Fighting for Honor: The History of African Martial Art Traditions in the Atlantic World.
Traditions in the Atlantic World is an organizing concept for the historical study of the Atlantic Ocean rim from the fifteenth century to the present. The Atlantic World comprises the three continents bordering the Atlantic Ocean: Europe-Asia, Africa, and America. By T. J. Desch Obi. from; The University of South Carolina Press
T. J. Desch Obi has traced the movement of Angolan and Biafran combat traditions across the Atlantic and finds convincing evidence of their use by Africans and African Americans into the twentieth century. Though African martial arts have been mostly overlooked as a topic of historical inquiry. their subsequent manifestation in the New World has escaped the notice of scholars and historians, often misinterpreted as simple mimicry,*in biology. Desch Obi, whose background in the study of Africa, encompasses the fields of social economic development, political history, social anthropology and linguistics. As a specialist in African Diaspora studies he has contextualize the direct descendant of specifically southern Angolan martial art traditions.
Desch Obi first describes the three main martial traditions he will trace: engolo, a type of unarmed combat consisting of inverted (reverse in position, ). kicks and acrobatic defensive maneuvers; kandeka, a form of Stick fighting which utilize wooden 'sticks' for fighting, such as staff, cane, baton . mgba, which is best described as wrestling or grappling. He then vividly demonstrates these art forms' presence in the New World and finds variations of all three in such diverse places as the Carolina Low-country, the French Antilles, and Brazil. These martial arts have ritual as well as practical uses, and Desch Obi explains how they are tied to ideas of personal honor and masculinity that persisted even within the coercive and oppressive confines of racial slavery.
Desch Obi makes an invaluable contribution to the growing scholarship demonstrating that, indeed, Africans have retained some of their cultural heritage both during and after enslavement.**and that this heritage in turn has a significant effect on the development of the broader cultures in the New World.
A new book I think you'd love to read.
Traditions in the Atlantic World is an organizing concept for the historical study of the Atlantic Ocean rim from the fifteenth century to the present. The Atlantic World comprises the three continents bordering the Atlantic Ocean: Europe-Asia, Africa, and America. By T. J. Desch Obi. from; The University of South Carolina Press
T. J. Desch Obi has traced the movement of Angolan and Biafran combat traditions across the Atlantic and finds convincing evidence of their use by Africans and African Americans into the twentieth century. Though African martial arts have been mostly overlooked as a topic of historical inquiry. their subsequent manifestation in the New World has escaped the notice of scholars and historians, often misinterpreted as simple mimicry,*in biology. Desch Obi, whose background in the study of Africa, encompasses the fields of social economic development, political history, social anthropology and linguistics. As a specialist in African Diaspora studies he has contextualize the direct descendant of specifically southern Angolan martial art traditions.
Desch Obi first describes the three main martial traditions he will trace: engolo, a type of unarmed combat consisting of inverted (reverse in position, ). kicks and acrobatic defensive maneuvers; kandeka, a form of Stick fighting which utilize wooden 'sticks' for fighting, such as staff, cane, baton . mgba, which is best described as wrestling or grappling. He then vividly demonstrates these art forms' presence in the New World and finds variations of all three in such diverse places as the Carolina Low-country, the French Antilles, and Brazil. These martial arts have ritual as well as practical uses, and Desch Obi explains how they are tied to ideas of personal honor and masculinity that persisted even within the coercive and oppressive confines of racial slavery.
Desch Obi makes an invaluable contribution to the growing scholarship demonstrating that, indeed, Africans have retained some of their cultural heritage both during and after enslavement.**and that this heritage in turn has a significant effect on the development of the broader cultures in the New World.
A new book I think you'd love to read.
