Huka-Huka
Wrestling of the Upper Xingu peoples in Brazil, fought from the knees. Its main setting is the Kuarup funeral ceremony, where the host village faces its guests.
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Training
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About Huka-Huka
Huka-huka is the wrestling of the peoples of the Upper Xingu in Brazil's Mato Grosso. The name is Kamayurá, the Carib peoples call it kindene and the Yawalapiti karí. At least nine peoples wrestle it, among them the Kalapalo, Kuikuro, Yawalapiti, Mehinaku, Wauja, Aweti and Kamayurá, so it belongs to none of them alone. The first written description is by Karl von den Steinen in 1887. We have not been able to document when the wrestling arose.
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The wrestlers face each other, circle and make sounds that are usually interpreted as imitating a jaguar's roar, hence the name according to anthropologists. Then they clash braced on their knees and try to control the opponent's arms and neck, while the legs are used neither for sweeping nor for throwing. According to Costa a win comes from touching the back of the opponent's leg, seizing from behind or a throw, while Paiva and Alberti list five ways, including a belly throw and a lift off the ground. There is no formal referee, observers called nginiko watch the result, and most bouts, about seventy percent according to Costa, end in a draw. The main setting is Kuarup, in Kamayurá Kwarup and in Carib egitsü, a multi-day funeral ceremony honoring the dead, in which the host village is measured against its invited guests on the morning of the last day. Wrestlers are called out by name by the chiefs and owners of the ceremony, and the best wrestlers tend to be future chiefs. Adolescent girls wrestle too, but the women's form is marginal. A law of March 2025 recognized Kuarup as an expression of Brazilian national culture, and it is not listed with IPHAN.
History
The earliest account of wrestling in the Upper Xingu comes from Karl von den Steinen's expedition of 1887, in which he described the wrestlers crouching before contact. According to Paiva and Alberti, ethnoarchaeological evidence suggests an older origin, but we have not found a more precise date. Early observers, von den Steinen, Murphy and Quain, or Schaden, describe silent or impartial spectators, so that the wrestling would not stir up hostility. Today's cheering and the role of the nginiko observers reflect, according to Costa, the peace among the peoples of the Upper Xingu. The wrestling is tied to the multi-day funeral cycle Kuarup, in Carib egitsü, in Kamayurá Kwarup. Kuarup has a mythical origin: Mawutzinin made the first people from tree trunks, and according to ISA the ceremony honors the first mortal woman, mother of the twins Sun and Moon. According to Costa, the mythical first ceremony also set the rules of wrestling, the champions drew repeatedly until two bouts determined how one wins. People also wrestle at the uluki exchange ceremonies and at the tiponhü ceremonies after ear piercing. At the Yawalapiti Kuarup in October 2012, the anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro was among the honored dead.
How it differs
Huka-huka differs from the popular idea of wrestling, where a back throw wins, in that it is fought from the knees without leg work, a win also comes from touching the back of the leg or seizing from behind, and most bouts end in a draw. We have not found a comparison with other Brazilian Indigenous wrestling in scholarly sources, Irias mentions only the derruba o toco wrestling of the Pataxó, in which the groom is challenged after the wedding by the three best fighters of the village.
Technique
The wrestlers called out first, the hotuko, wait in the middle of the plaza braced on hands and knees. The opponents face each other, in the first phase they move sideways in circles and make sounds imitating a jaguar's roar, in the second they kneel and try to control the opponent's arms and neck. The legs are used neither to unbalance nor to throw. Among the Kalapalo alone, Costa noted more than fifteen holds. According to Costa, a win comes from touching the back of the opponent's leg, seizing from behind or a throw. Paiva and Alberti list five ways: a back throw, a belly throw, touching the back of the thigh at knee height for at least three seconds, an embracing grip around the back and a lift off the ground. Bouts are short, most last at most 45 seconds and less than a fifth exceed a minute. A draw occurs when both wrestlers visibly lower their intensity, and according to Costa about seventy percent of more than two hundred observed bouts end in one. There is no formal referee, the nginiko observers watch the bout, signal the result to their sides and declare the winner in unclear bouts. The result is judged by quality of performance, not by points.
Training
Among the Kamayurá, boys around fourteen may be isolated, receive a special diet for purification and strengthening of the muscles and are trained by older wrestlers, so according to Madeira the wrestling marks the passage into adulthood and is the choice of boys who want to be leaders. According to an article in the magazine Arte 21, wrestlers train almost daily and training intensifies as Kuarup approaches, before bouts men rub their bodies with copaiba oil and a paste of urucum and pequi and scratch their arms, chest and back with a gourd tool with piranha teeth. Villagers wrestle each other only in training or play, in earnest one wrestles outsiders and refusing a challenge is impolite. According to Costa, Kuarup takes place in the dry season, roughly July to October, three to five times a year, while the article says once a year.
Ranks and progression
Huka-huka has no grades, belts or weight categories. According to Costa, wrestlers are divided into kindotoko champions, possible successors of chiefs, hotuko, that is the first called future chiefs, and ordinary wrestlers, and a champion's standing shows in the order of calling. According to Paiva and Alberti, a winner may gain champion status, and wrestlers often receive a second name after their grandfather. According to an article in the magazine Arte 21, the tradition names five mythical champions, the electric eel, the cará fish, the armadillo, the traíra fish and the snake that never knew defeat.
Today
The bouts take place on the morning of the last day of the ceremony in the plaza of the host village. The hosts with any allies face the invited guests and wrestle more often, the best hosts up to ten times a day according to Costa, the guests two to three times. At least nine peoples take part: the Carib Kalapalo, Kuikuro, Matipu and Nahukuá, the Arawak Yawalapiti, Mehinaku and Wauja and the Tupi Aweti and Kamayurá, while according to Costa the Trumai and Suyá no longer take part. Law number 15.113 of 18 March 2025 recognized the Kuarup ceremony in the Xingu National Park as an expression of Brazilian national culture, the bill was submitted by deputy Rosa Neide in 2019 and a Senate committee approved it in December 2024. Neither Kuarup nor huka-huka is listed with IPHAN, the Brazilian heritage authority. Huka-huka is one of the disciplines of the Indigenous Peoples' Games (Jogos dos Povos Indígenas), held since 1996. According to Portal Amazônia, the UFC fighter Anderson Silva visited the Xingu to learn Indigenous techniques, but we have not found a direct line between huka-huka and vale tudo or MMA.
Did you know
A women's form of wrestling exists, is limited to adolescent girls and is considered less significant, in the ceremony described by Darcy Ribeiro the women's wrestling opened the ceremony and the men's followed. Costa links it to the Yamurikumã ceremony and the sacred flutes. The Yawalapiti, one of the wrestling peoples, had only 28 members in 1948 and, according to ISA, 309 in 2020.
Frequently asked questions
What is huka-huka?
Wrestling of the Upper Xingu peoples in Brazilian Mato Grosso. It is fought from the knees without leg work, mainly at the Kuarup funeral ceremony, where the host village faces its invited guests.
How does one win in huka-huka?
According to Costa, by touching the back of the opponent's leg, seizing from behind or a throw, and Paiva and Alberti also list a belly throw and a lift off the ground. There is no referee, nginiko observers watch the result and most bouts end in a draw.
Where does the name huka-huka come from?
The name is Kamayurá and, according to anthropologists, imitates the sounds wrestlers make circling before the clash, resembling a jaguar's roar. The Carib peoples call the wrestling kindene, the Yawalapiti karí.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.