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South Caribbean Fighting Arts

The First Expedition in More than a Generation...

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

Reviews for South Caribbean Fighting Arts

“This monograph is an important contribution to the very rich BARBADIAN ‘STICK-

LICKING’ LEGACY. . . . [It] stands out as a first of its kind and as such, we view this HISTORIC CONTRIBUTION by Dr. Forde and the Immersion Foundation to an intangible cultural asset of the Southern Caribbean as being worthy of our highest accolades.” —Hon. John A. King, M.P., Minister with responsibility for Culture and the National Development Commission, Prime Minister’s Office, Barbados

“. . . This contribution to the global archive of transgenerational performance and martial arts practices will be invaluable to the field . . . Caribbean martial arts knowledge, history, and testimony reflect the INTERDEPENDENCY OF ART AND

LIFE PRACTICES that are not separate . . . The holistic perspectives shared in the book bind movement, virtuosity, narrative and technology to performative healing and transformation . . . The monograph makes EMBODIED KNOWLEDGE accessible for further educational and research practices that include and break out beyond institutions.” —Dr. Karmenlara Ely, Artistic Director / Professor, Norwegian Theatre Academy, Østfold University College, Norway

REVIEWS | iii

“. . . The ILF in its journey into Hoplology, first journeyed into the Caribbean to document, study and analyze enigmatic and threatened fighting systems found there. It is with this PRESERVATION OBJECTIVE that I was enthused to participate and act as guide for an ILF-Philippine Hoplological expedition into Manila and Negros Island to help preserve my country’s vanishing martial systems in June of 2019. This archiving work has only begun and I am very pleased that I have been able to contribute a small part to this, the ILF’S MOST WORTHY ENDEAVOR.” —Romeo Macapagal, Student of Antonio “Tatang” Ilustrisimo / Archivist of Kalis Ilustrisimo

“This monograph is a SEMINAL WORK on traditional martial arts practices of the Southern Caribbean . . . The discovery is truly impressive, that these martial arts, existing for hundreds of years covertly underground . . . are actually valuable repositories of memory retention of long-lost homelands. The daring of innovative contemporary researchers to invest in capturing the MYSTICAL AND MYTHICAL, HISTORICAL

AND CULTURAL implications of these art forms, matches the ingenuity, creativity and adaptation skills of the generations of practitioners themselves. The pioneering use of PRACTICE-BASED COLLABORATIVE LABORATORIES combined with digital technology . . . bolstered by an environment of rigor, can hopefully reverse the positioning of these art forms from a place of marginalization and attrition . . . to occupy the centered, eminent Caribbean space they deserve.” —Iezora Edwards, Ph.D, Lecturer, The University of the West Indies

iv | The Immersion Review

“Immersion Foundation is quite a remarkable ongoing mission. In all my years in martial arts, I have never seen anything quite like the DEPTH AND BREADTH of the people Mahipal Lunia brings together. A serious high-level teacher and practitioner in his own right, Mahipal brings unique energy and vision to his search for little known arts. Immersion Foundation puts together the team necessary for documenting them and connecting them with the LARGER MARTIAL ARTS COMMUNITY. . . . Gratitude for the work the Immersion Foundation and Mahipal does!” —Crafty Dog Marc Denny, Guiding Force of the Dog Brothers / Head Instructor of Dog Brothers Martial Arts

“. . . I have been a fan of Donn Draeger and his work for decades. . . . Now, after a 40year hiatus, Mahipal and team have resurrected [the] science of Hoplology with their major expedition to the South Caribbean to document the MARTIAL CULTURE of the islands. The Immersion team did all the hard work, and now we get to enjoy their findings with the release of the exquisitely illustrated [monograph]. Such honorable work performed at the highest standard. Thank you for BRINGING HOPLOLOGY

BACK into the forefront.“ —Burton Richardson

REVIEWS | v

PROJECT TEAM CEO & Explorer-in-Residence Mahipal R. Lunia Contributing Editors Michael J. Ryan, Ph.D Benjamin N. Judkins, Ph.D Juha A. Vuori, Ph.D Creative Directors Hana Shin Morrigan (Síofra) Cody Research Assistants Daniel Norris Vikram Sarath

CONTRIBUTORS Rondel Benjamin Benjamin N. Judkins, Ph.D Mahipal Lunia Michael J. Ryan, Ph.D Vincent Tamer John White The Immersion Review, founded by The Immersion Foundation, is a conduit for penetrating insights in combat and combative behaviour. It is a space for the dedicated martial artist, who dares to seek ideas from diverse fighting systems. The Immersion Review is a peer-reviewed journal for the martial arts comprehensivist. FOR EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT: thereview@theimmersion.foundation

Mahipal R. Lunia The Immersion Foundation Explorer-in-Residence

@theimmersionfoundation @immersion.foundation http://therenaissancepath.com http://theimmersion.foundation Michael J. Ryan, Ph.D Binghamton University Anthropology Department

@michael.j.ryan.54 @garrotero1 https://binghamton.academia. edu/MichaelJRyan

Benjamin N. Judkins, Ph.D https://chinesemartialstudies.com

Juha A. Vuori, Ph. D Tampere University Faculty of Management and Business Professor of International Politics

https://orcid.org/0000-00031487-2961

CONTENTS FOREWORD

The Barbados Expedition and the Reemergence of Hoplology

By Michael J. Ryan, Juha Vuori, & Mahipal Lunia

ILF CARIBBEAN

The Hoplology Expedition to Barbados

By Michael J. Ryan

HOPLOLOGY

The Quest to Discover, Examine, and Understand Martial Arts

By Michael J. Ryan

CHERRY-BOY

The Last of the Grandfathers Speaks

By Philip Forde

WARRIORHOOD

Keegan & Lunia in Deep Discussion

By Michael J. Ryan

PHILIP FORDE

Gatekeeper of Sticklicking By Mahipal Lunia

[Post-Script] Philip: Martial Artist, Musician, and Professor

RONDEL BENJAMIN

Combat Martial Artist, Hoplologist, and Pioneer By Jon White

[Post-Script] Benji: Crossing the Kalunga

KEEGAN TAYLOR

Carrying the Traditions into the Future By Rondel Benjamin

[Post-Script] Keegan: Trailblazing for the Next Generation viii | The Immersion Review

108 122 136 146 176 184

194

DAVID “BIGGARD” HINDS

Memories of Old-Time Barbados By Michael J. Ryan

RONALD ALFRED

Guardian of Martial Tradition, Master Mas Maker, and Herb Healer By Rondel Benjamin

204 214

[Post-Script] Ronald: The Man with a Whip in Each Hand

FINDING AN ANCHOR IN HOPLOLOGICAL FILMMAKING By Vincent Tamer

236 246

[Post-Script] Vincent: Through a Lens Deeply

254

MICHAEL J. RYAN

The Fighting Stick and Machete in Venezuelan Garrote By Mahipal Lunia

272

STICKMAN DOH ‘FRAID NO DAMOM:

Stick and Machete Fighting in the New World By Michael J. Ryan

304

T.J. DESCH-OBI

Wandering Warrior-Scholar of African and Afro-American Combative Arts By Mahipal Lunia

326

[Post-Script] T.J.: Chasing a Rapidly Disappearing Past

344

MAHIPAL LUNIA

From Backyard Martial Artist to Guiding Force By Michael J. Ryan

[Post-Script] Mahipal: Meeting with Remarkable Martial Artists

APPENDIX

[Previous Editorial] A Special Issue: Caribbean Combat Arts and the New Hoplology

362 378

By Benjamin N. Judkins CONTENTS | ix

FOREWORD By Michael J. Ryan, Juha Vuori, & Mahipal Lunia

The Barbados Expedition and the Reemergence of Hoplology We are living in uncertain times, causing significant upheavals in many of our lives. As the world continues to change in dramatic and unexpected ways, one thing continues unchanged: our practice. We regularly disengage from all our everyday obligations and find a spot and drill the same moves 10,000 times. Then we start over and do it again. Such a regime must have begun hundreds of thousands of years ago when early Homo Sapiens began to actively hunt animals and attack and defend themselves against other bands of 10 | The Immersion Review

Homo Sapiens. At some time, someone realized the value of repetition in achieving a quick kill shot. Among those who take up a weapon and rehearse a repertoire of thrusts, slashes, parries, and blocks either as a dance or through pre-arranged drills, the result is often the same; one’s practical skill set transforms into art. For these reasons, asking what the first martial art was, or what is the best martial art, are the wrong questions to ask. Much more is to be gained through an exam-

ination asking when and why different communities, over time, chose a weapon and sought to maximize its effectiveness to obtain needed resources or defend oneself or one’s community. How and when did a simple clubbing stick transform into a thrusting spear, boomerang, atlatl, or a bow and arrow? What were the political, economic, and social condi-

tions leading to some communities continuing to fight in open, informal one-on-one combat and others in coordinated mass formations? Among those living under simpler forms of social organization such as the extended family, the clan, or the tribe, the murder of a group member could weaken the group militarily and economically. In such cases, how

