African Martial Arts info?

**Planktime** · Posted On: 2/09/2006 5:52pm

Hi bullies,

I am looking for some sources of information on African Martial arts. I have found some very incomplete lists using a little google fu. However I am having some problems finding anything other than the typical “all martial arts come from Africa” crap. So if you have some good sources of suggestions on where I can educate my self please feel free to post here or send me a PM.

Thanks in advance.

PT

PS Yes I did use the search funtion. I found this list which will be useful but that was about it. Other than they Oya Qhoze thread.

**Ryno** · Posted On: 2/09/2006 7:57pm

They do lots of stickfighting and wrestling.

http://www.nubasurvival.com/images/45.jpg

http://www.nubasurvival.com/Nuba%20C...20fighting.htm

http://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_Coetzee_0902.htm

http://pulseplanet.nationalgeographi...900/index.html

**Gezere** · Posted On: 2/09/2006 9:51pm

http://ejmas.com/jalt/2005jalt/jcsart_Green_0905.html

Also look up Mukhanda Enterprise email: Mashera76@yahoo.com

**DdlR** · Posted On: 2/09/2006 10:12pm

I did a couple of seminars with Dr. Coetzee (the author of the Zulu stickfighting article) and she probably knows more about this subject than anyone else writing in English.

Tom Green (author of the other EJMAS article on Dambe boxing) is a professional anthropologist who specializes in MA studies and has a particular interest in African styles. He has two really excellent essays on that subject in the anthology "Martial Arts in the Modern World" - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0275981533/sr=8-1/qid=1139544016/ref=sr_1_1/104-1747354-8087953?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Finally, you can get a copy of Dr. Thomas Desch-Obi's doctoral thesis, "Engolo: Combat traditions in African and African diaspora history", via the university library Interloan system. It's nearly 400 pages long and offers what is probabaly the most comprehensive overview of this subject.

**meng_mao** · Posted On: 2/11/2006 9:39pm

Originally Posted by DdlR

Tom Green (author of the other EJMAS article on Dambe boxing) is a professional anthropologist who specializes in MA studies and has a particular interest in African styles. He has two really excellent essays on that subject in the anthology "Martial Arts in the Modern World" - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0275981533/sr=8-1/qid=1139544016/ref=sr_1_1/104-1747354-8087953?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Tom Green is reasonably approachable by email if you have a specific question. It's a shame he doesn't visit this site. I guess he has better things to be doing :).

**Planktime** · Posted On: 2/11/2006 11:04pm

Originally Posted by meng_mao

Tom Green is reasonably approachable by email if you have a specific question. It's a shame he doesn't visit this site. I guess he has better things to be doing :).

Yeah that is the plan to contact a few of these folks. Thanks for the tip though.

PT

**losttrak** · Posted On: 2/12/2006 1:28pm

Originally Posted by Planktime

Hi bullies,

I am looking for some sources of information on African Martial arts. I have found some very incomplete lists using a little google fu. However I am having some problems finding anything other than the typical “all martial arts come from Africa” crap. So if you have some good sources of suggestions on where I can educate my self please feel free to post here or send me a PM.

Thanks in advance.

PT

PS Yes I did use the search funtion. I found this list which will be useful but that was about it. Other than they Oya Qhoze thread.

I have read a little bit on Capoiera and even watched that show, Deadly Arts, on FitTV. It is said that Capoiera originates from Africa, although I don't have any video documentation that shows Africans boating to South America and immediately breaking into the Jinga, so it probably will not satisfy most boardmembers requirements.

**meng_mao** · Posted On: 2/12/2006 1:35pm

Originally Posted by Planktime

Yeah that is the plan to contact a few of these folks. Thanks for the tip though.

PT

Coincidentally, Tom Green just emailed me, saying he got out of a load of work. So it wouldn't be a bad time.

**DdlR** · Posted On: 2/12/2006 1:43pm

It's a complicated question, best answered by Dr. Desch-Obi in his dissertation and by Tom's articles as referenced above. Basically, there is plenty of evidence to support the theory that Capoeira did originate in Africa. This includes detailed reports, drawings and even photographs from the late 1800s/early 1900s depicting a ritualistic, acrobatic/kicking martial art in Africa; and the fact that there are similar arts, such as Mani (practiced until recently in Cuba) and Ladja (Martinique) practiced throughout the African diaspora.

The complication is that Capoeira became further developed, stylized, etc. over a couple of hundred years in Brazil; so to that extent, yes, modern capoeira is a Brazillian art with African roots, and you can't find anything that looks like modern Capoeira in modern Africa.