Game of life

Game of life. The "Pok ta Pok" ceremonial Mayan Ball game
(Photo ©Chico Sánchez-All Rights Reserved)

Audiovisual of the first ¨Pok Ta Pok¨ World Cup Mayan ball game in Pisté, Yucatan, Mexico in September 2015. Five teams from Belize, Guatemala and Mexico gathered to play this sacred and ceremonial sport.

Mayan ball player José de Jesús Manrique Esquivel, who organised this first World Cup of its kind, says he wants to recuperate the spirit of his ancestors and motivate young Mayans to recognise the greatness of their culture.

Pok ta Pok is one of the most important rituals from Mesoamerican culture. The sacred ¨Popol Vuh,¨ or ¨Book of the Community¨ written around 1550 by the Mayan Quiche people in today´s Guatemala, describes the game as a representation of Divine Mayan Twins defeating the ¨Ajawab,¨ God of the underworld.

The sport is more than just a game. Before the match, players evoke the Lords of the four cardinal points: Bacab of the East for protection and health; Bacab of the West for protection; Bacab of the North for enlightenment and strength; Bacab of the South for abundant harvest, female fertility and good health for children and the elderly. Then they invoke the God Hunahpu, the most important Mayan deity, and the 13 supreme Gods for protection and abundance. They ask the Lord of Death, who reins over Xibalba, the underworld, to respect their game and not to intervene on any player´s behalf. 

The Mayan ball game was popular across Mesoamerica and is played with one´s hips or arms. Different regions play by different rules. The goal is to shoot the ball through a ring on the wall, which ends the game.

The ball, made from a rubber tree, represents the movements of the sun and other stars, and can weigh anywhere between half a kilogram and four kilograms.

Pok ta Pok is one of several varieties of the Mesoamerican ballgame, a ceremonial game played since 1,400 B.C. by the pre-Columbian natives from this ancient civilisation. At least 1,500 ball courts have been found in the Mesoamerica, which is today´s southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador y Belice, western Honduras, Nicaragua y Costa Rica.


Teams
“Ek Balam”, Yo Creek, Belize
San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala
Dirección General de Educación Física, Guatemala
“Pucxical Keej”, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, México
Chapab de las Flores, Yucatán, México

Interview
José de Jesús Manrique Esquivel

Shaman/H-mem
José Guadalupe Tecam

Mayan Songs and Prayers
Lorenzo Moisés Díaz Alcocer

Flutes
Song: Ru q´ojom ya´(Water Music song)
Played by: Ajpop Tijax & Josué Cristal
From Chimaltenango, Guatemala

Drums
Prehispanic band, Chapab, Yucatán, México

Locations
Yaxchilán, Chiapas, México
Toniná, Chiapas, México
Cobá, Quintana Roo, México
Chapab, Yucatán, México
Ek Balam, Yucatán, México
Chichén Itzá, Pisté, Tinum, Yucatán, México
Grutas Balankanché, Tinum, Yucatán México
Tepetlixpa Seed Bank, México State, México
Museo Nacional de Antropología de México

To see more of my audio-slide shows www.chicosanchez.com

Blind soccer

Blind soccer is my latest team production. Photographers who are blind and visually impaired from the Ojos que Sienten organization took pictures and interviewed soccer players who like them, cannot see. These photographers and soccer players show us all there´s more than one way to see and live. Their heightened senses of touch, sound and smell to situate them and they are not concerned with winning or loosing.

To see this audio-slide show click in this link: www.chicosanchez.com/blindsoccer

 (Photo ©Gerardo Ramirez/OQS-All Rights Reserved)

To see my work related with Ojos que Sienten click here

For more of my photography projects enter my website: www.chicosanchez.com

To know more about Ojos que Sienten please enter their website: www.ojosquesienten.com

Sports in Motion - Blind and Visually Impaired Photo Workshop Projects

I'm sharing my latest audio slide-show production: Sight in Motion, a story about sports and athleticism, photographed and recorded by twelve blind and visually impaired photographers. 


The photographers, who are participating in programs run by the Sight of Emotion organization, took pictures of people playing sports in their neighborhoods as well as Paralympic athletes. 


In the interview, Laura Ramos, a blind student graduating soon with a university degree in journalism who plans to be a sports journalist, explains how blind and visually impaired people experience and perceive sports, compared to a seeing person. The interview was recorded by Gerardo Ramirez, one of the participating photographers.

To watch and listen to the project, please click here: www.chicosanchez.com/motion

(Photo ©Palmira Martinez/Ojos Que Sienten -All Rights Reserved)

I've collaborated with other blind and visually impaired photographers from 

Sight of Emotion, in similar projects such as My Eyes, The Fighter, Organ Grinder, 

Riding Blind and Mexico City Soundscapes.


To support Sight of Emotion click here

To see more photography projects visit my website: www.chicosanchez.com