A political map of the Caribbean. FOREWORD | 11

did communities reduce the lethality of intra-communal violence such as blood feuds and vendettas? What cultural mechanisms or technological changes were introduced into a community to control the number of violent deaths? How have these arts or ways of thinking about violence changed with an increasing connection with the modern world? Or why do these types of arts persist in this modern world when firearms and drone technology should make any idea of hand-to-hand combat obsolete? At times, questions like these must have skittered through many readers’ brains as they picked up a weapon for the umpteenth time and began to train. Then they definitely ran through our minds as a group of us living all around the U.S. and the Caribbean packed up our weapons to meet in Barbados to explore these questions. Two years after the expedition to Barbados, the Immersion Foundation conducted a series of interviews with the expedition team and informants to reflect on their experiences and lessons learned from the experience. What these interviews show is how the expedition was a life-al12 | The Immersion Review

tering experience for all concerned. Experiencing the interweaving of martial arts practice into everyday life as part of a complete cosmology or philosophy was eye-opening for some. For others, the expedition represented a possibility of showcasing their art and practice to the outside world and providing a sense of community, support, and esteem among international martial artists. Indeed, many were not aware of academic research into martial arts practice, yet they were very keen to participate and become part of it. The expedition even inspired some to go back to college and begin their own path of research. The interviews that looked back point to the multidisciplinary nature of New Hoplology. In addition to combatively oriented Anthropology, fields such as Educational Science, History, Sport Studies, Area Studies, Religious Studies, Sociology, Politics, International Relations, Security Studies, and Peace Research come immediately to mind. The reflections also display some of the multiple methods that New Hoplology can deploy. These include the video and audio recording of techniques

and physical forms of flow and the conduct of semi-structured interviews. As the researchers are also practitioners, this external approach available for many ethnographers is deepened through the embodied practice of doing the art studied with its practitioners. As some of the interviews show, such encounters can be memorable events that are clearly recollected even years later and provide a profound human connection. The interviews also point to the crucial role of pedagogy in martial arts. For instance, both Benji and Keegan each reflect on ways of teaching martial arts that range from gamification to trance state as learning shortcuts. Ways of teaching for them are also intimately connected to transformations of society and even culture. Indeed, the role of the internet and other digital means, as well as a generational gap between pre-Internet people and those brought up in a world of ubiquitous social media presence, is also apparent. Many of the arts discussed have also been secretive or kept within a tight circle of trustees. Opening up to a larger community invariably im-

pacts the way a martial art can be and is taught. Furthermore, this connects to whether and how traditions and traditional ways of teaching are maintained. Should the hard-hitting old ways be retained, or should the teaching draw from contemporary thought on pedagogy, for example? In their interview, both Philip Forde and Benji wonder how and to whom the knowledge is transmitted and how deeply students want to engrain it in themselves. Should the teachings be combined, systematized, taught as handed down unchanged for generations, or be the basis for a personal interpretation and new paths? Such questions are present for any martial arts teacher who sets out on their own path of discovery and teaching, yet vitally crucial regarding endangered art form. While martial arts can be practiced and trained for a multitude of reasons, the modern manifestations of its practice tend to divide into its component parts. The expedition showed how this is not necessarily the case. For example, in Trinidad, Kalinda is much more than cracking

FOREWORD | 13

someone on the head, and RopeJab is much more than just a form of whip-fighting. Carefully read the words of Ronald Alfred, and you will understand how these arts encompass what might be called a philosophy of life or a cosmological view of the world. Fully-fledged martial art forms tend to contain ethics and codes of behavior beyond the combative situation itself. The practice of a martial art may inform life beyond the dojo or yard. Read T.J.’s story showing how the academic study of a martial art can be an entry point or a window into cultural, spiritual, and societal systems. It can be a pathway to study global histories of human movement and cultural transmissions. Trinidad, in particular, has been a site of hybridization, and the martial traditions arising from there have not been excluded from this process. Wondering about the future, Ronald Alfred explicitly connects some socio-political events with the opportunity to bring his art more into the open as a source of respect rather than vilification. When Hoplology studies specific techniques, ways of wielding weapons, or ways of moving the body, it 14 | The Immersion Review

reveals some of the unified combative elements that the human body and certain combative tools afford. Beyond their practicality and effectiveness, such embodied practices also have aesthetic qualities that connect with overall senses of beauty and ways of doing things prevalent in societies. As one of the informants phrases it, people have particular swings. T.J. illustrates these types of ideas in his description of his fieldwork projects. Exploring both of these elements can allow for the setting of hypotheses about shared roots or styles among various martial art forms practiced seemingly separately. Once again, this can connect to the transmissions of cultural forms either through free-willed interaction or oppressive structures of domination and colonization. The martial arts of Barbados and Trinidad display global cultural flows and how the history of colonization and slavery has impacted them, as many of the informants emphasize. In such oppressive structures, the practice of a martial art, even secretly, has been a source of esteem and a community of worth among those initiated in it when society at large

may not have offered such opportunities. Such practice has also been closely connected to spiritual and religious forms and has undergone influences by migration flows separately from European colonization. As such, Hoplology serves as an entry point to the study of Afro-Caribbean, Indo-Caribbean, and even Sino-Caribbean connections, in addition to those of various European colonial impacts. These arts become comparable with martial arts practice and cultural forms in the Carolinas, Venezuela, Colombia, or other sites. For the scholar, the significance of centuries-long trans-global flows of combative cultures has a great deal of relevance to their own pursuits. Such well-worn patterns point to the relevance of not only Area Studies such as North American Studies1 but even to the applicability of conducting Inter-Regional Area Studies in furthering their understanding of these flows. The use of force is at the core of politics, both international and domestic. While hand-to-hand combat 1 Area Studies such as Latin American, East Asian, or Eastern European, are an academic discipline in many colleges.

is no longer the main point of military tactics, it is still an everyday concern for police officers and those facing civilian conflicts. And states who still have the monopoly of the legitimate use of force within their territory continue to maintain the use of firearms and certain types of edged weapons. Yet, classic philosophers of the state, such as Thomas Hobbes, who argued for the relinquishing of all individual rights to the leviathan of the state, still emphasized that the right of self-preservation and defense was the only right that could not be given away. Martial arts can act as a vehicle for this. As Benji phrases it, martial arts can also be about the rejuvenation, rejoicing, and rediscovery of community. Martial arts can be tools of resistance both in physical encounters and cultural or symbolic structures of violence. Martial art practice is not just about the defense of the self but about the maintenance of community and dealing with societal problems through non-violent means. Martial art prowess can accrue respect and confidence in other fields of life too. At the same time, once such practices become valorized, they become FOREWORD | 15

available to co-optations by political groups with nationalistic aspirations.

who train their arts in a way they find appropriate and fitting.

To understand the myriad reasons martial arts continue to exert such a strong pull among people from around the world, from the ordinary working man to the academic or politician, one must show up. That means one must physically engage with other practitioners to understand why specific arts emerged out of a community at a specific time to fulfill a need. Alternately, how has it changed to meet the needs and interests of today’s practitioners? And finally, why do people devote years of their lives to it?2 In such a project, a Hoplologist must put their body on the line.3 Looking at arts, books, stories, songs, and movies are important as well. But these possess only secondary and tertiary importance to the need to mix it up with those

Suppose one cannot successfully engage in a combative encounter according to the rules of engagement of those involved. What if the art fails to keep one whole or even alive? What good is the art except as a folkloric dance or museum piece? The practical effectiveness of an art separates martial arts from other art forms. Even if one no longer dons a suit of armor or straps a bowie knife and an Arkansas toothpick to one waist to deal with a neighbor who shovels his snow on your driveway right after you shoveled your own driveway clean, that person knows they can de-animate a malefactor with extreme prejudice if the situation takes a sudden turn for the worse. The way that these arts train one not to run away from trouble but to run towards it with a sense of excitement, fear, and dread makes it clear how these arts can override the deep urge to flee or abjectly await one’s fate. Talking to many experienced practitioners, you will find many of them agreeing that martial arts can totally reorganize how one

2 See Wacquant, Loïs. (2004). Body & Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 3 In this way, Hoplology shares with the fields of Cultural Anthropology and Carnal Sociology the importance of conducting fieldwork and engaging in an apprenticeship to understand the cosmology of a community and the process of subject formation emerging through everyday life. 16 | The Immersion Review

looks at and feels about the world.4 This observation may sound like common sense to many readers. Still, this understanding that a martial art is much more than a physical discipline but can become an overwhelming passion and a conduit for moving through and judging the world in a different way serves as the basis of any Hoplological expedition. Except for individual projects, there have not been any Hoplological expeditions in at least two generations until the Immersion Foundation set off for Barbados. Equipped with passports, state-of-the-art cameras, and a list of questions, expedition members also packed vera wood sticks, the kind esteemed by Venezuelan garroteros. Others took along poui wood sticks favored by the kings of Trinidadian Kalinda or alternately made sure their rod-wood sticks, those valued by those Bajan Sticklicking bad-men, were in good shape. Sharpened steel cutlasses, the kind used by the bad johns of the islands, 4 For example, see Ryan, Michael J. (2016). Venezuelan Stick Fighting: The Civilizing Process in Martial Arts. Lanham MD: Lexington Press. Or Greg Downey. (2005). Learning Capoeira: Lessons in Cunning from an Afro-Brazilian Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

made their way into the luggage as well. Finally, hemp and steel cable whips, the preferred weapons of the Rope-Jab men, rounded out the expedition’s equipment. Now, properly prepared, members were ready to explore the origins, historical development, combative culture, and the battle-worthiness of what remained of what must have been a wide and diverse array of armed combative systems throughout the Caribbean and parts of South America. The term Hoplology gets bandied around a lot lately by people who have only a dim view of what it is and its history. All too often, the term Hoplology serves as a term by those seeking to add their status by labeling martial arts vacations or road trips a scientific research trip. Among those a bit more knowledgeable, the word Hoplology evokes memories of Donn Draeger. Despite the efforts by some to shine a light on their own name by turning a man into an icon whose words are a gift from the gods of war, Hoplology as a scientific discipline predates Draeger’s efforts by over 100 years. Never quite attaining the status of a discipline such as Anthropology or HistoFOREWORD | 17

18 | The Immersion Review

ry; nonetheless, Hoplological studies continue to be done, often under the auspices of other academic disciplines up through the present. Going back to the beginning, Hoplology emerged alongside Anthropology in the mid-19th century by those seeking to create an evolutionary timeline of humans from early man to the modern age. During this early period, the Prussian officer Max Jähns examined the weapons of Europe as part of a larger historical, cultural period.5 Around the same time, R.F. Burton linked the preference of a weapon type to the physical build and technological sophistication of an ethnic group.6 And still, others, such as Augustus Henry Lane Pitt-Rivers, drawing on the work of the sociologist Herbert Spencer, sought to prove the evolution of a culture, from the simplest to the complex, is reflected in its weaponry.7 Altogether, a great deal 5 Jähns, Max. (1880; repr., Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag, 1979). Handbuch einer Geschichte des Kriegswesens von der Urzeit bis zur Renaissance. Leipzig: Fr. Wilh. Grunow. 6 Burton, R.F. Sir. (1884: 1987). The Book Of The Sword. Mineola, NY: Dover. 7 Pitt Rivers, A. H. L. F. Lt-Gen. (1868). Primitive Warfare: Illustrated by Specimens from the Museum of the Institution (Part II). Journal of the United Services Institution Vol. 12. pp. 399–439. FOREWORD | 19

of good descriptive Hoplolgical work was done during this time. However, by the mid-20th century, it became clear that attempts to rank cultures from the Barbaric to the Civilized through an examination of their armaments were inherently racist and biased. During this time, a shift occurred that looked at how different races or peoples used weapons in ways unique to them and were recognized as effective, efficient, and morally correct ways to fight.8 Still, another trend involved looking at how the exposure to westernization led to the disappearance of older ways of doing things such as fighting.9 The Hoplological project begun by Draeger was unique in the history of Hoplology, and he deserves a good deal of credit on multiple fronts. Working from the point of view as a Hoplologist, Draeger sought out the origin and morphology of weapons, such as the differ8 Malinowski, Bronislaw. (1920). War and Weapons Among the Natives of the Trobriand Islands. Man: The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 20. pp. 10-12. 9 Koch, Gerd. (1988). The Kiribati Project: The Culture of the Gilbert Islands. Visual Anthropology. Vol. 1. No. 3. pp. 275–279.

