Stick Fighting

Stick Fighting, or Calinda is another one of our traditional carnival attractions. They have various competitions around the country and the winners advance to the finals, which is what I attended. I really had no idea what to expect, I have only seen small clips of staged fighting on tv growing up, never saw an actual stick fight, so when I arrived I was very surprised at how everything was presented, and more so, surprised at the enormous crowd that was there. I got there early, and nearly all the bleachers were already packed up, as well as most of the seating close to the ring, or "gayelle".
Feeling a bit hungry, I took a walk around the place, and was very pleased to see quite a selection of food vendors to the back of the event. Soups, pies, burgers, souse, doubles, quite a variety local favorites were available. I grabbed a chicken burger and continued to walk around, waiting for the event to start.
More and more people kept pouring in, and eventually, they announced the start of the event, the national anthem was played, the entire crowd fell silent, and at the end of the anthem, the cheers from everyone made me realize that this is going to be an exciting night. It started off with traditional tamboo bamboo music, then some whip men came out, not sure if there is a name for them, but they came out cracking their whips, I never knew that the sound could get so loud, it was echoing around the stadium. They then had small whip "battles" where they would whip each other until one gave in. Even though it sounds somewhat violent, it was actually rather amusing to watch, and the crowd was laughing every time.
Then the first stick fighting contestants came out. This was again a surprise to me, as I didn't expect it to be that fast paced and action packed, it was essentially like looking at a martial arts display. After a while, I really got into just watching the fights, I just put away my camera and was enjoying the show. It was really impressive and entertaining, and what made it even more entertaining was the energy that the crowd was emitting. If you ever seen Trinidadians watch an action movie in the cinema, you would understand what I am talking about. They were jumping around and yelling and cheering, and I swear I even saw one man stand up and lift his chair over his head like a trophy. It was one of the most entertaining events I have been to in quite some time. This is a must do for me again next year.