Africans brought their cultures, traditions and even their own style of combat with them to the Caribbean archipelago. Let's explore some the deadliest martial arts in the region!
Danmyé, Calinda, Capoeira, Knocking and Kicking from the coastal areas of Georgia & the Carolinas & possibly PiapPry are all African diaspora arts that as I understand it have a common ancestors art. Unfortunately it seems some of these arts have died off & others have small numbers of practitioners. But the hope is with vids like this spurring people to be interested, research & hopefully learn the arts.
Great video!! It would be awesome to see one african carribean kreyol martial art made from these 3 arts combined, it did exist in Martinique in the form of kalenda (stick, cutlass, sickle,razors..) but it died out in Martinique because we focused more on unarmed combat (danmyé)
It's not in The Bahamas, although at one point it was in Bahamian society. Rival gangs would use them to fight each other during Junkanoo time. There was also traditional wrestling that was carried on by people known as Kru. I believe the Kru are the same Kru of Sierra Leone. However, this wrestling style has also faded in The Bahamas.
In Brazil (in a community descended fr0m an old settlement of runaway slaves), there is the jogo do pau, which inherits the name of Portuguese art (and some influences), but in general it is more like this Kalinda. They must have common roots. In the past it was linked to capoeira, but today it is almost forgotten. you can check it out in the videos:: Jogo do pau entre Manuel Seabra e Jorge Fernandes Versos e Cacetes. O jogo do pau na cultura afro-fluminense
Machete are no joke in their combat effectiveness! While they are not designed as weapons they are designed to cut thick vegitation very easily! I've personally cut 4" bamboo with a 14" machete like it was nothing! Most machete don't have hand guards, so one has to be cautious of their hand, but apart from that they are basically swords.
You're right there totally different systems as far as the stick fighting goes I studied Kayti from Kenya but I'm very interested in this Caribbean form of stick fighting is it possible to find it in the states particularly in the Midwest? Also I couldn't really tell what the name of it was called mostly because of the person's asking on how it was recorded I couldn't tell sorry
Danmyié come from my dad island, I was born and I live in Metropolitan France. I knew this martial art only recently by RU-vid. I'm sad to know this martial art can be practiced only in Martinique... :/
Why is it were only hearing about these things now? Caribbeans have been in the UK since the late 40s. I'm 60 and I've never heard mention of any of this.
