The Berempuk, a ritual boxing match in the past designed to spill blood to appease the spirits, usually accompanies the rice harvest. Young men were whacking one another with much more enthusiasm than style, often drawing blood. Their efforts also attracted admiring glances from the girls in attendance.
Young men took in two groups, one on either side of an opera arena. There were no rules or round-robin matches. When the mood struck, a young would rip off his shirt, gather up a bunch of rice stalks in each fist, and do a little show-off dance, prancing around the arena.
Usually within a few seconds he would have an adversary, who then began strutting around and posturing himself. The two freelance “referees” would appear, and check the opponents’ hands, removing watches and rings-and making a point that there were no stones in the clinched fists.
After these prelims, the boxing would begin. It was really more alike flailing-a series of wild, roundhouse punches from right and left fields, most flying way off the mark but the occasional one landing with a resounding, skin-splitting whack. Once the adversaries had exchanged a few punches, they'd usually come in close, trading punches rapidly with absolutely no regard for defense or fending off blows. At this point, they'd have to be pulled apart by the referees, who usually received a few wild punches for their effort.
