"Wood, wood!" "If you cya brakes, doh play!" Those were the chants echoing on King's Wharf, San Fernando recently as stickfighter Selwyn John squared off in the gayelle against National Stickfighting champion Evan Ralph. The nearby drummers pounded out their rhythmic beats as the fighters circled each other, wary of the bois held high over their heads.
A large pile of crumpled dollar and $5 bills on the ground between both men was the prize for that preliminary round fight, but that was a far cry from the thousands in prize money that would be up for grabs at the competition's finals. The crowd fell silent as the barebacked Ralph, who is a member of the Talparo gayelle, made his move on the smaller opponent and swung his bois aggressively in an attempt to draw first blood from John's head. A loud "crack" was heard as John successfully blocked the blow and they both backed away from each other.
"Dat man playing wild stick," one man shouted as he directed his comment at Ralph. "Dem fellas taking hard lash like machine but they go feel the pain in the morning," he joked. Ironically, the crowd had the same things to say about the champ when he won the title during last year's finals at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre. Meanwhile John's fellow Cushe gayelle members yelled for him to hold his ground and not be intimidated by Ralph's advances.
"Doh study he. Play your brand of stick," they shouted. The momentum increased as John blocked repeated attacks from a seemingly bloodthirsty Ralph. As the fighters prepared for yet another attack, one female spectator committed what could be described as one of the ultimate crimes in the stickfighting world when she used her cellphone's flash to take a photo of the action in the ring.
In an instant, angry bois men confronted the scared woman calling for her immediate removal from ringside, but the patient ringmaster intervened and restored calm to the proceedings. A few minutes later, in a shocking upset, Ralph tasted his own blood after a cleverly timed counter strike from John. Bleeding profusely from a cut to the left side of his head, Ralph acknowledged and accepted his defeat with a bow and a broad grin. John was immediately hoisted atop the shoulders of elated spectators as many predicted that the pair would again face each other later in the competition.
Speaking afterward, a smiling John stated his eagerness to wrest the title away from Ralph and become King of the Rock. "He is the champion but I aint fraid that," John, 23, said. "He knows what I can do with the bois and if he steps in the ring with me at the finals, it will be no different because he will taste his blood again." "If they people liked my victory tonight, they aint see nothing yet."