A Peruvian
male tradition occuring when two individuals meet. Out of
respect, one man holds his hand out, signalling to the other man that he left his poison tipped arrow at home. In response, the second man either extends his hand, grasps the other man'
s hand, grabs firmly and, in perfect harmony guides both hands up and down like a kite on a
white, sandy Lima
beach. Or he grabs his poison tipped arrow out of his napsack and stabs the other man three times in the forehead.
The Peruvian handshake has become banal in most cultures. For this reason, the "Peruvian" is often dropped, and the gesture is more widely known as "The Handshake".
After the Aztec ball game of Toltec, players from the losing
team rarely engage in Peruvian handshakes with members of the winning
team, because they are summarily executed, and their skulls are instantaneously turned in to the balls for th
next game.