Mexicans turn to fisticuffs to re-enact 500-year-old Aztec ceremony
Mexicans turn to fisticuffs to re-enact 500-year-old Aztec ceremony
Agence France-Presse
18 Feb 2015 at 07:43 ET
In a festival enlivened with music and mezcal booze, Mexican Indians held fist fights Tuesday re-enacting battles with marauding Aztecs 500 years ago.
The battles among members of the Nahua Indian community were part of Carnival celebrations in the village of Zitlala in southern Guerrero state.
Men, women and children donned masks in a makeshift arena in the town square in the village of 20,000 people about 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Mexico City.
One or more pairs of combatants, wearing skirts, fought for about four hours in fierce clashes that ended only when one of the fighters gave up or was simply knocked out.
The festival emerged more than 500 years ago to commemorate frequent battles with Aztecs, who would come to Nahua communities seeking payment of tributes and to steal women.
LA forum:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/mexicans-turn-to-fisticuffs-to-re-enact-500-year-old-aztec-ceremony/