and pupil at the same time. Through this particular coaching style, gouren aims to convey an ethic system, that corresponds to the moral characters that are (stereotypically) ascribed to the Breton ancestors that firstly adopted the practice – and therefore, ipso facto, to Breton culture and identity as well. Breton wrestlers collectively adhere to this regionally characterized system of values, that is also expressed by the way of teaching wrestling techniques.