Tinku (Andean Ritual Combat)
tinkuRitual fight between Quechua ayllus in Bolivia's Norte Potosí. According to TIME, tinku means encounter in Quechua, and spilled blood is traditionally said to help the harvest.
Quick Facts
Character & Origin
Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
About Tinku (Andean Ritual Combat)
Tinku is a ritual fight between Quechua ayllus in Bolivia's Norte Potosí, which Fernández Droguett and Fernández Droguett (2015) define as an encounter and a bodily struggle between people representing their ayllus. According to TIME (2010) and Medina Portilla and Cohen (2008), the word tinku means encounter in Quechua, and Reuters (2024) adds that in the local Aymara it means physical attack. Platt (2010) sees tinku as a balanced contest and a violent game, pujllay, in contrast to ch'ajwa, which he describes as unbalanced destruction. According to Platt, the largest tinku of the puna takes place in San Pedro de Macha at the feast of the Cross on 3 May. Los Tiempos (2025) gives the dates as 3 to 5 May, while Medina Portilla and Cohen observed the feast on 2 to 4 May 2008. According to them, the clashes are man against man and only punches are allowed. According to Platt, the opposing sides are usually the moieties Alasaya and Majasaya. According to Medina Portilla and Cohen's informants, spilled blood is the main offering to Mother Earth Pachamama, and according to tradition, as TIME reports, it helps ensure a good harvest. Platt, by contrast, links blood spilled to appease the earth deities with ch'ajwa. Al Jazeera (2007) reports that dozens of people have died in tinku in recent years, and according to Reuters the police often watch over the fights and use tear gas.
History
The Atlas Patrimonial de Bolivia (2011), as cited in the bachelor's thesis of Machicado Veizagy (2020), describes the tinku as a pre-Hispanic ritual held, among others, between the communities Laimes of northern Potosí and Jucumanis of southern Oruro. Fernández Droguett and Fernández Droguett (2015) see the chakana festival in Macha as the ritual model. Platt (2010) describes ritual battles, tinkus, throughout Norte Potosí. According to him, the main tinku in the valleys takes place in San Marcos de Miraflores at Corpus Christi. According to Al Jazeera (2007), Macha lies at an altitude of 4000 metres and the celebrations last several days. According to Correo del Sur (2021), on 2 May the alférez and mayuras finalise the festival details and in the evening hold a vigil at the calvary. According to the paper, on 3 May offerings are brought to the cross Tata Wila Cruz to jula julas and charang. According to TIME, two people were killed in Macha in 2010.
Technique
Medina Portilla and Cohen (2008) describe man-against-man clashes in which only punches are permitted. Los Tiempos (2025) writes of bare-handed fighting and TIME (2010) of body-to-body fighting without mentioning weapons. Esteban Paco Taquichiri says, according to Reuters (2024), that the participants enter the square dancing from all corners to clash. According to Medina Portilla and Cohen, the dancers form a circle around a charango player and the dance includes zapateo. According to Correo del Sur (2021), the fighters have their knuckles wrapped in ñuqus, while the mayuras restrain the crowd with braided cowhide whips. Reuters mentions leather montera helmets with colourful feathers, which resemble the helmets of the conquistadors. VICE (2014) writes that some participants hold stones in their hands, which they throw a short distance. When police supervision fails, according to Medina Portilla and Cohen everything is allowed, kicks, stones and bladed weapons.
Ranks and progression
Bolivian folklore researchers, according to Fernández Droguett and Fernández Droguett (2015), adapted the body techniques of encounter and combat as a dance in the 1970s, and it was incorporated into the Carnaval de Oruro. According to Wikipedia, the dance group Tinkus Wistus was founded in 1992 by students in La Paz and first performed in 1993 at the UMSA folklore parade. According to Wikipedia, the Aymara word wistu in its name means crooked and refers to the movements of the dance. In its declaration Declaración Cameral 009/2022-2023 of 16 November 2022, the Bolivian Senate honoured Fraternidad Tinkuy Tolckas, founded on 1 January 1986, for maintaining the Tinkuy dance. According to the declaration, this fraternidad has branches in Argentina, in Calama in Chile, in Peru and in Tarija.
Today
Ley 237 of 20 April 2012 declares Ritual el Tinku a cultural and intangible heritage of Bolivia originating in Norte Potosí, designates Macha in the municipality of Colquechaca as its main place and instructs the Ministry of Cultures to promote it. Reuters (2024) describes tinku as a traditional way of settling disputes and, according to the agency, police often watch the fights and use tear gas. Al Jazeera (2007) states that police take possible weapons from arrivals and make sure that only two men face each other at a time. According to Medina Portilla and Cohen (2008), Commander Juan Carlos Vargas said that without police control the festival would be a general massacre. Quechua migrants, according to Los Tiempos (2025), created the runatinku arena in southern Cochabamba. In Santiago de Chile, according to Fernández Droguett and Fernández Droguett, the fraternidad Ayllu performed a tinku dance from 1997 at the march on 12 October.
Did you know
Women also fight at the festival, according to TIME (2010). According to Correo del Sur (2021), at the tinku they wear the best dresses they made themselves, and the festival is a place of courtship between the Huaynuchos and Imilla Wawas. Los Tiempos (2025) says the festival also includes love encounters, entered by unmarried Imilla Wawas girls. The cross Tata Wila Cruz, according to Correo del Sur, also adorns the montera del Tinku. According to Medina Portilla and Cohen (2008), men sacrifice llamas before the fight to offer their blood to Mother Earth Pachamama. TIME writes the Quechua drink grain alcohol early in the morning before the fight.
Frequently asked questions
What does the word tinku mean?
According to TIME (2010) and Medina Portilla and Cohen (2008), tinku means encounter in Quechua. Reuters (2024) adds that in the local Aymara it means physical attack.
When and where does tinku take place?
According to Platt (2010), the largest tinku of the highlands (puna) takes place in San Pedro de Macha at the feast of the Cross. Los Tiempos (2025) gives the dates as 3 to 5 May.
Which blows are allowed in tinku?
According to Medina Portilla and Cohen (2008), the clashes are man against man and only punches are allowed. When police supervision fails, they say anything goes.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.