Re: Sticking/Adhering in Machete Practice
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 11:57 am
I don't doubt that techniques for similar weapons will be similar. I also think that people who face others with similar weapons will eventually adopt the techniques that work. It's a necessity. So, if there were any French techniques that were usable or more effective on the island, the Haitians would have adopted ... er, appropriated... them.
I don't know French military fencing techniques at all. My main point was that calling a stick fighting art "African" requires clarification. If it's specific, it can be traced. But, for me, the interesting aspect of Tire Machete are the sticking and adhering techniques and close in work. I wouldn't be surprised if it came from a non-African source. It could even be Asian or Arabic. I.e., Africans who had been enslaved by the French often came from the region from Senegal to Mali down to northern Nigeria, who were Muslims and had a long tradition of swordsmanship (particularly cavalry, though that wouldn't be useful in the Haitian hills).
Nowadays, though, the most popular martial art in that region is Lutte Francais, a style of wrestling.
I don't know French military fencing techniques at all. My main point was that calling a stick fighting art "African" requires clarification. If it's specific, it can be traced. But, for me, the interesting aspect of Tire Machete are the sticking and adhering techniques and close in work. I wouldn't be surprised if it came from a non-African source. It could even be Asian or Arabic. I.e., Africans who had been enslaved by the French often came from the region from Senegal to Mali down to northern Nigeria, who were Muslims and had a long tradition of swordsmanship (particularly cavalry, though that wouldn't be useful in the Haitian hills).
Nowadays, though, the most popular martial art in that region is Lutte Francais, a style of wrestling.