August 26, 2024
04:41
04:41
'The spear to win'
The famous Maasai spear is more than just a weapon — its sinewy steel reflects the African warrior tribe's DNA.This is a community where a lion's head and mane used to be the bounty every young man needed to display to prove his bravery and complete the initiation into adulthood.But like the world around them, the Maasai are evolving. The tribe's young morans (warriors) are no longer chasing game in the bushes. They aim to be global sporting champions with their spears rather than using them to harm wild animals Javelins have replaced the spears in their hands as they hunt for glory in an ancient sport that is now among the more popular Olympic disciplines."We are the Javelin Morans of the Mara," Anthony Njapit tells TRT Afrika, introducing a group of nearly 30 men gathered in a meadow inside the lush Mara forest in Kenya, a hub for exotic safaris.Draped in traditional Maasai throws, with beaded belts and long feathers on their ochre-painted hair, the young men take turns throwing javelins. The technique isn't perfect, but each almighty hurl gives the javelin wings to travel further. "As we speak, we have quit hunting wildlife," says Njapit. "We use our spears to win, not to kill."