When you hit the neck you get four points,' Saki said. 'When you hit the head you get six points. Ten-year-old Kamva Saki is well versed with the rules.

Today, even young children are taking up the sport. In his autobiography 'Long Walk to Freedom,' Nelson Mandela mentions a childhood in the Eastern Cape filled with stick-fighting. It's a game they know from their fathers and forefathers.' 'The guys are not fighting really, they are just performing. 'It reminds us of our old days when we were at home,' one spectator explains.

In these fast and furious battles of speed and technique, competitors wear a rugby scrum cap to protect their heads and bandages around their hands - but this offers little protection from an opponent wielding a pair of two-foot sticks.īut most who gather to watch intonga look beyond the brutality, preferring to see it as a way of reconnecting with their culture. While it is a rural tradition, it has only recently been introduced to the townships of the Western Cape, where stick fighting contests are already attracting hundreds of spectators. The ancient martial art called 'intonga' has been practiced in rural South Africa for centuries. Hundreds of people turn up to watch competitions that can go on for hoursĬape Town, South Africa (CNN) - Before there was football, before cricket, or rugby, there was stick fighting.Competitors are armed with two sticks and protection for head and hands.In his autobiography, Nelson Mandela recalls growing up with stick fighting.Ancient rural sport of stick fighting is now making an impact in Western Cape townships.

How to stick fight