Postcards from Elsewhere • The Festive Incan Blood Sport known as TAKANAKUY

A little over a year ago I came across a random video on either FB or IG with two women bare knuckle fighting in front of a crowd. One had this elaborate and beautifully designed dress with black boots, and the other fought barefoot. Punches were not the only throws allowed, so too were kicks, giving perhaps a bit of an advantage to the women who fought and wore boots.

I quickly learned that this sport or event was referred to as Takanakuy.  Loosely translated into "When Blood is Boiling" from its native Quechua (an old Incan Dialect), Takanakuy is a fighting form that began in the Chumbivilcas region of Peru.

I was immediately interested in this beautiful fighting style and wanted to know more about it. After watching perhaps a little over 100 fights or so with both men and women competing, I not only narrowed down a list of who I wanted to perhaps film or meet, but also who my favorite fighter was.

Fany Challa stood out to me above all the other fighters. In addition to being the type of fighter who left it all in the ring, she carried with her an old-world indigenous beauty that perhaps could only be found somewhere in the mountains or Peru.

Eventually I got in touch with her, we spoke about filming, and she told me she was living in Pisac – a little village filled with about 3,000 residents, many of whom do not hold or speak Spanish but rather Quechua as their native tongue. The town also has about 3-400 stinky Americans and Europeans as I affectionately call them. This is a largely transient group that oscillates in and out to do everything from ayahuasca ceremonies to bufo, and a handful of other mind-altering substances.

There is a reason this place is called "the Sacred Valley" and it is filled with real Shamen'. people who have been leading ceremonies for generations and passed down the knowledge of doing so.

After moving there, Fany and I became fairly close. I of course had the goal to photoshoot her at least once a week, but also would pop by her workplace for lunch sometimes for a few minuters to grab her a juice or just to buy some steaks. She works as a butcher in the farmer’s market. There is something beautiful about a woman who also knows about different cuts of meat, and works in a profession most often reserved for men. I myself did about 6 months as a butcher at Jack's Fruit Market right after High School, so there is also a fondness and appreciation for this type of work.

The Chumbivilcanas or women from the Chumbivilcas region are also highly sought out to do private parties. So Fany is also hired to perform at peoples’ birthdays in her traditional garb with dancing, singing, and many dirks in between.

There is a communal element to these celebrations, and the one I attended and filmed had all of us drinking out of two horns...until half the beer was served and then the family pulled out an ancient Incan cup from which we had to drink. The size alone would have put any big gulp to shame and I estimate it was at least a 60-80 oz cup...almost big enough to put on as a hat.

Even as a spectator, I have yet to walk out of a party or gathering with the people from the Chumbivilcas region in a sober state. I have accepted this as a matter of traditional affairs.

The main Takanakuy festival is held in the Chumbivilcas region in December and runs almost till the end of January. Taditionally, it was a holiday held around Christmas time for people to leave any ill will or intentions in the old year; so if you had a problem with someone, you could come to the town circle and call them out, and you could both settle it then.

Today it is much more refined and often has competitors facing each other from different countries. Most often Bolivians come to fight the Chumbivilcanas and in their part of the world it is called "tinku" which I am told translates into "Encounter"

This type of a festival came around Cusco and Fany invited me. She herself was not competing but was there as an honorary guest. She is of course undefeated since she began over 3 years ago and is considered royalty in the world of Takanakuy.

We started out around 3 PM and picked up another Chumbivilcana who lives in Pisac. The drive there took us through the mountains to a little village about halfway to Cusco in what I can describe as something like a human bullfighting ring. There are bleachers, a stage on one side, and beautifully dressed women running around in and outside of the stadium in their exquisite outfits. These girls have now gotten used to being filmed by many people, as this sport has grown not just nationally but internationally over the internet - so much that most of my Latin friends in South America have actually learned about it from me.

On this specific day the major fight was going to be between Zurditah Alfarez and a much larger opponent named Merida. in most gyms across the world, these two would seldom if ever even meet in a sparring match, but today they were going to go up as rivals.

Fany is undefeated in 3 years of combat, but I think Zurditha perhaps has a greater following being in more bouts, being a singer, and also known for taunting her opponents during matches by most often sticking her tongue out and toying with them.