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ences found between a Napoleonic French infantry sword versus a cavalry sword. Alternatively, he sought to understand how these battlefield weapons differed from French epeé used in civilian duels. Then in collaboration with the now forgotten Dick Hayes, Draeger and Hayes drew on General Systems Theory to consider the role of the martial arts as part of the totality of the culture of a community and not something to be examined separately.10 In his passion for exploring martial arts, Draeger apprenticed himself to a couple of Japanese koryu traditions. Draeger also encouraged many young foreigners to come to Japan and apprentice themselves to other lesser known koryu traditions that were in danger of dying out due to lack of interest. In furtherance of his dedication to the project of Hoplology, Draeger led a number of Hoplological expeditions to Southeast Asia.11 Finally, recognizing the importance of making knowledge accessible to the wider public, Draeger tireless10 Bertalanffy, von, Ludwig. (1972). The History and Status of General Systems Theory. The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 15. No. 4. pp. 407-426. 11 Personal communication with Mike Belzer 08/29/2021. Zoom meeting.

ly published his writings and others with similar interests. We noted earlier how Hoplology never became an independent discipline such as the closely related developing field of Anthropology. However, examining how individuals prepare themselves and actualize an armed combative encounter in all its facets is still a topic of interest by scholars in many fields.12 At this time, those working outside of academia, such as Mahipal Lunia and Vincent Tamer, and those working within, such as Michael Ryan, Philip Forde, and T.J. Desch-Obi, are pursuing Hoplological studies from their respective disciplines. At the same time, they have also contributed to championing the role of a New Hoplology as a continuation of R.F. Burton’s view of Hoplology. For Burton, Hoplology was the study of how armed combat manifests itself in everyday life. For Burton, the 12 Stone, J. (2016). A Proxemic Account of Bayonet Fighting. Journal of Strategic Studies. Vol.39. pp. 1-21. Molloy, Barry P. (2017). Hunting Warriors: The Transformation of Weapons, Combat Practices, and Society during the Bronze Age in Ireland. European Journal of Archaeology. Vol.20. No. 2. pp. 1-37.

topic of Hoplology as the study of armed combat was so broad that it could only thrive if scholars from a wide range of disciplines and interests contributed their findings to create a greater understanding of this organized mayhem we call armed combat. Long gone are the days when someone could merely provide detailed descriptions of what one has seen or learned. What makes Hoplology a science today is that any information gained must be used to support or disprove long-established questions regarding the role of armed combat among humans. Inquirers might look at the relationship between a community’s culture, the biology of an individual, and a weapon. How did the use of a weapon arise? How was it adapted to fit the needs of a community? Who taught it, who learned it? Was a weapon seen as a simple everyday tool, a specialized weapon restricted by caste or profession, or was it raised to the level of art that can profoundly reshape the wielder? What is the present state of armed combative arts today, and what is its future?

FOREWORD | 21

A study of this sort requires long-term academic study. And as an intensive dangerous activity, these studies also require an equally intensive study with a weapon system before coming to the field. Both elements provide a practical background to understand what the people we meet are actually doing instead of just taking everything said or done at face value. We have all met self-proclaimed teachers of dying or secret arts who, on a closer examination, possess only a superficial knowledge of an art at best and use this limited knowledge as a sheen to showcase their “invented traditions.” Now, there is nothing wrong with this per se from the point of view as a marketing tool. Still, Hoplologists seek to capture the history of a community of practically oriented knowledge. To do so, one must uncover and document the trajectory of a weapon and its use. With this approach, it becomes possible to understand under what conditions a weapon was used and how its use differs from today, instead of being relegated to a museum piece divorced from any practical knowledge surrounding its operation.

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In furtherance of this type of project, one element in the Immersion Foundation expeditions is to seek out those who trained a combative system where armed combat was, up until the recent past, part of the community’s everyday life. At times, we can only reach back to the students of men who once had to excel in fighting just to survive everyday life. Overall, though, a Hoplological expedition requires a familiarity with a wide range of weapon systems. Admittedly, this can be a difficult achievement for one person to attain. One way to get around this dilemma is the formation of multi-disciplinary teams. The team that went to Barbados worked well beyond any of the participants’ hopes as members were familiar with a wide range of weapon systems worldwide. Another aspect of Hoplological studies to be looked at critically is their short-term presence in the field. One issue with short term studies is the superficiality of data collected due to time constraints and the distrust of local informants to people showing up, asking a lot of questions, and disappearing. Plowing through the articles in this volume, the reader will

see that preliminary work on this expedition began long before anybody landed in Barbados. Members read all available articles, books, and dissertations. Mahipal and Vincent made contacts with quite a few locals and held numerous phone calls. Places to go, people to interview and learn from were set up in advance as much as possible. Workdays lasted from 14-18 hours a day. One other element proved to be important: the willingness and eagerness to gird oneself with the offensive or defensive weapons appropriate to the situation and try conclusions with other members of the team and local practitioners in a respectful manner. The goal of these encounters was not so much to prove who is better or what system is better but to match the energy of the other and see what the other’s art can do. To do this takes a level of maturity and skill that only comes with experience. The value of the information collected is that it was done according to a specific protocol to maximize the reliability and validity of its findings, and the information presented can be used to supplement other more long-term investigations.

Over the last 100 years, violence has been increasingly treated as something deviant and better left alone. Looking around the world, the destructive aspects of violence are plain for all to see in the battlefield graveyards on the field of Flanders stretching to the horizon. There are numerous semi-abandoned villages throughout Sicily and Greece filled with old people and children. Places where blood feuds and vendettas left all the young people dead or fleeing to urban centers to build a new life. There is a great deal of truth to the idea regarding the socially destructive elements of violence. On the other hand, the socially valuable and productive consequences of violence that can benefit society are often missing from the literature. In this volume, we identify and discuss a few of these elements as it relates to cultural resistance, ecology, education, and socialization. For too long, the contribution of people living in tribal communities or small villages, rural or urban laborers, or small merchants have failed to receive their proper mention in history books. Or equally infuriating, their local knowledges are often trivialFOREWORD | 23

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FOREWORD | 25

ized. The struggles of a community for freedom and dignity can be recovered by those willing to listen and learn. The movements of peoples, either forced or voluntary, are also often reflected in combative arts in the New World. Men such as Mr. Medford (Cherry-Boy), Philip, Ronald, and Benji talk about the range of practical knowledges preserved from earlier forced African migrations and later economically stressed South Asian migrants to preserve a space of independence from the domination of colonial and post-colonial elites. Oral histories as these can provide a window into a look at the long-forgotten knowledges or suppressed histories of those peoples who built and sustained the world’s civilizations. The enjoyment of fighting is a taboo topic.13 Today professional athletes often gesticulate wildly, grimace or howl as they celebrate their skill 13 Conley, Carolyn. (1999). The Enjoyment Of Fighting. Journal of Social History. Vol. 33. No. 1. pp. 57-72. Ryan, Michael J. (2015). “‘Does anybody here want to fight’ . . . ‘No, not really, but if you care to take a swing at me . . .’: the cultivation of a warrior’s habitus in a Venezuelan combative art.” Ido Movement for Culture. Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology. Vol. 15. No.3. pp.1-7. 26 | The Immersion Review

with a little ball. Many fail to realize, these ball games came about from the need for small communities to develop a safer way to train village members to fight as part of a phalanx or other massed formations.14 As far back as the Neolithic when people began living in settled communities storing their surplus wealth in one place, people have had to protect themselves against threats from local elites, the state, bandits, or neighboring villages attempting to steal, extort, or otherwise siphon off their wealth. And so the same type of expressive emotional behaviors athletes or spectators indulge in with such wicked glee today are descended directly from those warriors and soldiers who rush into battle with a yell or a howl, who desecrate corpses, take body parts or photograph the results of a battle as trophies.15 Members of the Barbados expedition were eager for friendly and, at times, hard exchanges. All those 14 Hurley, John. H. (2007). Shillelagh: The Irish Fighting Stick. Pipersville, PA. Caravan Press. 15 Saramifar, Younes. (2019). Tales Of Pleasures Of Violence And Combat Resilience Among Iraqi Shi’i Combatants fighting ISIS. Ethnography. Vol. 20. No.4. pp. 560–576.

who took part shared a desire to test oneself and one’s art and the sheer joy of violence. The exultation of losing oneself in the heat of an encounter, where the risks are high, and the excitement of meeting someone who can challenge your abilities is a hard-to-pass-up pleasure. Most people’s experiences in martial arts today arise out of children’s classes they had once been enrolled in. For a long time now, children’s classes have served as the main moneymaker for professional martial art teachers. Others might say we have become desensitized to violence with the growing popularity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), allowing fighters to be knocked out by fist, foot, body-slammed, or even submitted by a rear-naked choke. But how many people are willing to get hit by hardwood sticks, get slashed by a sharp blade, or have their flesh and muscles ripped off their bones by a steel cable whip? Not many! And for that reason, members of the Barbados expedition were eager to meet others who share the same passion for collecting hard data and simultaneously concussing, cutting, and whipping one’s colleagues and newfound friends during downtimes.

