To me, they're like younger brothers. I've watched them grow up, I've followed them forever. I raised them myself.
Because they have real talent. You need real courage, you have to feel it deep inside. This is traditional wrestling, the traditional "laamb".
They have truly incredible physiques: lean, muscular, athletic. Magic protects us from the evil eye and poisonous tongues. God is there for everyone, but victory comes to those who want to be the best.
If you choose to fight, you can never give up. If you're afraid, this isn't for you. There's only one secret: go beyond your limits.
Give everything, fight hard, push yourself further to become a champion. I will make it. Inside the arena anything can happen, but I will win.
My name is Giuseppe and I have a mission: to explore the most remote corners of the planet to meet keepers of ancient secrets, men and women with extraordinary stories and lives that can inspire us and help us see the world differently. And to each of them I will ask the most important question of all: "What does happiness mean to you? " A question so powerful it reveals the deepest essence of humanity.
Welcome to the "HAPPINESS PROJECT". How are you? Very well!
Very well! Thank you, bye! Today I'm taking you to Senegal, one of the youngest countries in the world.
Here, half the population is under twenty years old. But sadly, in poor neighborhoods like these in the capital Dakar, around forty percent of boys and girls have no job. So school, work, and future are just empty words for many of them.
Yet among all the difficulties, there’s a dream that endures, giving hope to these kids and youth across the country. Becoming gladiators. Because the national sport here in Senegal is "laamb": traditional Senegalese wrestling.
It's actually an ancient tradition that began in villages, where people wrestled to celebrate the end of the harvest. But over time, it turned into something massive. Today you can picture "laamb" as a sport that fills stadiums, moves crowds, money, and even spirituality.
In fact, when there’s a big match, the whole country comes to a stop. And the wrestlers are real celebrities with fans, huge sponsors and thousands of people who revere them like living gods. Here they’re called African gladiators because of their massive build.
But strength alone isn’t enough, because in the arena you need intelligence, strategy, faith, and above all, the protection of the spirits. For all these boys, "laamb" is everything. It’s respect, identity, the hope of rising from the dust to become a legend.
But like in every great story, before glory there’s always an uphill road that starts right here. Because it’s right here in these narrow streets that giants are born. Men who have nothing, but fight for everything and for everyone because they carry the weight of their village on their shoulders.
And today I’ll take you into the world of "laamb" to discover the dreams, desires and fears of those who are called the gladiators of Africa. This is Dalifort, one of the toughest and most popular neighborhoods in Dakar. They say to find true "laamb" talent, you have to come here.
Where on every corner you see kids fighting with the hunger for redemption in their eyes. They know only a few ever truly make it out of these streets. But even one, just one who makes it, is enough to make all the others believe it’s worth trying.
Every day from when you learn to stand to when you learn not to fall anymore. They’re amazing. The street becomes their first arena.
This is where they take their first steps. They start fighting each other, dreaming of becoming champions. They all know the names of the top champions, of course.
And they try to imitate their secret moves. And it’s a show to see how they cheer for one another. They try to dream about who they could become one day.
But big dreams are built with training, discipline, and consistency. And in this neighborhood gym, the next kings of "laamb" are forged. We knew it wouldn’t be hard to find the real champions of this neighborhood because every fighter actually follows the same routine: in the morning they take shelter here in the gym because it’s too hot outside, and they train strength and power with weights.
In the afternoon, after some rest, at sunset they head to the beach to train technique, wrestling, and also endurance, because training on sand is much harder. I’m truly surprised, amazed by the intensity of the work. Just imagine, these guys dedicate their entire days to training, morning and afternoon.
You? One hundred ten. Ninety two.
Eighty five. You’re huge! Of course, all these guys belong to different weight classes.
Each of them fights an opponent of their same weight, their same category. He’s the biggest of them all, but they all do pretty well, let’s say. Among these athletes, there’s one who has something special, something you feel before you even see him fight.
His name is Kao. He’s only twenty three, but the whole neighborhood puts its hopes in him. They say he’s the rising star of Senegalese "laamb", destined for something great.
And we’re lucky enough to follow him on the very day when everything is on the line. Right before the most important match of his young life. What’s the hardest thing in a fighter’s life?
Training, it’s never easy. You have to give your all every single day. In my life there are no shortcuts: work hard, always.
Give everything, fight hard, push beyond your limits to become a champion. I will make it. I do what makes me happy.
Fighting is true happiness! Only those who fight can understand this joy. Fighting, hearing people shout your name, winning and going back home.
It’s an enormous joy. But talent alone isn’t enough here. "Laamb" is also a ruthless business.
And without a manager, these guys would remain invisible. This guy takes care of everything, organizes matches, covers expenses and, most importantly, believes in them. Because until they make it to the big stage, you're just a local hero.
And he’s the only one truly betting on their future. To me, they're like younger brothers. I've watched them grow up, I've followed them forever.
I’ve been behind them for ten years. I raised them myself. I pay for their training to give them a future.
To see them go far. Why? What did you see in them?