We arrived in a small village halfway between Pisac and Cusco to a smorgasbord of Chumbivilcan culture, as the people look different and their food is a little different as well. Hats are for sale and I finally began to see a large concentration of women walking around wearing their beautiful costumes that they also fight in.

A small stadium that most closely resembles a bull fighting arena was the backdrop of today's event. surrounded by 12 bleachers that could sit in between 80-100 people each, with large gaps in between that would allow people to sit on the ground or stand while drinking, smoking and enjoying the fights.

Music is central to not just this event but the Chumbivilcas culture. Many songs will often include the words "Wailiya" as a reminder for people to dance during the performance. The music sounds a bit Asiatic to me, with similar tones and instrumentation. As the women in beautiful dresses continue to build up the music gets louder, more beer is poured and consumed, and more cameras pop up with enthusiasts as the girls break into random dances, both playing up to the cameras, and  warming up as well.

The stadium slowly fills up, as people wait for the fighters to come in and be introduced, and the intros come in the form of yelling from the DJ who later becomes an unofficial commentator during the fights. The Chumbivilcanas enter in groups and dance around the whole stadium starting from right and going in a whole circle before the main stars are announced.

Zurditha comes in with about 15 other girls as the anxiety builds in the crowd with the fights soon beginning. Today's most important person is the one I traveled with, but Fany looks a little bit different at this point. She is more stoic, regal, and serious. Somehow the uniform seems to have made her a foot taller and added an elegance to her that has grown with each minute. She is not competing today but is an honorary guest and before the night ends she will get a selfie with at least 60 people.

After a brief intro of both the Peruvian and Bolivian fighters the event finally started. A few of the male fighters did not have opponents so they showed up and made an open call for anyone willing to challenge them. The first fighter walked away without an opponent, The next one found one within 30 seconds of calling out a person and soon the two were punching each other in the face and throwing kicks which resulted in a knockdown and the fight being declared in favor of the opponent who accepted the open invite.

.After about 6 more fights, it was time for the main event. Zurdita, a clear favorite, came out to the applause of the majority of the crowd. She is known for being a fierce combatant but was fighting a much taller girl who outweighed her by at least 30 lbs. if not more. After a little more than a minute the fight was called in Merida's favor, and both women were bloodied with the last great blow coming across Zurdithas face.

Even the best Champions lose at times and this was no different, but unlike the 50 or so combat events I have covered in the US and Europe, she quickly went to stop the bleeding, grab a beer, and for the next two hours performed on stage with her band singing the traditional music from the Chumbivilcas region.

The people were genuinely friendly. Since the event I have seen more than 20 videos with me in the background and ran across a few interviews that happened when people would just come up to me and randomly ask me to speak in Spanish with their phones and cameras rolling. They are genuinely curious where everyone is from, and I certainly don't look like I am from the region.

The night ended with plenty of beer drinking which is common at these events. The people drink in a very communal way, so even if you buy a case of beer, instead of just handing out a beer to everyone, they will go around and pour a cup to everyone in attendance or whoever wants one. I probably drank at least 12 beers as I listened to the music and walked around filming more as the atmosphere turned into a live concert, with even ex opponents sharing glasses of beer together and getting photos together. There is a camaraderie that exists with fighters pretty much everywhere I have gone, Here. it is no different.

The largest Takanakuy event is held in the Santo Tomas region in December and goes until the end of January. For roughly 6 weeks the town is filled with beautiful outfits, dancing, music, drinks and of course fighting. I am already slated to return then to finish filming this next project on Takanakuy and the fighting girls of Peru.

Although it is less than 100 miles from Cusco, it takes almost 5.5 hours to get there by bus. The roads are treacherous, mountainous and windy with no safety barrier in case one were to slip off the side of a mountain. I find this culture to be unique in a multitude of ways. When I have shared the fact that this was a Christmas celebration, I have had similar reactions from both Americans and Europeans. To both I have replied, it may seem strange with what you have grown up with. Afterall, I find it strange that Christians would celebrate Christmas by lying to their kids about some fat guy (created and manipulated by Coca Cola) sliding down a chimney and bringing them gifts.

Before Coca Cola got ahold of this image, Santa was more like a small sinister elf who often terrorized children and made others behave during the year by parents telling them that "If they weren't good, Santa may not bring them anything .or a bag of coal.

Call me a fight fan, but an end of the year festival where you can call out your enemies and settle old scores and leave the past in the old year makes much more sense to me.