There is a sheer pleasure of taking a strike only to return a perfectly timed and delivered strike in return. Go to any local Dog Brothers gathering, and you will see what I mean. Issues such as these arise in the conversations between Mahipal and Keegan and the interview with Philip as he reminisces about the Stickmata symposium when both Philip and Marco Quarta of Nova Scrima tested conclusions in an impromptu and friendly match. Technical issues prevented a second interview with Biggard. But we want to say right here, we all felt Biggard was special. He took it upon himself to not only act as a driver but to take us under his wings as guests to his country. And as a true martial artist, although a bit slower and wiser than in the past, he made sure to take all of us aside and see what our art could do against his. There are profound deep-seated pleasures in violence indeed, even if, in these cases, out of concern for the other, both sides pulled these final attacks to some degree at least. After all, we are not made of cheap pottery, although we will all return to the clay. In such encounters, a type of FOREWORD | 27

profound knowledge often emerges where one can begin to understand what type of situation or contexts led to the development of an art. In other words, the act of hard-play can lead to a visceral understanding of how other cultures trained the human body to achieve victory, depending on the modality of combat involved. Nowadays, in the United States, our meat processing plants, state-sanctioned executions, and our wars are far away from us. We hire the uneducated, the migrant, or military contractors to do these jobs. Diseases and pandemics were once unsuccessfully held at bay. Not too long ago, death was a close neighbor for many and still is in many, even though humanity has doubled in size during our lifetime. The cultural logic calling for men to settle grievances face to face armed with a stick, whip, or blade, to demonstrate one’s physical toughness and mental resilience in the face of adversity was a valued trait for many people whose life was a continuous struggle and still is today. For this reason, Hoplology has a long road ahead. Another exciting concept brought up in the recent conversations with Ron28 | The Immersion Review

ald and Benji are the ideas of war magic, crossing the Kalunga, calling on one’s ancestors, or beseeching help from the god of war or the gods of life. The varied techniques employed to access metaphysical forms of power and protection to aid the individual in combat at one time were ubiquitous in martial arts training. Once dismissed as mere superstitions, scholars are increasingly recognizing them as valuable ways of learning how other people think, live, move, and act in the world differently than those brought up in the modern western way of thinking. Let’s be clear, the principal reasons these older arts persist are their practicality and efficiency, allowing people to create a space to live, believe, and interact with others. Looking back on the role of Hoplology in his interview, Mahipal recaps for us how he sees the role of Hoplology is to examine the way communities have taken up arms and fought with them. To learn how culture, biology, and history shape how communities look upon, think about, and react to acts of violence. The idea is not to impose our own morals or values regarding violence on others but to

understand how people continue to rely on violence to engage in a wide array of projects that we call life. By November of 2021, it will have been three years since we arrived in Barbados; three years, can you believe it? Since then, the Immersion Foundation has released one instructional video on the knife and stick arts of Southern Italy16 and is about to release the series, Secret Fighting Arts Of The Americas, on the results of the Barbados expedition. Our work in this area still continues, as the reader can see in the monograph you are reading on a screen or holding in your hand. Our sincere hope is that you find something worthy in these pages; if so, our travails have been worthwhile.

er, and a group of people who have never all met each other, for the most part, all hopped on airplanes. Upon landing in Barbados, they all wondered what was going to happen. Any doubts they might have had were soon allayed as everybody met with Mahipal coming up to us each in turn with a wide, warm smile on his face and arms outstretched saying, “Welcome to Barbados! I hope you had a pleasant flight. Alright, let’s get to work, shall we? We begin in five minutes.” And so, a New Hoplology was born. Reflecting on the Immersion Foundation’s work both past and present, Mahipal sums up the goals of an Immersion Foundation style of Hoplology in three brief directives:

Taking a step back, it was in the Spring of 2016, sitting in a restaurant with a few students after an Aikijujutsu class. For some reason, the idea of reviving Burton’s old project of Hoplology was brought and kicked around half seriously. The question quickly turned to how somebody would go about doing a hoplolgical project today. Fast-forward a bit lat-

Explore fearlessly—What this means is we must suspend all our cognitive biases and enter into a new world fearlessly. To come into a new world with a student’s mindset open to learning and seeking to collaborate with others to understand the logic and motivation behind the learning of an art. What was it intended to do, how has it changed, and why does it persist today?

16 See Cielo e Meraviglia: Secrets Of Apulian Knife Fighting with Maestro Domenico Mancino. https://www.theimmersionmedia.com.

Encode diligently—The goal of any Immersion Foundation project is to

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model, encode, and represent the physiology, beliefs, systems, and language of these arts to show the unique ways people transmit and train and test practically oriented knowledges. For example, exploring Trinidadian Kalinda, we experienced how older African ways of learning and transmitting combative knowledge through music and songs are still the main methods of transmission among today’s Bois-men.17 Transmit broadly—All information collected for publication must meet the approval of those who provided the information. All material is then subject to rigorous methodological analysis to evaluate the reliability and validity of all information. Those findings see the light of day as books, articles, monographs, streaming videos, and special live events with invited teachers. For example, with the Barbados expedition, we recorded all aspects of the expedition in highend 4K resolution amounting to 125 hours of clean video. Not content to sit on one’s laurels, the Immersion Foundation continues its explorations to work with those who carry on Jogo de Pau of Por17

tugal, continue the stick and blade arts of the Philippines, or uphold and honor combative/healing art of the Maoris of New Zealand. In between these times, The Immersion Foundation hosted 11 stalwart exponents of the blade in the symposium, Legacy Of The Blade, and 12 highly skilled experts with the stick in what is remembered as Stickmata. And finally, 10 staunch authorities were able to lay out the connections between the combative arts of the Indo-Malay, Moro and Polynesian cultures in Born Of Blood. Notwithstanding the limitations on travel and the impact on countless lives in this pandemic year, which does not show any sign of slowing down, the Immersion Foundation continues its mission. We continue to explore the arts via new mediums, including over satellite connectivity and in-depth personal explorations with a group of aging masters. COVID, if anything, helps the old gatekeepers realize it might be a now-or-never moment to showcase, encode, and transmit their arts. In this, the Immersion Foundation seeks to walk shoulder to shoulder with these masters to save their arts for the next generation.

Literally “stick men” in French. FOREWORD | 31

ILF CARIBBE AN

The Hoplology Expedition By Michael J. Ryan to Barbados Two men from Trinidad, each armed with two short-bladed machetes, are chanting a tune, bodies swaying, reeling and rocking back and forth alternately attacking, parrying, and countering the slashes, thrusts, and cuts of the other. T.J. Desch-Obi (friend and fellow university professor) and I are standing in a parking lot in Farley Hill National Park in Barbados, serving as the expedition’s designated gophers as everyone else searches for a good spot for the morning shoot. Twenty minutes earlier, I had just finished an 11-hour commute from my classroom in upstate New York, and I was already mesmerized by an artform I never knew existed. “Whew!” I said to myself, “This is getting serious really quick. It is going to be an amazing trip!” These first impressions were not wrong; the sense of wonder and awe continued non-stop for the rest of the week as we were introduced to several Caribbean combative traditions, a couple of which I had only heard of and two of which I had no idea existed. Such was the excitement shared by all of us who took part in this exploratory Hoplological expedition to Barbados. 32 | The Immersion Review

The Jab Jab Devils.

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HOPLOLOGY

The Quest to Discover, Examine, and Understand Martial Arts By Michael J. Ryan

On the small Caribbean island of Barbados, nine men gathered for eleven days, swinging sticks and machetes, and even lashing each other with whips. Why would a group of men come from all over North America and the Caribbean just to fight, socialize and study regional combat systems when there are numerous martial art schools, amateur competitions, and bars in their own neighborhoods? This exercise was different, very different. We had come together to document and record a number of dying traditions that once flourished in the Caribbean and South America. Up until recently, most every man carried weapons when stepping out of their home in rural areas of the Caribbean and Latin America. It could have been a simple tool like a machete, ubiquitous among those 58 | The Immersion Review

who worked in the sugarcane fields. Or it could have been a knife if you were a butcher, a fisherman or a tailor. On the other hand, if someone was going to a party, a dance, or to share a drink with friends at a local rum-shop, you would probably carry a heavy walking stick. Upon arriving at the destination, you would stash your stick in some nearby bushes, behind a tree, or in the eaves of a roof. If there was trouble, you could easily retrieve your weapon and deal with the situation. Time has the power to change all things. By the 1950s and 1960s, sports such as baseball, cricket, Judo, and Karate had captured people’s attention. The older practices of stick, machete and knife fighting, which had once been the passion of young men, began to die out. These arts came to be seen as something

HOPLOLOGY | 59

CHERRY-BOY The Last of the Grandfathers Speaks By Philip Forde

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CHERRY-BOY | 75

Listening to Mr. Medford, or “Cherry-Boy,” talk, we are taken back to a time when people had a much greater combative repertoire to draw upon. And there were many more occasions to draw on this vast reservoir of combative forms. Unarmed striking, kicking, standing grappling, different blades, different whips and the stick could all come into play. With the stick, one could use it for self-defence, as a recreational pastime, or as part of a professional sporting event. As the 20th century progressed, most of these other arts had fallen to the wayside, leaving out only the stick as the main weapon. And by the early 1960s, this weapon, too, was in a serious state of decline. Here, we are able to take a peek into a long gone past. [Editor’s Note: The editors decided to leave the interview as it was recorded as much as possible, allowing Mr. Medford to describe the world of his youth in his own voice. Those words in parentheses are in modern standard English to help understand Mr. Medford’s more local register. The interview may take some work, but it is well worth the effort to read what he had to say.]

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Philip Forde: How old are you now, and when did you pick up the stick to do Sticklicking? Mr. Medford: I am 94 years. I was born the 26th of April, 1927. When we first began with the stick we were boys, still in short pants. Because that was what was going on and we did like it. So be old men. There was no stick bout (in) the road we had to run and hide and practice. So, when we get to find out we would walk . . . we used to walk with the little stick all when we did (were) 16 years and pelting lashes at one another, and not nah (no) spite nothing. The old men use to go and hide and we would know where duh (they) is (are) and go and pimp (peep). So, we learned the first lesson got in seven lashes: 1, 2; 1, 2; 3, 4; 5, 6; 7. This stick is your

protector, your stick must be outside your body. All the time; any part of your stick. Your stick should move, whenever you move. Whenever you move, you must inside your stick. You understand? You would swing with the stick outside your body if not yuh (you are) carrying your body to the stick. But when you do so . . . the stick would tek (take) all the . . . and according to the lashes, the kind of lashes. You understand? Now the head lash, the head lash: yuh (you) blocked it with nuff (a lot) of slant in the stick. Because if yuh (you) block it half level it would still come down in your head. So when you get a head lash, you walk out of it so it would land by your shoulder . . . yuh (you) pass it so and that the stick carry the lash off of you.

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WARRIORHOOD Keegan & Lunia in Deep Discussion By Michael J. Ryan

During their interview with Michael J. Ryan, Keegan Taylor and Mahipal Lunia discuss the dangers of digital forms of teaching martial arts and their play with live cutlasses during the Barbados expedition.

