In a region of Peru it is traditional that a festival is held which includes drinking, music, dancing, music and the main event, fighting. It is a way of settling disputes by community members fighting each other. We’re are only interested in the women who fight. The fight consists of swinging clench fists and hard kicks. There are men with length of ropes in their hands who decide when the fight should finish. Occasionally a woman will give up. It’s difficult to see why fights are stopped, some quickly while others see women batter each other for quite some time. The frustration comes when things get heated, women desperate to get at each other and fight are kept apart. Women who fall to the floor are separated even though they are fighting. Two interesting things I saw, when things get tense the women start grabbing each other and pull hair.
One fight was between two women who were obviously not from the indigenous population.
The Peruvian government doesn’t like these Takanacuy meets but they have spread from the original region to other communities and cities and I see there are occasions when Peruvian women fight Bolivian women.
So back to the original question. ‘ Exciting or Frustrating’.