Steve James wrote:Everywhere there was resistance, self-defense arts developed. The Haitian Revolution was the seminal event in the Americas after the American Revolution. But, they didn't defeat the French army with machetes. And, as the article relates, these traditions were secret. The "family" aspect is integral, and that's why there are/were many styles. Different plantations with different peoples united by a common experience, which eventually led to their unified action.
Anyway, there are also machete (empty hand, and other weapon) traditions in the Caribbean. For example, there's guazabara on Puerto Rico (Borinken). And that was really my main point: the weapon traditions developed because the tools were necessarily available. In the North, where sugar was not the major employer of labor, machete traditions did not emerge. Take the Dominican Republic on the same island, any machete art, is considered Haitian, because many of them still cut cane on the bateyes.
Steve James wrote:Everywhere there was resistance, self-defense arts developed. The Haitian Revolution was the seminal event in the Americas after the American Revolution. But, they didn't defeat the French army with machetes. And, as the article relates, these traditions were secret. The "family" aspect is integral, and that's why there are/were many styles. Different plantations with different peoples united by a common experience, which eventually led to their unified action.
Anyway, there are also machete (empty hand, and other weapon) traditions in the Caribbean. For example, there's guazabara on Puerto Rico (Borinken). And that was really my main point: the weapon traditions developed because the tools were necessarily available. In the North, where sugar was not the major employer of labor, machete traditions did not emerge. Take the Dominican Republic on the same island, any machete art, is considered Haitian, because many of them still cut cane on the bateyes.
I would say that if there is an intact martial heritage -- then it is a real treasure
(i would guess that what we have today is mostly re-imagined, compiled, and guesswork...)
French military fencing and African stick fighting were formative influences on tire machet
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