Keegan Taylor: Children are coming up with a different kind of thing now. My son is a very good example of the average kid. The average kid is about our average when we were coming in. Looking at their minds, they can still play, they can still go outside, they can still have fun and interact with stuff outside. But they also have an almost as equally big or even bigger appetite for the digital world, digital space. That combination between the hungers for those two worlds is creating a new landscape for learning. I say that to say that games like stick fighting and some of these traditions: we have to find new ways of passing them on that can be applied in the real space. Real space is still fun. I was in a drum session two days ago and I was wondering, how can I digitize this? I can see digitizing almost every other experience, even the sexual experience. But I do not know how we are going to digitize what drumming and all that does. Whereas you

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might hook up some neurons in your brain and feel excitement and your heart pounds, there is so much we do not know about drumming. You may be able to begin synthesizing that experience. In the same way, things like Kalinda and stick fighting and other traditional stuff, what I know in terms of my culture. But there are other things as well that we think it is necessary to pass on as an art form. I think things are being passed on in the real world in real time. Yet it is being affected by two things. First is the current generation’s responsibility in instilling information and finding new ways to instill it. Secondly, the actual usefulness of that information to the next generation and how they think about that. According to my philosophy on that knowledge, a lot of the stuff that we are doing now is not going to get us to where we need to go. Children already know that. How do I give you Kalinda if you are starting to write your own script for the future? Do

you think it is important for Kalinda to be there in your new digital, or whatever world that is coming? I think it is. But is it really? That is just my personal philosophy. Mahipal Lunia: I hear you. Let me add a thing here. I think digitization is great. But as you know, when you go into the world of the digital, it is zeros and ones. There is something very primal and something really great about the analogue experience. Whether it is Kalinda, or Shastravidya,1 or any other art, usefulness is important. But so is physical and ancestral archaeology, at least the way I think about it. It is a way of connecting with the ancestors in such a rich way that when we lose that, we also lose who we are and where we are in time. The dan-

ger of digitization, and I say this as I am watching my little girl here. Like you said, the new generation is far smarter than we were. But the danger is that everything is digital, it is very easy to lose track of who we are and where we are. It is easy to get lost in everything else. Without a firm standing of - Boom! This is who I am, and - Boom! This is where I am, and - Boom! When my head breaks open or when my skin is torn, and this blood comes out. It is real. There is something very human, very visceral; something very ancestral. It teaches you courage. Courage in the absence of challenge is not really courage. If we lose courage, I think something is lost. Those are my thoughts. I would love to hear what you think.

1 Shastravidiya is combative system from Northwest India. Written records mentioning this art go back to the 16th century. However, oral traditions give it a much earlier origin date. Shastravidiya should not be confused with Gatka, a martial art from the Punjab and practiced by the Sikh.

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PHILIP FORDE

Gatekeeper of Sticklicking By Mahipal Lunia

A music teacher by profession, Philip has been practicing Sticklicking since the age of 14. His love of the art led him all over the island of Barbados relentlessly searching for others who could teach him more about this gradually disappearing art. Pursuing a Ph.D. (University of the West Indies) to further his understanding of this once popular practice, Philip expanded his investigations by travelling across the Caribbean where Barbadian men had lived, worked, and fought. He looked at other stick fighting methods to understand how they are similar to, or different from, the traditions he learned at home. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

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What is Sticklicking?

Mahipal Lunia: What is this Bajan stick fighting, what is Sticklicking? Philip Forde: I would say Sticklicking is the recreational martial art of the Barbadian men. I believe we can trace it back to the days of slavery. Of course, it has changed over the years as society has developed. I also believe that what we practice now evolved from a more complete,

well rounded martial art to one focusing on the stick alone as it became more of a sport. Historically speaking, I believe it is a combination of several different African stick fighting art forms with some British military influence.

Philip and Biggard in a Sticklicking game of chess. The Styles ML:

How many Sticklicking styles are there and what makes them different?

PF:

There is Queensberry and Johnson, those are the ones that are still around. They were around when I was learning myself, but we heard of Mapps, Donnelly, Square, Diamond, Creole-all different styles. There was one called St. Francis or Sir Francis, or Francis. It went by variations of the same name. Sir Francis was an unarmed striking art. It is possible that originally they were all part of one martial art with various techniques, un-armed and armed techniques, and that somewhere along the line they became separated. Some people

Forde and Biggard in a sticklicking game of chess.

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Post-Script

PHILIP : MARTIAL ARTIS T, MUSICIAN , AND PROFE SSOR

Two years after the ILF Hoplological expedition to Barbados in 2018, Michael J. Ryan interviewed the original co-members of the expedition via Zoom to commemorate the expedition, get their reflections on it, and see what they are up to nowadays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In this post-script interview, Philip talks about learning the art of Sticklicking and researching the last of the Sticklickers left alive. Philip talks about hosting the ILF expedition team in Barbados and his time teaching at the ILF symposium, Stickmata. Philip talks about one of the many highlights of Stickmata, including the end of his teaching section. Very Politely, he asked if anybody cared to try his knowledge of the stick with their own. Dr. Marco Quarta, in a very gentlemanly fashion, volunteered to accommodate him. Both men thus armed, a highly technical, lightning-paced respectful game took place by two men who at the end of it smiled, shook hands, thanked the other for a pleasant workout and then retired to different parts of the hall to tend to their contusions.

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Michael J. Ryan: What were you thinking was going to happen when we were all coming to visit you? Philip: I was not sure. I was not sure exactly what was going to happen. I had only met the Trinidadian guys to train; that was very briefly. I saw some of what they did. I never saw the Whip-Jab. That was a complete revelation. I was not sure what to ex-

pect. It was a very rewarding experience. Everything came together very well. I was also still working, so I was not with you all the time. I did not get to see everything, but what I saw was well worth the effort.

MJR: In your own realm of Bajan Sticklicking, Cherry-Boy introduced you to some aspects of Sticklicking you were not aware of before? Philip: Yes, that is what happens in these folk arts. There is no one way of doing them. Almost every person that you speak to has a different dimension to show you. Cherry-Boy had a slightly different staff, techniques, and everything to show me that I never saw before. That was very interesting, different ways of holding the stick, different sequences of lashes, different techniques to try to trap your opponent, that kind of thing. What was more interesting, apart from the stick fighting with Cherry-Boy, is that I was able to

learn from him the whole wrestling techniques practiced in the Caribbean before the introduction of Judo. I made sure that the things that he was talking about predated Judo by decades. These techniques existed before Judo in Barbados. He was able to show me some of the techniques that they would use in wrestling when he was young. Some of the throws are very similar to Judo throws with slight differences. It was just amazing that this thing existed. I am very happy that he was able to show me these techniques because

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RONDEL BENJAMIN Combat Martial Artist, Hoplologist, and Pioneer By Jon White

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I am very pleased to present this interview with Rondel Benjamin. Rondel has been a pioneer in the revitalization of the Afro-Caribbean martial traditions that collectively fall under the group of practices known as Kalinda. The Bois Academy of Trinidad & Tobago, an organization that Rondel co-founded, has been essential to the revitalization of these arts, actively working to create opportunities for people to experience the restorative power that lies at the core of these martial forms. The wide range of opportunities they have created includes programs designed to use Kalinda in restorative justice and gender-based violence initiatives. The art has been employed in a number of other institutional settings, including Creative Art Entrepreneurship, Debating & Position Defense for University Students, Kalinda as a New Pedagogy in Youth Education, At Risk Youth Engagement, and Propagation of Kalinda as a Lifestyle.

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Post-Script

BENJI : CROSSING THE K ALUNGA

Benji reflects upon his time running the Bois Academy, ranging over topics such as the philosophy of teaching, devising a pedagogical progression, and teaching non-Western combative arts.

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Michael J. Ryan: How is college coming for you, your master’s degree? Benji: It has been exhilarating to begin to access the historical accounts of what we do, to delve into the possible sources, and really to experience time as a continuum and not just snapshots. One of the things that I hope to share with academia is the perspective of the doer. There are many assumptions in the theses I have read. It is clear to me that they lacked the internal or the initiates’ view from some of the conclusions they made, though, from their perspective, I can see why they would make them. I am quite surprised at the inability to understand the inner workings of what we do as a way of life. One classic example is that in Trinidad and Tobago, Carnival began in 1838. All of the carnival bands were Kalinda bands. They would describe the Kalinda bands in a way that disconnected them from their root source: the central Bantu people. They keep trying to impose West African beliefs or infrastructures on a

process that had at least a whole other layer to it. It was just curious that they could not see that they were imposing two different, though interrelated, belief structures because they were external. In doing that, they completely erased one of the influences to speak about the one they have more books on. When they do not have experience, it is researchers speaking about what they can read. If there is an unwritten area of knowledge, then it is just invisible. That was one of the exciting yet surprising things about academia. Being an initiate impacts epistemology; it changes the way we access knowledge and learn. You have a foot in both worlds, so to speak, the academic world and then the world of these societies. It is fantastic. That is a type of knowledge that has long been overdue. One of the things we hope to do at the Bois Academy encourages more initiates to feel comfortable in academic spaces. It is almost as if there

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KEEGAN TAYLOR Carrying the Traditions into the Future By Rondel Benjamin

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Hearing the call of the warrior path as a young teenager, Keegan plunged headlong into this journey first studying Aiki-Jitsu, Shotokan Karate, and Simba-Ryu. After a number of years of study, Kegan turned to the grappling arts of Judo, Systema, and BJJ. Continuing to heed the call of the warrior, Keegan continued to study Kali, Escrima, Muay-Thai, and Scott Sonnon’s body-flow project to expand and deepen his understanding of combat. Much like the African warrior/griot of old, Keegan also continued to explore his love of music, looking backwards to the rhythms of Africa and African diasporic musical expressions of resistance, but also forward, blending these traditional rhythmic ideas with the emerging musical ideas coming out of the creative impulses of young Caribbean musicians today. After discovering Kalinda, Keegan began an intensive apprenticeship under the master practitioner Rondel Benjamin, eventually becoming his senior student. Kalinda is a stick fighting art form that is native to Trinidad and Tobago. In essence, it is a blood sport fought between two opponents each wielding four-foot hardwood staffs in an effort to strike the opponent about the body with the purpose of drawing first blood. Keegan quickly became enthralled by the very essence of the game. The combination of music and combat with just enough pain proved to be addictive. Keegan has since become an avid student of Kalinda, embracing all its customs, traditions and practices. He continues to train in Judo and Jiu Jitsu, with elements of striking from the Defence Lab syllabus alongside Kalinda.

