The Wakanda workout

Before to talk about workout or training, let's take a look about the meaning of Wakanda. It took me a while before to understand deeply who I am, where i am going through the Wakanda training. So today i would like to share with you my point the view and the different stories that i hear during my research.

What's mean Wakanda ?

Among the Plains Indian peoples — the Omaha, the Kansa, the Ponka, the Osage and others — Wakanda was (and is) a name for God. And like the Wakanda of “Black Panther,” this was a divinity whose hiddenness was inseparable from its power. As the Bureau of American Ethnology noted in 1894:

“The ancestors of the Omaha and Ponka believed that there was a Supreme Being, whom they called Wakanda. They did not know where He was, nor did they undertake to say how He existed … Wakanda means ‘the mysterious’ …”

Source Washington post

The Black panther

As you can see, what caught my attention is the fact that the origin of this word is not african, but native american. I have to admit that i got a lil bit embarrassed but i didn't stopped to dig, what i discover was actually wonderful and useful for my fitness journey. In the 1864 novel “The Black Panther: A Boy’s Adventures Among the Redskins”, apparently long way before the marvel character that we know today, there was already a book that talked about him. It's was the story of an African slave living with the indians. They adopted him, teach him their culture before to consider him as the best hunter but also the best warrior. The titular figure was described in legendary terms, he was feared from the Gulf of Mexico up to the Rocky Mountains! None of them could utter with such power, they called him: The black panther.

But let's stay realistic, it was just a book wrote by an English author who admitted “never having been further west than Killarney”. Was this written out of jealousy ? A European fantasy of a black man raised by Indians in America ? Coincidence or just creativity ?

Whatever the intentions of the author, “Black Panther” to a fraught tradition of ideas about Africa and Native America blended in dubious ways.

The workout

I remember reading the comic as a kid and remember asking to my brother why this character do not have any super power, he always need his costume.

-That's the true power. He's just an human being pushing into greatness, Say my big brother.

It took me a while before to understand the meaning of this, before to open my mind and accept the fact that as an african i should worship the nature and get more connections with my ancestors. So i start to study the human body as much i could, developed a better understating of the animal (Black panther).

I found my self hiding in the shadow like a hunter, i discover my true skills by working out with the water, the mountains, running with weights in my bag, challenging myself everyday by only using what is around me (like the wave of the ocean as a judo class). I found the gym really boring, and undisciplined. People talking, taking selfie every minute, all those machines making me feel embarrassed, specially when you don't know how to use them correctly. I wanted some thing more fun, where i can train my agility, my strength and spirituality.

The way I started to use my body to workout with my environment, reminded me my childhood. When i was hunting with my father, where i was climbing the tallest trees to have the most beautiful views, how I wanted to escape through physical activity, the long road before to reach school, the lonely and scary nights, why i developed all my survivor skills before to become who i am today. Even in the darkest period of my life, I pushed myself into greatness, it was really hard but today, Wakanda body fitness it's my costume.

Behind the scene

For all those who take marvel for pure entertainment or pure lightness, know that every comic book and movie is imbued with deeply politicized ideas. It can be feminism, it can be the denunciation of racial discrimination, or it can also be anti communist propaganda. Ryan Coogler director of the marvel movie Black panther, perfectly inserted in this directive line of claims. Beyond the magnificent costumes, sophisticated hairstyles, and marvelous landscape, Ryan Coogler really wanted to promote the black community and especially Africans. For example we notice that all the hairstyles of the film value frizzy hair. During the fight scene, Okoye the Wakanda bodyguard, demonstrates very well in the movie the valorization of women in their natural state, with a militant and rebellious act as the model Alek Wek did in 1998 with the wig throw.

But let's keep digging on Okoye the character from the black panther, did you know that in fact the general of the Wakanda army embodies the real general Seh Dong Hong-Beh ? Who really existed in the kingdom of Dahomey. She's existed in the 19th century and was the chief of 6000 minos. The Minos were the elite guard of the king of Dahomey, she successfully led this army of women for years, they were known to be disciplined and tough, and most of them had shaved hair. All these little details indicate that it was a real desire of Ryan Coogler to get as close as possible to Seh Dong Hong-Beh and these Minos warriors, in order to shed light on their heroisms and especially on their forgotten history. We can also see many similarities with the story of Shaka zulu, the african emperor between his mother Nandi and Ramanda from the movie Black panther.

Behind the imaginary aspect of the marvel universe, the director of the film black panther addressed very serious problems of our reality. First, the threat to the planet's biodiversity, and then the danger to the spiritual heritage of certain African societies. In fact the heart grass of the film black panther embodies the Iboga plant found in Gabon. The iboga is a very rare shrub, since it only grows in Gabon. It's roots are reduced to powder and ingested during a ceremony called the Bwiti. In order to allow it's consumer to plunge into a dream, which puts him in contact with his ancestors. Which allows him to ask questions in order to be able to make informed and wise decisions, like T'challa in the movie Black panther.

The heart grass of the movie black panther but also rituals and ceremonies therefore refer directly to Iboga from the african country Gabon. Iboga also has valuable medicinal properties, it treats of Parkinson's disease, it treats Alzheimer's disease, and above all this plant neutralizes addictions to hard drugs. So for about fifty years Westerners have been getting Iboga at any price. The consequence is that, as it is the roots of the plant which are used for these virtues, we tear the shrub from the ground, we cut its roots and there most of the time we do not replant the Iboga. So Iboga is disappearing massively, and Ryan Coogler is precisely raising awareness among spectators through the scene where Eric Killmonger sets fire to the heart grass. This plant holds an invaluable medicinal treasure but also contains the essence of a century-old spirituality. Ryan Coogler therefore used this blockbuster to subtly denounce serious dangers that weigh on both the planet and our societies.

Note also Despite all the marvel films, this is the first time that marvel studios have a woman who makes the sets, Hannah Beachler. Ryan Coogler also entrusted the costume design to Ruth Carter, she used a clever mix between African tradition and modernity. At the end of the day Ruth Carter work has contributed to a better representation of african fashion and costumes. Finally, remember that the film was nominated in seven categories at the Oscars ceremony in 2019, it's unheard of both for marvel studios and both for a super hero movie. In the end, the director of the film honored women and sent a message on equality, spirituality, biodiversity, history, culture, health and beauty. Now it's our duty to stay inspired by the work of many men, who sacrifice their time and their life for the meaning of Wakanda. So when you will start to get inside the Wakanda workout, remember the true story behind...

Wakanda forever.

Source : Grandeurnoire

Writed by Terryboy Gustave, CEO of Wakanda body fitness.