Brazilian Machete System/Art?

K Williams

K Williams

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I just finished watching "Only The Strong". Mark Dacascos does some FMA in it in addition to the Capoeira. Near the end he fights a guy who has two machetes with a length of pipe. Nice FMA there! Solo baston vs. doble bolos(Although the guy with the machetes didn't do anything other than siniwalis and ended up taking a horizontal back hand strike to the head.). I have one question: Does Brazil have a system of machete/sword fighting? Dacascos and the main bad guy fight each other using a mixture of Capoeira and machete fighting.


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K. Williams
kel620@aol.com
Modern Arnis Student


[This message has been edited by K Williams (edited 02-20-2000).]
 
Hi There,

Yes Capoeira does have a weapons section - maculele - which is using either sticks or machete's. If you go to the URL below you'll come to the Peterlee (UK) site of my instructor Jimi McAvoy, who is an instructor under Mestre Gato one of the top guys in Brazil.
http://members.xoom.com/senzala/

Jimi loves Capoeira, but after nearly thirty years of teaching FMA as well, he considers the stick/machete work fairly basic.

Bill Lowery
 
I'm sure maculelê has combative roots, but it hasn't been practised this way in the last century or so. It's pretty much a coreographed dancing routine these days, not unlike Chinese Wu Shu, for example.

It's also very basic in its movements, like Bill said. Nowadays, Capoeira players will perform maculelê at folklore festivals and tourist shows, banging their machetes and sometimes making sparks fly... Very impressive, but nothing like FMA.

Regards

Leo Daher
 
Oh, and another thing...
An improvised weapon often associated with old-time Capoeira is the straight razor, which blends well with the fluid, deceptive techniques that make up this art. Some players were said to grip a razor with their toes and slash while kicking! Some of these moves can still be seen during demonstrations, but again it's not common these days.
 
More for the mix.

Graciela Casillas Boggs, FMA/Jujutsu witnessed and tried to do the maculele and having a hard time. It was a bit complex.

Want more stickfighting?
There are traditional stickfights in Jamaica as part of a religious fair.

On the tape "Romany Trail Pt 2", there is a stick dance performed by some Rom/"Gypsy" tribes believed to have been picked up by Rom tribes who went to Asia.
 
Thanks for all the replies!

Smoke:

Yeah, there is a lot of stickfighting in the West Indies. My mother is from Barbados and there is an art/system of stick fighting called sticklicking(Licking means hitting). They use guava sticks and other indigenous hardwoods. I don't know how much this is still practiced or if there are any schools there that teach it. My guess is that most of the West Indian/Carribean stick fighting comes from African stickfighting.


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K. Williams
kel620@aol.com
Modern Arnis Student
 
Smoke:

Well, yeah, the choreography/dance part is quite complex, and includes some achrobatics... The actual striking movements, however, are fairly simple.

As far as I know, no one practises it as a combative system; as a matter of fact, I've never heard of it, even in a historic context (though it's not hard to imagine that).
I could be wrong, of course.

Anyway, I believe most, if not all cultures have had some form of stick fighting at some point in time. It's only logical, I guess... So maculelê's roots can probably be found in Africa as well.

Now, the thing with straight razors is different... I'm sure a little research could uncover some interesting tales from the turn of the century.

Regards,

Leo Daher
 
In Brazil there is Maculele (machete art) and Maracatu (jo- or lathi-type short-staff art) associated with Capoera, as well as straight-razor used with foot or hand. There are similar razor fighting-tricks in French Savate and Chausson. In the West Indies there are many styles of stickfighting, such as Mayole (African-based stickfighting from Martinique and Guadeloupe) and Kalindi (from Trinidad). Kalindi is paired stick fighting, stick in each hand. There is also a snake (whip flexible for entire length) method, using a snake decorated to look like a real bright and colorful venomous snake!! It is worn tied around the waist as a belt. The population on Trinidad is made up of both Africans and Indians (from India). When slavery ended the British brought in migrant workers from India (around the same time that the Chinese were building the railroads across the West). There is a traditional rivalry between the Indian stickfighting (lathi etc.) schools and the African Kalindi schools. Fights with sticks or snakes were traditionally held at Carnival, inside the circle of drums. The snakes were also used for crowd control, to keep the boisterous and partisan audience back. One of the most famous Kalindistas was Mungo the Dentist, so called because he would put out an opponent's teeth with the first blow of his sticks!
 
Khazar Kid,

Thanks for the info! I've been to Trinidad, but never saw any stickfighting(it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway because I was young at the time). I guess I have to go at carnival time to check it out, huh? Do you know if they have formal schools for stickfighting in the West Indies?

Kelvin
 
Talking about Machete's!
I just saw a old video with Sammo Hung,"Eastern Condors" He was like "Rambo, Chinese Version!" He kicked a** with a machete, almost through-out the movie. You have to check it out.
 
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