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Post-Script

KEEGAN : TR AILBL A ZING FOR THE NE X T GENER ATION

Looking in the rear-view mirror as he is barreling forward, Keegan is among the generation of upcoming stalwarts: those who have attained a certain level and then testing their skills, heart, and mind against all who would stand their ground and permit him the pleasure of a match. Far from just seeing himself as a martial artist, Keegan reflects upon his time in Barbados, playing Capoeira, crossing sticks, fencing with cutlasses, and facing off with a stick versus a whip. Then with the same open hearted and joyous energy, Keegan turns his eyes forward and delves into other topics. We talk about how to reconcile archaic combative traditions with emerging technologies, producing music and videos, and last but not least, coming to understand the role of fatherhood in raising children in these uncertain times.

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Michael J. Ryan: What were you expecting when you decided to go on this trip with us? Keegan: It is a long time to remember what the feelings and the thoughts were. But I can tell you it could not have been what we expected. First of all, doing something important for your martial art is one of the key drivers for me, at that time and even now. It felt like like-minded people had come together to deliberate, talk about martial arts, test it, and be honest. It was a dream come true. I am not just saying that. Coming up, you always wanted to explore the philosophical aspect of what you do and the whole idea of warriorhood, the directions it could come from on a global scale. What does this person from this place or that think? What is this person from Africa or India thinking? When you reach a particular place in your martial arts, you start recognizing that it is not just about belts. Some people

go down the route of belts: this is how I see myself; I am a Sensei now, a black belt. Then some people chase a different direction, and it is just two different types of the way. Coming together in that melting pot, I knew that it was exciting. I knew that it was not something I was expecting regarding the kinds of thoughts we were getting. Most importantly, like with all trips, it is about how you feel when you just got there, and then on the last day or night when everybody is having a beer together; that kind of completion in a circle. I remember meeting Mahipal in the car park of a food place. At the end of the day, all of you became different human beings to me. No matter what I was thinking, the expectation was surpassed.

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NATIONAL KARATE AND JUJITSU UNION: History Revisited

By James Herndon

ave you ever wanted to discover the origins of a little-known martial art, or practice machete and stick fighting on a distant shore? This special issue of Masters magazine will introduce you to a group of individuals who combine the practical and scholarly study of global fighting systems in new and innovative ways. Each of the hand combat systems which they describe in the coming pages was developed here, in the Western hemisphere, and reflects the complicated social history of the Caribbean. I met and trained with “Mr.B.” from 1969 to 1971, when we were both members of the United States Air Force; he was stationed at Moody AFB, Valdosta, GA, and I was stationed at Robins AFB, Warner Robins, GA. We had both recently returned stateside from our overseas deployments. It was about a two-hour drive from my base to his; and I made frequent weekend drives to visit his dojo (actually run by Ben Mooney in downtown Valdosta, not on the base). Although I was a Shodan in Shorin-ryu, and he was a Godan in Shito-ryu, I felt it was worth my time and effort to get to know him and learn what I could. His reputation had spread throughout the Air Force and in martial arts media. With firsthand knowledge, in this article I will review the background and context of the development of the National Karate and Jujitsu Union (NKJU), founded by Richard Baillargeon in 1974. My viewpoints may or may not be shared by others. That’s OK. I only know what I know through my own eyes and experiences, and through conversations with many of the people whom I will name below. First, some background and context.

Training in Japan While stationed at Johnson Air Force Base near Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, between 1956-1962, Richard Baillargeon had the opportunity to train under Kyoshin Kayo, who was affiliated with the Seishin Kai organization, headquartered in Osaka. Johnson AFB was formerly Iruma Air Base when it was under Japanese control during WWII. Kyoshin Kayo was a member of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, and was assigned to Iruma/Johnson. The style of karate they practiced was Shito-ryu, as being refined by

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Martial Arts Masters

DAVID “ BIGGARD” HINDS Memories of Old-Time Barbados By Michael J. Ryan

DAVID "BIGGARD" HINDS | 195

David “Biggard” Hinds is a retired carpenter who we brought on board as a driver for the ILF field team. During the first day, it came out that in his youth, Biggard was an accomplished Sticklicker and still possessed a high degree of skill, a willingness to engage with us, and a desire to test his talents. He became an integral member of the ILF team, both as a source of Sticklicking information, a driver, and as a friend. Saulud, my good friend! Hope to see you again soon. Fortunately, Biggard was already known to a local scholar researching Sticklicking traditions. Here is a collection of excerpts taken from interviews done by Philip Forde in 2015, where Biggard talks about his early memories of stick fighting in the 1960s. The interviews have been edited and re-written for clarity, consistency, and easy reading.

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ertain would u. It ught cause uld get getting always brave ld do got to ove for

rene Church. And after church was done on Sundays, I would run down to Farm Path just to watch Sticklicking, because they would play in our yard, practically every Sunday.

Learning how to use the stick PF:

So did fellows fight with two hands or one hand on the stick?

DBH: Mostly you begin with one hand on the stick, but sometimes, fellows did “bar” Years the stick, they used to call itEarly “barring the stick,” they used to hold it with two hands, in that way you could strike out with either the right or left hand. PF:

Sticklicking was something anybody could learn or was it very secretive?

“Biggard” Hinds: I was born DBH: Only certainDavid fellows would teach you. It wasn’t taught openly, because fellows would get scared of getting hit. It was always only the brave ones would do it in Hillaby, raised up in Hillaby, used because people get scared of getting hit and so on. So, you got to have the love to go to church at Hillaby Nazarene for it. Church. And after church was done on Sundays, I would run down to DBH: Right…everybody didn’t want to teach you and people keep it as a secret, that’s Farm Path just to watch why it is dying out now because people hold Sticklicking, it back too much. they would play in our yard, PF: Why wouldbecause people hold it back so much? every DBH: I don’t knowpractically why…. You had manySunday. people that used to come and watch because PF:

But even back then you had to find somebody to teach you.

people wanted to see the real art of it, what it was really like, so there were

play while Cherry

Biggard and Philip play while Cherry-Boy advises.

DAVID "BIGGARD" HINDS | 197

RONALD ALFRED Guardian of Martial Tradition, Master Mas Maker, and Herb Healer By Rondel Benjamin

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Martial Arts Masters

RONALD ALFRED | 205

It is my pleasure to present the enigmatic Ronald Alfred. Ronald is the last of the Whip Masters. Trinidad Masqueraders of yesteryear all have stories of large bands of “Jab-Jabs” meeting on the roads and engaging in duel-style battles. The victors left with arms raised and the losers deflated, bloodied and broken. This is the environment in which Ronald came to manhood, acclaim, and prominence as one of the “hardest hitters” that the art has ever seen. He is the guardian of the very secretive, time-honored, art of Rope-Jab or Trinidad Jab-Jab. His work in education and the dissemination of this sacred Caribbean martial form may have single-handedly brought it back from the edge of extinction. The Alfred family is now in its fourth generation of active Rope-Jab Players. [Editor’s Note: This interview presumes one has some previous knowledge of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. Ronald mentions the masked and costumed characters that appear during the Carnival parades. Of the many characters, one is called the “Jab-Jab,” or the devil. The word “Jab” is a slang for the French word for devil, “Diable.” Another character is the “Jab-Jab Molassie,” or the Molasses Devil. The Jab-Jab Molassie smears himself with oil, or lard mixed with colored dyes. He then jumps and leaps about like a wild man, threatening to smear molasses on onlookers unless they pay them off with spare change. Other times, he parades chained up. The colored bodies and the chains are supposed to represent the slaves of old who were chained, mistreated and exploited for centuries on the sugarcane plantations of the country where molasses was produced and then refined into sugar.]

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Rondel Benjamin: Ronald, talk to me, help us get some insight into this unknown martial form. Ronald Alfred: Hi Benji. Most JabJab/Rope-Jab is a “Mas” [a form of Masquerade]. They see the costume and the colors. They watch us chipping [dancing] down the road, they hear us singing our Lavways to the rhythm of the willows [ankle bracelets covered with bells] in our sacred procession. What they don’t know is what lies beneath. When we are

marching through the towns and villages, we bring woes and sorrow to any of our kind that we meet. It’s a dance to challenging any Jab man who dares to face us in combat. The Jab man also be seen as the devil incarnate. I forget occasionally and call it a “mas” ‘cause we have always known that it is our martial art. To our family, to those in the know, it was always more than mas, even than a battle. For us, it is a way of life. It

RONALD ALFRED | 207

Post-Script Post-Script

RONALD : POST-SCRIPT THE MAN A WHIP TITLE IN E ACH HAND

Ronald Alfred the Whip-Jab man. One of the treasures of the expedition was meeting Ronald. A holder of a whipping tradition whose roots go back to India and Africa. Here, Ronald talks about the role of the Jab-Jab men in Carnival and the intensive long-term preparations regarding a strict regime purifying the mind, body, and soul to prepare oneself for hemp rope and steel cable whipping contests. Ronald also reflects upon his time as a member of the ILF Barbados expedition.

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Michael J. Ryan: What did you think about the trip to Barbados, and what led you to want to join us and present your arts to us? Ronald: The trip was, without a doubt, a new experience for me coming out from down in Trinidad here. I saw different fighting styles besides the whip: the sticks and blades that were around. The experience for me was great. I saw other martial arts than what I do. I learned a lot from different martial arts and martial artists. The art form in Trinidad is something I do not think the world would ever see. The art form is dying. We are the very last living people with the knowledge. I see that if I can promote and show it to people, it will survive, and the art form will not just go away. Those people who I learned from are no longer here, and the younger people did not have the chance to learn from them. So, it is two things: getting the world to see and sharing my knowledge. Now that we have the Internet, we can see many fighting styles around the world. We have a different style. We throw our bodies at it; we can give

and take a little differently from everybody else. Lots of people use whips. They may strike a bull, but nobody has full contact fighters as we have. That is how we do it. As I said, when I go on the Internet, I may see different things on whipping. Things that are related to us or that have a resemblance. Something might be a little different. You might see men try to do it with power, but they do not have breaks.1 What happens in Rope-Jab fighting is that how you learn to hit is the same as learning the breaks.