Because they have real talent, great potential. If you give them a chance, they’ll show you who they really are. Otherwise they’ll stay stuck here, with nothing.
Only real work pays off. I always tell them: respect your training. Can you explain how much a champion can earn?
The top champions can earn one hundred to one hundred fifty million. They’re real rock stars in Senegal. They have nice cars, nice houses, beautiful women.
For Kao, the day isn’t over yet. He still has his second training session, but this time on the beach. And what we find there is surreal.
Hundreds and hundreds of boys moving in unison as if they were one single body. They run, push, dive into the sand. And all of them share one dream: to become champions.
They really have incredible physiques. Kao is clearly very big, very heavy, very solid. The others are lean, muscular, athletic.
I’m truly surprised because clearly they have limited means to train, but their physical condition is absolutely stunning. Here, sand is everything. It slows you down, knocks the wind out of you, and puts you to the test.
But it’s also what shapes you, what prepares you. And maybe it’s right on this sand that one of them will become a legend one day. What we’re witnessing here is actually a training.
. . Exactly what I wanted to show you.
It’s Greco Roman wrestling training, just so you understand. There are throws, there are holds. And this is traditional wrestling, the traditional "laamb".
But over time, this wrestling evolved into what’s called "laamb avec les frappes". So "laamb avec les frappes" means with punches, with boxing. It’s wrestling plus boxing.
Of course, that’s not what they’ll do today, because tomorrow there’s an official fight. Today they’re training on holds, throws, and falls. It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
But I guess it was inevitable. Take off your shirt. "Avec les frappes".
His opponent today will be Yekini, the king of the arena. Giuseppe. Go Giuseppe!
Giuseppe! I couldn’t expect much more, they all beat me. They have great stance, they’re incredibly solid.
It’s tough, really tough to bring them down, even though I tried to choke them. Then I wasn’t even sure if it was. .
. If it was allowed, but there was no chance, they’re really good, incredibly strong. How do you feel inside the arena?
You need real courage, you have to feel it inside. When I fight, I’m not the same person anymore. You have to change on the inside, because in there, everything’s on the line.
If you’re a lion, prove it and tear your opponent apart. Are you afraid of anything? If you’re afraid, this isn’t the place for you.
If you choose to fight, you can never give up. If you’re scared, this is not for you. There’s no room for weakness here.
You need a mindset of steel, that’s how you become a champion. What do you want for your opponent? Do you mean to kill him or what?
I don’t want to kill him, we’re both Senegalese, once the match ends, everything ends. But during the fight, you might want to kill him without even realizing it. What would make you happy in wrestling?
The dream is to become champion, king of the arena, that would make me the happiest man in the world. And it would make my family and all the people who’ve always supported me happy too. If God wills it, I’ll be a champion and I’ll take care of everyone.
It’s so good to be here. But hearing the words, the dreams of a young guy like Kao. He wants to become a champion, but he has to do it against all these other guys.
So his determination, his tenacity, his strength must be much greater, much stronger. And I feel privileged to listen to him, to observe him up close. Because in reality, the world of "laamb" is often kept secret, closed.
Because it shouldn’t be shown to opponents. Here, each one of them could be the other's rival. So what we’re experiencing is a privilege.
And I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world, even though I actually could, I could be anywhere else in the world. I could be in the Big Apple under the lights of Times Square. Or in Tokyo, at Japan’s oldest temple.
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Kao needs silence and calm because tomorrow everything is on the line. And it won’t just be a match, it will be a battle of the soul, a ritual, a form of magic. Because "laamb" isn’t just a sport, it’s something you can’t explain, you have to live it.
And tomorrow, we’ll live it too. The big day for Kao has arrived. We meet him at his house for the final preparations, but there’s something around him I can’t quite explain.
An aura that almost puts you in awe. So much is happening on the champion’s rooftop, because he’s just started his preparation. He’s inside that sort of tent with the marabout, they’re getting ready.
They’re starting to wear the first gris gris, the protections. And all these kids are in awe because, being from the neighborhood, they have access to the champion’s home. It’s something most people in the city could never experience, but they can because they grew up with him, they saw him grow, become a champion.
So they’re here to support him, to stand by him. All the other champions are over there too, all the other fighters have come to give him strength, energy. It’s a beautiful scene because there’s an incredible electricity before the fight, before the war.
He is the marabout. A figure halfway between religious leader and sorcerer. An intermediary between the visible and the invisible.
For many fighters, he is the true maker of victory. And it’s to him they turn before every fight to receive his gris gris, which are amulets, potions, or small pouches tied to the body or hidden in clothes. Objects filled with faith that, according to Senegalese tradition, can create an invisible shield against defeat.
To some it’s superstition, to others it’s magic. But for fighters, it’s everything. It’s the belief that something or someone is with you in the ring even when you’re alone.
The number of protections applied to the fighter’s body is truly impressive. You see, those are the classic gris gris, amulets tied around the waist. Another one has to be sewn into the shorts he’ll wear during the fight, and another will be hidden under the arena floor.
