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Eloy Luna, left, and Rony Garate fight during a Takanakuy ritual fight in Lima, Peru, July 14, 2013.
The Andean fighting tradition known as Takanakuy is a ritual of unclear providence that predates Spanish colonial rule and happens twice a year, in July and just after Christmas.
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Masked fighter Daniel Flores poses for a portrait before taking part in a Takanakuy ritual fight in Lima, Peru, July 14, 2013.
The fighters dress up in costumes of Andean folklore figures, with the ski masks an integral part of the costume.
Among the characters: "El Negro," representative of black slaves; "El Majeno," reminiscent of liquor salesmen from a region called Majes; and "El Gallo," the rooster.
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Dancer Matilde Campo, center, is helped with her hair by members of her folkloric dance group before the beginning of Takanakuy ritual fighting in Lima, Peru, July 28, 2013.
The fights are preceded by traditional dancing and music.
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Eber Sabina, right, and Sebastiano Mendoza take punches during a Takanakuy ritual fight in Lima, Peru, July 14, 2013.
When the brightly hued ski masks come off, the punching and kicking begin. Only once a judge has ruled one of the combatants licked do they stop fighting.
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Masked fighter Alejandro Alvaro wears his costume before taking part in an Andean fight known as Takanakuy in Lima, Peru, July 14, 2013.
Takanakuy, which means "When the blood is boiling" in Quechua, is a ritual of unclear providence that predates Spanish colonial rule.
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Fighter Eber Sabina gestures from pain as friends help him with a hand bandage after fighting in Lima, July 14, 2013.
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Inelda Flores, right, and Sandra Palermo take part in a Takanakuy ritual fight in Lima, July 14, 2013.
It's not just adult males who fight. Women and children with scores to settle also battle it out.
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Participants of the Takanakuy fighting ritual dance before the start of the event in Lima, July 28, 2013.
During the fights, women sing "huaylia" music with lyrics in Quechua that include such lines as "Child, fear not when rivers of blood flow."
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Masked fighter Eber Sabina, right, gets his hand wrapped before taking part in a Takanakuy ritual fight in Lima, Peru, July 14, 2013.
In Peru, it has long been practiced in the highlands province of Chumbivilcas near Cuzco. More recently, it has spread to outlying neighborhoods of Lima.
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Dionisio Colquemarca prepares to fight in a Takanakuy ritual fight in Lima, July 14, 2013.
Often with faces swollen and bloodied, the fighters shake hands or hug and deem their personal dispute settled. Or else they agree to do battle again next year.
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Participants of the Takanakuy ritual fighting, dance in the arena before getting started in Lima, July 28, 2013.
"When we first started doing this in Lima (in the early 1980s) they called us savages, but this tradition of ours dates back hundreds of years," said Jose Boza, president of Club Qorilazo, which organizes the Lima fist fest.
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Clementina Yaguno, center, is comforted by her son Romario Atauquri, left, after he fought in a Takanakuy ritual fight in Lima, July 28, 2013.
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Masked fighters carry a statue of Santa Ana in a procession before taking part in the Takanakuy fighting ritual in Lima, July 14, 2013.
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Masked fighter Eber Sabina, center, is helped by friends with his outfit before entering a Takanakuy ritual fight in Lima, July 14, 2013.
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Jose Vera, left, ices his brother Rolando Vera's eye after he participated in a Takanakuy ritual fight in Lima, July 28, 2013.
