Antananarivo: Barefoot in the dust, their hands wrapped in thin fabric, a handful of athletes practised moraingy, a traditional Madagascan martial art, ahead of a fight in Antananarivo stadium.
The competition on Sunday in the capital of the Indian Ocean island is aimed at promoting the age-old combat sport.
Moraingy dates back to the 17th century.
It originated on the west coast of Madagascar, where it was practised as training for war and as an initiation rite marking the passage to adulthood.
It spread as people migrated and is mainly practised today in the north and northwest of the country.
"Watch your guard!," shouted coach Thierry Saidani, whose training centre on the northern tip of Madagascar has created several champions.
"Guys, we're not kickboxing here. If you don't place your hands on your face properly, all your protection goes," he said crossly to the fighters he had brought to the capital to showcase moraingy.
"I'm doing this out of passion. I want to win over people from all backgrounds," Saidani told AFP.
"I'm sure there are good fighters here too, who don't have the means to get started."
Saidani said he also wanted to "prove that this is not a sport for savages" but an "ancestral tradition" characterised by "respect and humility" that should "rise to the rank of national sport".
The headliner for Sunday is 28-year-old Armand, who is 80 kilogrammes (176 pounds) of pure muscle and whose head is shaved bar a few bleached locks.
He is nicknamed "the Elephant" after a large tattoo of the animal covering his back.
"I'm the star," he said. "I like the roaring of the crowd, making money and being famous."
No rules
The bouts take place in three rounds called "karapaka", often to the sound of traditional, repetitive music designed to put the fighters and their audience in a trance-like state.
Moraingy has no written rules.
Almost any move is allowed.
A referee simply ensures the athletes don't bite or use dangerous blows to the private parts, the back of the neck or when the adversary has one hand on the ground.
There is no timer either, nor any winners or losers.
"It's the clamour and applause of the audience that defines whether the fight is over or whether it should continue," explained organiser Geoffrey Gaspard.
Fighter Omar "Bongo" started off in English boxing but was scouted 10 years ago.
He didn't think twice before switching to moraingy, where "you can get big contracts", the 30-year-old with scarred hands said.
The athletes are tight-lipped about their earnings.
Depending on the fights and the notoriety of the fighters, these can vary from the equivalent of around $20 dollars to almost $300 -- a fortune in a country where the minimum wage is around $52 a month.
Most fighters adorn themselves with lucky charms and talismans.
But Armand, the Elephant, believes he doesn't need them.
"My lucky charms are my training and my fists," he told AFP, imitating the sound of a machine gun.
"I control my opponents with my blows. They can't run away or protect themselves."
For Geoffrey Gaspard, a filmmaker and lover of the ancestral martial art, the tournament in Antananarivo is designed above all to professionalise moraingy, as has been the case with traditional wrestling in Senegal and dambe in Nigeria.
"The fighters have no insurance or medical support. There's a real need to protect them and regulate (the fights)," he explained.
Gaspard hopes to bring together moraingy fighters, coaches and representatives of Madagascar's government to draw up official regulations and set up a national federation.
On Saturday, the day before the fight, the athletes were to parade through the city to show the crowds that were in good health and ready for combat.
