This Week In Violence! Presents Takanakuy

Imagine spending your Christmas beating the shit out of your friends, family members and neighbours. Actually, wait. Some of you probably do that already. But imagine doing that and having one gigantic-ass party to go along with all the fisticuffs. That, folks, is the beauty of takanakuy.

Takanakuy is an annual festival held on December 25 in the Chumbivilcas province of Peru; the name is an indigenous Quechua word meaning “to hit each other” – nice, simple and to the point!

Chumbivilcas province, a southern portion of Cusco region, is in green, near the bottom, bordering the Arequipa and Apurimac regions.

This region of Peru is very, very rural, and the population is not large – unlike much of the rest of the country, residents here still predominantly speak Quechua, the indigenous language that dates back to Incan rule of the land. There are a lot of cultural customs still practiced from days before the conquest of South America, many of which are readily apparent as part of the celebration of takanakuy. People develop grievances against other people all year long, and they then finally release them against those who they perceive have done them wrong in a fury of fists and feet. It’s like Festivus, but way more intense.

So to give a brief rundown:

  • Over the couple days leading up to Christmas, people gather in the town of Santo Tomas and drink like crazy. Seems like we’re off to a good start!
  • There are parades and music and dancing going on constantly throughout this time – the music, in particular, known as waylilla, is all about protesting authority and harkens back to standing up to Spanish conquest from about 1560 or so.
  • On the morning of the fights, everyone gathers for breakfast (and more drinking) and then heads down to the middle of town to form an audience for the coming fights.
  • Fighters will typically don one of five main costumes –Majeño (horse riding gear), Quarawatanna (similar to majeño but with leather chaps and/or biker jacket and a dead bird or deer skull on their head), Negro (slave master, with fancy dress), Langos (locust, which happened after a locust problem in the ’40s, which has shiny material like a bug and typically a dead bird on top), or the Q’ara Gallo (“naked rooster”; no costume). Traditional Peruvian ski masks are common for all of these, however.
  • Anyone can fight – men, women and children alike – but fighting is typically just between one gender – no men fighting women or children, etc.
  • To challenge someone to fight, you have to say their full name in this creepy-ass really high-pitched voice. It’s fucking weird. However, the creepy voice, and the masks, are an important part of the whole ordeal – you don’t realize who it is that you’re fighting until you step into the ring. Identities are concealed until the last possible moment.
  • Fighting is pretty straightforward – wrap your hands with cloth, shake hands, and then no biting, hair-pulling, or hitting those on the ground. Almost everyone hugs it out afterward. If, however, you’re still not satisfied, you can challenge a person again for another fight.
  • You can go until officials break you up. They also do crowd control with WHIPS. That’s fucking hardcore.
  • If you’re still not happy, there’s a second day of fighting on December 26th that happens in the village of Llique, which sees its regular population of 300 swell to 3000 as the best fighters in the province come to duke it out. There is typically a step-up in the quality and savagery of the fights that happen here.

I found a few pretty satisfying videos of everything happening. It is a wild-ass time.

So all in all, it’s pretty intense but an extremely interesting way of settling disputes that has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years, if not even longer. Due to the remote nature of the people of Chumbivilcas, they strongly adhere to their cultural heritage, which has been easier due to their remote nature preventing government services, police, and the military being able to support their remote region. Despite the government trying to crack down on takanakuy previously, the tradition has remained very strong, and even now is starting to be seen in larger cities like Cusco and Lima as well.

VICE News did a pretty great little documentary on it a few years ago, which you can watch here!

All in all, it’s frantic, superviolent, and a hell of a party. I’m thinking a [DFO] field trip may be in order one of these years. Better hit the gym, folks.

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The Maestro
The Maestro is a mystical Canadian internet user and New England Patriots fan; when the weather is cooperative and the TV signal at his igloo is strong enough, he enjoys watching the NFL, the Ottawa Senators & REDBLACKS, and yelling into the abyss on Twitter. He is somehow allowed to teach music to high school students when he isn't in a blind rage about sports, and is also a known connoisseur of cheap beers across the Great White North.
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Don T

The “One to the tits, one to the neck” technique has been around since before the aliens built Machu Picchu.

Wakezilla

I wonder how many of those women pairings happen to “randomly” pair the wife against her husband’s lady “friend” in the dirt circle. I’m willing to bet all of them.

On a related note, most civilians under-estimate the power of an effective quick jab to the mouth.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

If done right nose, throat, temple, ear, are good ones too. Hard enough and you can do some serious damage.

Horatio Cornblower

Just like a Quechua; brings a slap to a fist fight.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

A family member was just on vacation in South America and he fucking loved Peru; friendly, open people and a beautiful country. Obviously they can get their frustrations out.

ballsofsteelandfury

The Peruvian culture is super interesting and very distinct from the rest of South America. It would indeed make a great place for a DFO meetup!

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Apparently Columbia and Valenzuela were not as fun, but also beautiful countries.

JerBear50

I’ve heard Valenzuela was The Bomb.

/sorry

indieguy

Cue dana white sending a scout for his new sensation.

JerBear50

Cue Bellator making them headliners.

SonOfSpam

“Negro (slave master, with fancy dress)”

Just like Obummer.

...

Speaking of violence, a cabbie was shot a few days ago by a rider not far where I live. Such crimes are uncommon here, so it’s getting a lot of attention. Fortunately, police used video from the cab and a fingerprint on a cigarette pack the catch the guy, who showed a frightening lack of remorse when he was denied bail by a judge (he said “drive safely” as he was lead out of the courtroom). It seems this guy is a dangerous psychopath who needs to be kept locked up and we could leave it at that.

Wait, he’s black? Awwwww shit. Let’s join the conversation!

https://neighborhoodsquare.com/n/item/4ixr?_=1456518514755&prompt=bottom

I feel like jumping in and pointing out the obvious racism in this stream of quasi-rational thought here since one does not have to use every bit of coded language (because if you say “thug” and “animal” and “subhuman” instead of “nigger” while suggesting sterilization as a punishment you aren’t racist at all, you’re just telling it like it is!) to point out this shooter is a monster of a human being but I don’t think their minds can process such a distinction and I might rile them up so much they donate money and support to Trump.

Who am I kidding? They’re doing that already.

nomonkeyfun

I think Dante Fowler would like to see it as long as no FSU fans are there.

Wakezilla

I bet you there were a few Donte Fowlers watching in the first video.

jjfozz

My favorite Aztec tradition consisted of killing a man, removing his femurs and using them as stilts while wearing that person’s flayed skin.

Fucking guys knew how to party.

...

Was the skin worn as a cape? It had to be worn as a cape.

The Right Reverend Electric Mayhem

Aztec versus Inca: WHO YA GOT?!?!

Horatio Cornblower

The Spanish.

ballsofsteelandfury

They were smart enough to pit tribes against each other. That sure helped.

Wakezilla

Depends on how long the war lasts. The Aztecs have the advantage in a short war as they have better weapons and good movement. However, in a long term war, the Incans win because they have a ton of allies and weren’t known to sacrifice their neighbors like the Aztecs. It would take many, many years though.

Beerguyrob

So it’s an actual “The Purge” of punching?