They lift weights, hike mountains and practice half-nelsons, headlocks, pile-drives and other moves under the guidance of coaches such as Daniel Torrico, a former champion known as “Mr Atlas.”
The “skirted ones” earned respect, Torrico said.
“They train alongside men and we have seen that they can do a lot,” he said.
Some have also showed business agility. One group fired its male manager, who it accused of exploitation, and set itself up as “The Goddesses of the Ring,” a band of touring cholitas with the motto: “Vengeance and victory in the ring.”
“Men ate the cake and left us the crumbs,” said Carmen Rosa, one of the founders. “But now we are united and advancing. The idea is to show that women can do this on their own.”
On a good night “The Champion,” whose dimpled smile glints with gold teeth, earns US$30. Not enough to abandon her day job of running a small store and making packed lunches, but enough to persuade her husband, Oscar Cahuasca, to support her unorthodox career sideline.
“It helps pay the bills,” he said.
Rosa’s daughter, Corina Quispe, 21, used to bite her lip in embarrassment when asked about her mother.
“But then after she became “The Champion” and started touring abroad I started to feel very proud,” she said.
Some male wrestlers have welcomed women as agents of progress.
“It shows that in this country we all have the same rights,” said Angel Lopez, 19, also known as “The Mummy,” a character swathed in bandages who is delivered to the ring in a coffin.
But traditionalists are appalled.
“The cholitas are not equal to men, they shouldn’t be doing this. It’s as simple as that,” said Juan Carlos Acrapi, 28, who in the ring becomes the masked, bellowing, chest-thumping “Eastern Hunter.”
To a large extent bouts are choreographed pantomime, but a recent contest between “Eastern Hunter” and Rosa turned serious when she cut her head. Furious, she flipped her opponent and tore off his mask, the ultimate humiliation. Climbing the ropes to address the ecstatic crowd, her face flushed with triumph, it was the cholita’s turn to bellow: “Who is better? Men or women? Always women!”
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