1 Breaks are how lashes from the whip are blocked.

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NATIONAL KARATE AND JUJITSU UNION: History Revisited

By James Herndon

236 | The Immersion Review Martial Arts Masters

Finding an Anchor in

HOPLOLOGICAL FILMMAKING By Vincent Tamer

A longtime student of Mahipal’s dojo, and with a degree in filmmaking, Vincent put in countless hours of prep-work for this project, pouring over Google Maps and searching for the perfect shooting locations. He was also in charge of locating markets to feed all of us, securing cars, renting a house with Wi-Fi, and creating a shooting schedule that kept us on track and moving forward. His days began before ours and for the first half of the trip lasted well after we all went to bed. The long hours began to wear on him and it showed. However, because of his organizational skill the team was able to take up the slack, while Vincent fielded all our questions and resolved issues with cameras, computers, and other recording equipment. He was the anchor we could all turn to when we needed help. He was he guy who knew where we had to be and who we needed to talk to. In spite of all these responsibilities, Vincent still had some time to get involved in the training.

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Post-Script

POST-SCRIPT TITLE

Post-Script Post-Script

VINCENT: POST-SCRIPT THROUGH A LENS TITLE DEEPLY

Michael J. Ryan: Do you remember what stood out for you in the pre-planning of the expedition? Vincent: To take it back right to the beginning, Mahipal Lunia Sensei called me. He just proposed that instead of bringing these guys1 here, it might be a better idea to go there and see them in their element. It could be a fun thing. The first thing I thought was, I did not even know what language they spoke in Barbados. I have to admit how naive I was, it could have been French. But it sounded great. I was a little nervous, because it was such a new thing. Planning it was interesting because I had never been there. It is essentially like planning a vacation. So, I looked up some interesting sights to see. Fortunately, it is a fairly small island. I looked at what would be interesting to film in and then just talked to Philip.2 He guided me through some interesting places to set some of the filmmings in. One that sticks out was Farley Hill National Forest, 1 Vincent is referring to the interviewees from Barbados and Trinidad. 2 Dr. Philip Forde. 248 | The Immersion Review

where there are some ruins of an old mansion there. That was just such a win for us to film in those beautiful ruins. That was our second day with the Kalinda guys. So, it was pretty interesting. I had never actually done location scouting for a place I had never been to. I was always used to doing it locally, and driving there, and seeing it. So, that was cool. It was very satisfying to be able to do that. It was hard, too, because I was the film crew. Everybody helped out. Everybody did the labor and helped carry things. But in terms of what goes where and all the little technical details, it was me. It was such a small production. So that was tricky, but I could handle it. It was nice to get help for the later expeditions that we did. But this one has a close place in my heart just because I was doing all of this stuff, running around, switching out cameras, and everything like that.

MJR: As an Anthropologist and martial artist, what stood out for you during that trip? What people or what events? Vincent: I think the big thing, because it is a personal interest, is how martial arts can serve as a rite of passage, especially for young men becoming actual men. That has always been an interest to me, how martial arts can be a vehicle for that. Before, it was actual combat that did that. In these modern days, especially in the West, there are no rituals for that. It is hard to come by aside from joining the military and seeing actual violence or joining a gang or something like that. Even in martial arts in the West, so much of it is watered down or commercialized. So, it was interesting to see how these arts functioned and how they served all these different purposes— not just teaching you how to fight, but how they engage a whole community as a means of self-expression through dance and singing. But also allowing the youth to fight in a controlled manner that probably will not get you killed, but will put a set of balls on you for lack of a better

way of putting it. So, that was one thing that impressed me. I had not been doing martial arts for probably about two years when I embarked on this trip. I had trained a Japanese martial art. So, it was nice to see the difference. These African Diaspora arts did a lot of gamifying of the art.3 The way I learned was just so interesting to me. It blew me away at the time. That was a watershed moment for me in terms of how effective it can be to teach by making it a song, or a dance, or just something fun, something that you can put your whole heart into, rather than just learning a technique. 3 Vicent is referring to the idea of “play” as something not serious as it takes place outside of everyday life in restricted space. But in that space where there is no set goal, just a mutual agreement to stop playing and the made-up rules are taken seriously. At the same time, there is a lightness of not taking oneself, the game, and the stakes too seriously. For a deeper exploration of “play,” see Johannes Huizinga. (2016). “Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture.” Angelico Press. Post-Script: VINCENT TAMER | 249

s and 2015, might would class e rum ’s the

ganiately, The they That hools. older at last were his to don’t

p and David open éran, of Féching hool. d last arrote open thing 254 | The Immersion Review

kmata and leading a demonstration.

Sticks, blades and cats - the holy trinity

MICHAEL J . RYAN The Fighting Stick and Machete in Venezuelan Garrote By Mahipal Lunia

MICHAEL J. RYAN | 255

Michael J. Ryan holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Binghamton University. Much of his professional research focuses on the study and documentation of lesser known traditional fighting systems. His extensive fieldwork in South America is documented in a scholarly volume titled “Venezuelan Stick Fighting: The Civilizing Process in Martial Arts” (Lexington Books, 2016). Michael remembers how his journey into Anthropology and Hoplology began early in life reading National Geographic about the Indians in the Amazon and watching Bruce Lee in the “Green Hornet,” seeing Sean Connery/Donn Draeger in James Bond’s “You Only Live Twice” and Tom Laughlin/Bong Soo Han in “Billy Jack.” These two passions, Anthropology and martial arts, drove Michael for much of his life. Hitchhiking around the world for six years prepared him to be a good Anthropologist. Pursuing this career path led him to the door of a number of unique martial artists who recognized his passion for their knowledge and accepted him as a student, probably more out of the idea of trying to keep him out of trouble than any innate skill he possessed. In one of life’s strange twists Michael switched from a study of Amazonian riverine peoples to Venezuelan stickfighters. A few years and a few phone calls later, Michael ended up as a core member of the ILF expedition to Barbados. The following interview, conducted by Mahipal Lunia, examines the rise, decline and recent transformation of the various styles of stick and knife fighting that collectively comprise Venezuelan Garrote. The evolution and origin of these systems provides an important comparative case study for individuals interested in the development of New World combat systems. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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MICHaEL j. Ryan

Mahipal Lunia: Can you tell us a little bit about Garrote, what it is, and where it comes from? Michael J. Ryan: It has been the object of my research for many years. Most simply, a Garrote is a braided hardwood tapered stick, about walking length, that was once carried as a part of a man’s daily dress in Venezuela from the 1920s to the 1970s. After that, it started disappearing along the coastal areas. Actually, during the 1920s it became uncommon in some rural areas. I would say that it was gone in some of the more extremely rural areas by the late 1950s. In other places it lasted through the 1970s.

Michael int. Training Mande Muda Silat with Leslie Buck, 1997.

Michael in training Mande Muda Silat with Leslie Buck,88 1997. SPRING 2019

A braided handled walking stick was primarily a self-defense tool used against animals in the rural areas, but it was also a symbol of manhood. It represented notions of elite mas-

MICHAEL J. RYAN | 257

STICKMAN DOH ‘ FR AID NO DAMOM : Stick and Machete Fighting in the New World

By Michael J. Ryan

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A number of tell-tale signs point to a wealth of living combative traditions in Latin America and the Caribbean, if one goes off the beaten path and keeps one’s eyes open. A farmer riding his bicycle along a rural path with a three-foot stick, strapped underneath his frame. A night watchman in Barbados strolling along the grounds of a factory late one night giving a twirl to a three-and-a-half foot stick. Alternatively, while enjoying Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago ,one may come across two men in brightly adorned devil costumes thrashing each other mercilessly with a long rope or shorter steel cable whips.

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One question arising from this wealth of traditions is the differences in the way these men choose to fight. There are common elements among these arts, such as the one-on-one ritualistic nature of these combats and that many of these arts deeply connect with local African-descended communities (with midwestern Venezuela being a notable exception). Also the use of the stick or the blade being highly valued over firearms (again, with the use of whips in Tobago being a notable exception). Examining the variety of the sticks or blades used in these areas in different combative modalities such as bar brawls, sporting events, or traditional celebrations leads to a range of interesting questions. At this time, however, the focus of our discussion turns to the connections surrounding the development of these arts as emerging out of a set of historical, political, economic structures, and cultural norms. In order to further explore the nature of these linkages, instead of looking solely at the Caribbean or only Latin America, two countries are chosen from each region, recognizing that these areas have a long history with

each other where the movements of peoples, ideas, and technologies crisscrossed the area for centuries. Due to the unique conditions of conquest, colonization, and incorporation into the North Atlantic trade network, this area provides a unique site to examine various ways local combative traditions have shaped and are shaped by larger socio-political and cultural forces that swept through the region. One proviso to keep in mind when thinking about the origins and development of combative arts was that no ethnic group has ever had a monopoly on armed fighting traditions. In Western Europe, people regularly fought with sticks and blades of various sizes and engaged in rock-throwing melees or duels at both the individual and communal levels until the mid-19th century. In the case of Africa, the number of scattered accounts published over the years suggests a widespread existence of armed combative traditions throughout the continent. What this means is there is a real possibility that any combative technique may have quite a convoluted genealogy, and that one must draw on other sources to trace STICKMAN DOH 'FRAID NO DAMOM | 275

T.J . DESCH - OBI Wandering Warrior-Scholar of African and Afro-American Combative Arts By Mahipal Lunia

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t.j. DEsCH-obI

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T.J. is a historian and martial artist who has trained intensively in a number of systems over the years. He is also so low-key you could pass him in the street and never know that this quiet man spent years training both Nigerian side-hold wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, first with Helio Gracie, then Rickson Gracie, and finally John Danaher (head coach of the Danaher Death Squad). After some coaching with longtime friend and martial artist Mark Cheng, T.J. entered a Shuai Jiao (traditional Chinese wrestling) tournament in Paris, France and medaled in his weight class. In addition to his recreational activities, T.J. has spent decades wandering through Africa, the Caribbean, and South America searching out African, or African-descended, martial art traditions. Back in the 1980s and 90s, civil wars were flaring up throughout Southern Africa. He was repeatedly caught in the middle of quickly shifting lines of control as government and rebel offensives moved back and forth. Once, T.J. was stuck in a village (with an ever-diminishing supply of food) for a few months. Eventually, he and a few others were able to take advantage of a break in the fighting to escape by boat across a river. From there, he made his way back to government-held lines and safety. In Colombia, T.J. found himself once again caught between government and rebel forces as he searched for a renowned teacher of a local system of Grima. In New York City, where he is a professor at Baruch College, he spent a great deal of time training with the legendary Angoleiro from Bahia João Grande. Both of us consider ourselves very lucky that we are able to combine our passion for research with our other love of martial arts. Here is a sampling of his story. This interview has been edited for clarity and re-written in parts for ease of reading.

