The Obibo of Tozàn were a warlike people, often resolving their differences with other peoples through war. Throughout history, there were few generations completely spared from war, and the Obibo developed martial traditions with the weapons and ways they favoured in war. Over time, the traditions were formalised into proper arts, used not only to become a stronger warrior, but also a better person through physical and spiritual labour. There were three principal Obibo martial arts: dambènìà, edafènìà and otènìà.

Dambènìà

Dambènìà was a boxing sport with wrestling elements. It evolved from simple street fighting and was a commoner's sport, practised exclusively by the kó-aje caste. It was the youngest of the three arts and the least renowned, and although nobles could often be found ridiculing the barbarian art of punching the hell out of eachother, there were serious schools dedicated to dambènìà and dambèniàsé (practitioners of dambènìà) were without doubt the most numerous of the three martial arts.

In dambènià, two contestants threw punches at eachother, kick and wrestle. Gloves and protective wear was not used, but the punching arm was usually wrapped in rope to provide some protection. The other arm was used to grab, grapple, pull, hold and sometimes block, but it was more common to dodge; footwork was very important. It was permitted to tackle the opponent or to grab and hold on to them with two hands.

Dambènìà had a violent and a peaceful side. The careful dodging and footwork required to be a dambèniàsé were the most important aspects of dambènià dancing, where harmony with the surrounding spirits and with the ancestors would be sought. Most of these dances or meditations were similar in purpose to regular meditations, but considered more powerful. Many dambèniàsé conducted them after chewing psychoactive plants. On the other side, the combative dambènìà fights were as worldly as they could get. Around the time of the reign of Alááfin Zùlema Oba Aghake, the art exceeded horse racing in terms of popularity as well as the amount of money involved in the betting scene. Where the meditative dance could be done alone or together, the fights were always duels.

Duels were always judged by a dambènìàgùn (dambènìà master) and fights between dambènìàgùn were judged by four other dambènìàgùn. Duels lasted two or three rounds and used points to determine the victor. A point could be awarded for any impressive hit, but the common method was that a succesful strike at the opponent's head was worth a point. Rounds ended as soon as one of the contestants hit the ground, awarding the last standing contestant one and a half point. If the other contestant had failed to their feet on the ground but still hit the ground last, they received half a point. That way, rounds never ended on a tie. If a contestant won two of the three rounds, they won the duel.

Dambènìà was practised by men and women, but they were separated. Women generally focused more on the spiritual aspect and men more on the combative aspect. Amateur fights were found at ever respectable marketplace and to be considered a true festival at one point it was necessary for an event to attract at least one dambènìàgùn. Events such as one-off duels but also tournaments involved heavy betting, rythming musical accompaniment and loud, drunk crowds. Even so, there were few masters who denounced such uncivilised affairs, as the raw violence and debauchery of combative dambènìà were considered to have a spiritually cleansing side for the contestants, as well as acting as an important relief valve for the people.