Africa : are there any African martial arts systems?

[Zoraida]

I know a lot of capoeriastas including two of my own kids and those people don't look white to me. They look Black African. A lot of them are a few generations off from Africa. Slavery didn't end until late in Brazil. If Africans aren't doing it, then do the math. You've got the internet at your fingertips.

 

[Oba Iparankanru]

There is a yoruba fighting style called Ijala which is stick fighting, and a Grappling art simular to judo but with more vertical throws called gigbido or something like that.

 

[yaphet al-wynn]

Thank you Oba. In most things I saw on the net-coporeia had the word Angola incorporated in it when they identified the style. Now consider coparaeia is in Brazil-who would had interest in using it and who would try to ban it? Now the similarity between Angola and Brazil is that both were Portuguese colonies in Africa and South America. Now how could coporaeia(or similar style) leapfrog from Brazil to the Carribbean? Now I was familiar with the stick fighting style in Africa and the rough form of judo but never knew their names.

 

[Isaiah]

i said African.
that is not Africa.

James, Capoeira is a portugeuse word used to describe the African style of stickfighting... The African Brazilians, the African Americans, The African Cubans, and the rest of us, had to change the names to at least give the appearance of conforming to our new environment...

As in Santeria or Candomble, where the names of Catholic saints are used to disguise the Yoruba Pantheon of Orishas, so to have other things been masked, my beautiful brother... Thus the Capoieristas rarely use the sticks, but display the art as a dance... Why do you think this developed??? Might it have something to do with the American Black code of not allowing us to congregate in groups larger than two, or to bear arms? Hmmm, maybe???

If you saw Africans from Angola doing it, would you recognize it - would you recognize them as Africans, or would you immediately conclude they were Brazilians?s(smile!)

Peace!
Isaiah

 

[jamesfrmphilly]

i have never seen the sticks.
just seen the dancing stuff.
I'd like to see the sticks sometime.

so this means we don't have to go to the Asians, huh?