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An Explanation of Grima

Mahipal Lunia: Let’s get right to it, what is Grima? T.J.: Grima is an umbrella term for a wide range of predominantly stick and machete fighting arts coming out of Colombia. When we talk about Grima, we’re kind of describing a bird’s-eye view of them all. But they’re all really different from each other because some of them specialize in different weapons, different ranges, different tactics. What unifies them is they’re all coming out of a particular social geographical context in Colombia. ML: So, is there a specific region in Colombia where this is found, or I can just walk into any street and that will be Grima being practiced there? T.J.: Grima can be found throughout Colombia, but of the 35 styles or so that I’ve seen personally, all of these styles have come from a par-

ticular place which is called the Cauca. So, if you can imagine, we’ve got roughly a rectangular country and then splitting it into separate parts are two rivers. We have the river Caquetá and the river Magdalena. These were the main transportation routes through the country and in between these rivers, we have mountain ranges. We have these very steep and deep valleys in between these mountain ranges. So basically we’ve got a coast mountain range, valley mountain range, etcetera. As we go farther east, the elevations are going up and we’re talking about being up in the Andes where it gets very cold. For example, Bogota, the capital city, is one place you really want to wear a jacket. As we go west towards the Pacific coast, nobody wears jackets, they would be sweating bullets. It keeps getting hotter and hotter. Does that make sense? ML: Yeah. T.J. DESCH-OBI | 307

Post-Script

T.J . CHA SING A R APIDLY DISAPPE ARING PA S T

Michael J. Ryan: Can you tell me how your academic career in martial arts research started?

T.J.: It goes back to my childhood background in wrestling. There is a particular form of wrestling in my village in Nigeria, which just was passed on to me. When I was here in the States and people asked me about martial arts, I would always say, “I am a wrestler.” When I was a teenager, I would say, “I do African martial arts,” and they would respond with a confused look on their face, “African martial arts, what is that?” I consider wrestling a martial art. I had seen confrontations between so-called “martial artists” and wrestlers where the wrestlers won, so I considered wrestling a martial art. It was something I started thinking about quite young. I tried to translate these African combat activities into the vocabulary and practices of North America, which was focused almost exclusively on Asian martial arts.

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I was thinking about this since high school or through junior high school. Then when I got to college, I knew immediately this was my path. Exploring martial arts is what I had spent so much time doing. So I continued in the same vein, and I wrote many of my class papers on African martial arts’ history, practice, religious background, and things like that. In order to make an accurate comparison, I had to learn Chinese and study the history of Asian martial arts. In this way, I ended up studying Chinese to fulfill the language requirements for my degree and study these Asian martial arts. I always did them compared to what I knew about Africa to see if what I had been arguing all this time was true, that these are martial arts. Certainly, on the academic front, they were. That kind of started my academic career. I did my undergraduate at Harvard, but my thesis advisor for my undergraduate thesis was from Yale. He

was Robert Ferris Thompson.1 If I am the father of this topic, then Robert Ferris Thompson is the grandfather. I am standing on his shoulders because he really is the first person to do this work. I tracked him down to be my thesis advisor. I had another advisor at Harvard, who was my advisor more for the religious side, who was what would popularly maybe be called a priest of Ogum.2 Between the two of them, it just helped me put all this African martial art material in a cultural context. My emphasis focused on the spiritual meaning behind African martial arts. A journal invited me to submit a chapter of my thesis for publication when I was still an undergraduate. 1 Robert Farris Thompson is an Art Historian at Harvard. In martial arts, he is best known for the articles (1987). ”Black Martial Arts of the Caribbean.” Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas: Vol. 20, No. 37, pp. 44-47. And (1988). “Tough Guys Do Dance.” Originally appeared in Rolling Stone, March 24, 1988, pp. 135-140. 2 Ógùm, Ogum or Ogùn is an Orisha (spiritual entity) among the Yoruba nation of Nigeria and Benin. Haitian Vodun and Brazilian Candomblé, Cuban Santaría, and Cuban Palo also honor Ogum. He is a warrior, a blacksmith, and a distiller of rum. He is often associated with St. George or St. Anthony.

I won a grant based on my thesis and another grant to do further research in Africa and Brazil during my undergraduate years. I spent part of the time in Africa and in Brazil, furthering my research. When I pursued my master’s degree, I was again in the same struggles but more interested in new areas. I spent a lot of time in the Caribbean and South Carolina, which are not unrelated. These two regions were related historically because South Carolina started as a colony of Barbados. I spent a lot of time exploring the connections between these two places I applied for and won many grants, and it was a blessing I have been able to travel and do a lot of fieldwork. That became the basis of my master’s thesis: I wrote on the same subject but approached it from a different angle. For me, it was all the same thing, filling out and broadening the history of African martial arts both in Africa and in the African diaspora. When I started my master’s program, I began in Anthropology. But I soon felt like it just was not for me.

Post-Script: T.J. DESCH-OBI | 329

MAHIPAL LUNIA From Backyard Martial Artist to Guiding Force By Michael J. Ryan

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NATIONAL KARATE AND JUJITSU UNION: History Revisited

By James Herndon

MAHIPAL LUNIA | 345 Martial Arts Masters 123

In his autobiography entitled The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1922), T. E. Lawrence, better known as “Lawrence of Arabia” wrote, “All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind wake up to find it was all vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.” Mahipal Lunia, an accomplished martial artist who holds two v degrees and works in the field of artificial intelligence, is just such a dreamer. In the following interview, we explore his personal journey through the martial arts as well as his passion for developing new and innovative ways to advance the comparative study of human combative behavior. The following interview has been edited for both length and clarity.

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From Backyard Martial A to Guiding Force By Michael J. Ryan

up. Naturally, I had my assentitled handed The Se n his autobiography E.byLawrence, better know to me(1922), many a T. time the other kids, bia” wrote menI dream: but not eq and once it went“All too far. had some the fractured, dusty recesses bonesbyinnight my in face thereof their wasbleeding, all vanity, the dreamers was andbut it frightened ev- of the for theyin may act their dreams with ope erybody my family.

sible.” Mahipal Lunia, an accomplished

Adventure, martial arts, and self-discovery have paved the way.

Adventure, Martial Arts and Self Discovery have paved the way.

Michael J. Ryan: Tell us about yourself and your martial arts background. Mahipal Lunia: My dad has been training in martial arts since he was a little kid. I, on the other hand, was that little kid who was always ahead of the curve in some ways, the guy 122 SPRING 2019 jumping grades. Just imagine someone really young acting like a grown-

That was the start of my training in two Masters degrees and works in the field Indian Kushti wrestling. It is a style is just such a dreamer. In the following that my dad did when he wasthe youngpersonal journey through martial arts er.developing I tried Kushti, was an asthnew but andI innovative ways to a matic kid. When all the Kushti studylittle of human combative behavior. The masters gave up both on me and and I gave been edited for length clarity. up on Kushti, I then turned to ShoMJR: Karate. Tell us about yourself and a your martial arts b tokan I remember time ML: My dad has been training in martial arts since he when the Sensei pointed to me and hand, was that little kid who was always ahead said loudly, in front of about 80 stuguy jumping grades. Just imagine someone real Naturally I hadmade my assyellow handed belt, to me many a ti dents, that if I ever too far. I had some bones in my face frac it wouldwent be an accomplishment of a frightened everybody in my family. lifetime. That After that insult, or chalwas the start of my training in Indian K lenge, I my resolved to use every brickI tried Kush dad did when he was younger. kid. When Kushti mastersthe gave up on m they would throwallattheme to build turned to Shotokan Karate. I remember a time foundation of my body and mind.

and said loudly, of about 80 students, that if I ev

After leaving that school, I tried full-contact Karate, Eagle-Claw Kung Fu, and a rarely seen style of Kempo for a bit. My Kempo friends ended up getting me into a lot of

MAHIPAL LUNIA | 347

Post-Script

MAHIPAL : MEETING WITH REMARK ABLE MARTIAL ARTIS TS

How many people do you know that would, based on few-minute conversations with a few strangers, would buy round-trip airplane tickets for eight people and take care of lodging, food, and transportation for everybody for ten days? So began the first multidisciplinary Hoplological expedition in over a generation, maybe more. From the first wake-up call to the time members crashed 16-18 hours later, the collecting and analyzing data went nonstop with only brief pauses to keep the body going. And yes, testing and examining how the arts would deal with each other went on the entire time. From the man who got the ball rolling, kept the ball in its lane, and got everybody home safe and only a little worse for wear; these are his words.

364 | The Immersion Review

Michael J. Ryan: Around two years ago, ten of us ended up meeting in Barbados for something unusual. We didn’t even know you, didn’t even know each other. Yet you pulled off a fantastic event, you and Vincent. What were you thinking about, coming into this? I mean, how did it all begin for you? And what were you expecting? Mahipal: Like many kids in our generation, I grew up on Donn Draeger, Robert W. Smith, and watched Indiana Jones and Star Wars movies. It was the pull of adventure, the appeal of going and looking at and learning about a different culture, different people that caught me up. That pull of also exploring your skill set against others. That whole set of random factors came together for me in a meaningful way, creating the impetus for these projects. Through the 1950s into the 1990s, there was an Asian fever driving Hoplology. The focus of all explorations aimed towards Japan, China, and a bit of Southeast Asia. A large part of the world was left unexplored. I think that, if you are genuinely going to study Hoplology, if you seek to research fighting and truly begin to understand what people are about,

you can’t just be doing it in one continent. That essentially started the quest of this expedition. I have deep roots in studying the Bowie knife and the Arkansas toothpick and part of that research, and while I was doing some of the work around Legacy of the Blade, I happened upon Sticklicking. And through a series of coincidences, you and I connected. I called you out of the blue, and I told you, this is what I wanted to do. And you were like, “Yeah, sure, whatever, sure.” That’s pretty much your attitude, you know, and I told you, “No! We’re going to do it.” And you’re like, “Yeah, yeah, sure.” One thing led to another, and the next thing you know, you are on a flight with me to Barbados, along with T.J., Ronald, Benji, Keegan. And of course, you know, our Sticklicking crew, which we had Philip, Biggard, and Cherry-Boy.

Post-Script: MAHIPAL LUNIA | 365