There are a ton of protections. Look, there’s also this guy praying, he’s written numbers, words on our champion’s body so he’ll feel ready for war. A great fighter knows how to listen to the advice of his spiritual guide, that’s how you reach glory.
If he asks for a sacrifice, you do it without hesitation. And if he does it, he’ll win. You have to believe.
The spiritual guide is essential to prepare for a match because he already knows how it will end. He predicts the future and has powers beyond human understanding. These are the gris gris, amulets we use in the ring, they really matter when you fight.
They’re a shield against your opponent’s magic. They’ve protected fighters for centuries, it’s our tradition. I couldn’t fight without them, it would feel like being naked.
What do you expect from today’s match? It’s already written: I’ll win! I’ll take my opponent down and win, God is with me.
These potions are protections for fighters. They rub them on their bodies to protect themselves. They ward off the evil eye and gossip.
Because when fighters strip down, everyone sees you, everyone talks. So you have to protect yourself from every kind of negative energy. Magic protects them from the evil eye, it’s just one more layer of protection, it doesn’t make you invincible.
The truth is, only those with the will to be the best will win. And as tradition goes, even the pre-fight meal is prepared by the women closest to the fighter: mothers, sisters, wives. But it has to be simple, light, and above all, not too tasty.
A fighter’s rice shouldn’t be good. My son should eat bland rice so that the victory can be sweet. But my ladies, they always make it with the best spices.
Every time he fights, I suffer because he’s my son. For a long time, I refused to let him step into that world. But when I saw the whole neighborhood standing with him, that his passion moved crowds every time he fought, I was happy to see him happy.
And if he wins today, then my heart will finally be at peace. And in the end, they invited us. We’re eating with the champion, with the marabout and his whole team, there’s another champion here too.
It looks delicious. I can’t wait to taste it. I honestly have no idea how.
. . he’s going to fight after eating this because it’s like a brick.
But I assure you, it’s delicious, really good. Anyway, I don’t know if he’s faking it, I don’t know if he really is, but he looks completely calm. I’m more nervous than him.
He’s eating peacefully, with appetite, while in a couple of hours he’ll be in the arena fighting like a gladiator. It’s time, time to leave the house. And around him, I see only love and strength from those who have always believed in him.
Today is his day, and it’s rare to witness so closely the exact moment when a dream begins to walk. And I’m here, front row, like a privileged spectator who can feel the tension, the hope, the determination that I hope will help him become what he’s always dreamed of: the king of the arena. The atmosphere is just like the Colosseum.
Actually, exactly like in the movies, because they’re throwing food, fruit, bread into the crowd. It’s incredible. What a thrill, these are the minor fights, even in lighter weight classes, but I get chills watching the emotion of both winner and loser.
The loser is still on the ground, crying, while the winner, respectfully, is celebrating with all his supporters. The atmosphere is incredible, guys. I can’t even imagine, but the fans are going wild.
And again, these are just the first fights of the day. As you can see, Kao keeps pouring potions over himself, magic potions, blessings prepared together by his coach and the marabout. The tension now is different, the atmosphere has completely changed.
Before, when we were at his house, he was calm, relaxed. Now he’s serious. Ready to enter the arena.
There’s no reason to fear today, victory is already ours. Inside the arena anything can happen, but I will win. It’s a big night.
It’s a big night. I told him to have fun. Not that he needed to hear it from me, all the way across the world, but still.
. . I feel involved, really.
After spending these days with them, I feel like I’m part of this group. The final prep, he’s hiding the last gris gris. He must have, I don't know how many, dozens and dozens, all tucked into his belt.
See? All his friends are supporting him, backing him up, these are the final minutes, it’s almost time. The crowd is going wild now.
I didn’t think I could get this emotional. A sport I didn’t even know until recently, but yeah, I’m emotional. I’m emotional because I’ve grown fond of these guys, of Kao, and I want him to win tonight because I know what it means to him.
It’s incredible how the champion is worshipped. Kids, children, teens, adults, all admiring him, adoring him, wanting to be him. I don’t know for how long, because now there’s going to be a brutal fight, where he’ll have to prove to the world, to all of Senegal, that he’s the champion, the real one.
But seeing that light in the eyes of those kids dreaming of becoming him is truly moving. He won! He won!
KO, technical knockout. My God, what a thrill! All the kids are going crazy, it’s beautiful.
What do you hope for the future? I want to face other champions, I want to test myself against the greatest. Respect to my opponent, but I won easily.
I’m ready to become the king. God is with me and I will keep training to make all these people happy. This victory is for all the people of Dalifort.
I’m your champion! And in the end, he did it. The arena erupts, people are shouting his name.
Today, he’s no longer just a neighborhood kid. Today, he’s a champion. A new life begins, where he can finally call his passion “work”: wrestling.
A sport, if we can call it that, rough and primal, but so necessary for Kao because it’s the truest way he found to discover himself and to find, beyond the fear of losing and the pain of the blows, his well deserved happiness.
