Jailhouse rock (fighting style)

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Jailhouse rock
FocusHybrid
Country of originUnited States[1]
Famous practitionersMiguel Piñero[2]
ParenthoodWestern Boxing and Traditional Martial Arts

Jailhouse rock is a name used to describe a collection of fighting styles that were practiced or developed within black urban communities in the 1960s and 1970s.[1][3]

The many different manifestations of JHR share a commonality in blending western boxing with other stylised martial arts techniques.[4] The basic principle of these styles is constant improvisation, blocks and effectiveness in real-life situations.[1]

52 Hand Blocks has been referenced numerous times by contemporary media including by journalist Douglas Century's Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside the Franklin Avenue Posse, as well as numerous Wu-Tang Clan songs and Ted Conover's book Newjack. Recently, celebrities including actor Larenz Tate and rapper Ludacris have taken up the fighting system for film roles and self-defense, shining a brighter light on this previously underground martial art.[1]

Origins[edit]

The existence of this martial art was originally somewhat debated, but mainstream media exposure has contributed towards raising the awareness of the martial art.[1]

According to Dennis Newsome, a well-known JHR practitioner, JHR is an indigenous African American fighting art that has its origins in the 17th and 18th centuries, when slaves were first institutionalized and needed to defend themselves. Oral tradition has the skill evolving secretly within the U.S. penal system, with regional styles reflecting the physical realities of specific institutions.[5][6] This theory relates JHR to the fusion of African and European/American bare-knuckle fist-fighting styles known as "cutting", which is said to have been practiced by champions such as Tom Molineaux, and also to the little-known African-American fighting skill known as "knocking and kicking", which is said to be practiced clandestinely in parts of the Southern US and on the Sea Islands.

Alternatively but unlikely and unfounded; it may be that JHR was not a product of penal institutions, but rather an evolution of the many African martial arts or fighting games which were practiced by slaves, with different styles evolving separately in different penal institutions. According to this theory, some people believe Jailhouse Rock may be a modern American manifestation of the many African martial arts that were disseminated throughout the African diaspora, comparable to martial arts including Afro-Brazilian Capoeira, Cuban Mani and Martiniquese Ladja.

It has a mythological origin story of having originated in the US penal institutions back in the 1960s and 1970s. Some have cast doubt on this origin story, as the teaching of fighting systems by inmates is generally not allowed in jails and prisons. However, others point out that the experience of any given prisoner, as well as the enforcement of the rules, varies enormously from one institution to the next, and that a great deal of prisoner life occurs in secret and necessarily in violation of the institutional rules.[1]

Tales of the pugilistic exploits of the infamous 1970s New York prison fighter "Mother Dear" (an alleged homosexual rapist) have also contributed to the extensive urban mythology surrounding this system.[7]

The 52 Hand Blocks aspect of JHR was first featured in Black Belt Magazine in the 1970s[8] it was then followed by a key reference in Douglas Century's nonfiction book Street Kingdom. This book played a key role because it introduced one of 52 Blocks most senior living practitioners; Kawaun "Big K" Adon. Kawaun would unite with Martial Arts Historian Daniel Marks and Fitness Innovator Hassan Yasin (GIANT) to form the organisation Constellation. This organisation would motivate the authorship of essays like "Freeing the Afrikan Mind: the Role of Martial Arts in Contemporary African American Cultural Nationalism" by Professor Tom Green of Texas A&M University.

This martial art style became more accessible and public at the beginning of the 21st century.[9]

Styles[edit]

JHR is divided into various regional styles.[5][1][10][11] These include:

  • "52 Hand Blocks" or "52"[1][12] – The origins of 52 Hand Blocks, although highly debated, does coincide with golden era of martial arts in America when Chinese cinema was booming. The name 52 Hand Blocks, although contested, is most likely derived from the reference of the fifty-two blocking techniques encompassed in the art. These techniques consist of traditional western boxing blocks, covers and parries but also include elbow strikes and blocks, knees, head butts and other martial arts techniques. The name 52 may be a reference to the playing card game of 52 Pickup and to the expression "let the cards fall where they may." There are many theories relating to the name including a reference to a combat training system involving the use of playing cards, a theory the name simply derives from a reference to a specific cell block and even some claims bordering on the supernatural with practitioners trying to connect 52 to the Supreme Mathematics of the Nation of Gods and Earths. However, the most likely and accepted explanation is that it simply refers to the fifty-two blocking techniques encompassed in the art.
  • Gorilla[1]
  • Stato[1]
  • Coxsacki Style[13]
  • Woodbourne Style[2]
  • Comstock Style[5][13][11]
  • San Quentin Style[5][11]
  • Bum Rush
  • Mount Meg[11]
  • 42nd[11]
  • Closing Gates[11]

Jailhouse rock in the media[edit]

See also[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Svinth, Joseph R.; Green, Thomas A. (2010). Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598842432.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Chris Crudelli (2008). The Way of the Warrior. Dorling Kindersley Ltd. p. 331. ISBN 978-14-0533-750-2.
  2. ^ a b Darling, Anne; Perryman, James (July 1974). "Karate Behind Bars: Menace, or means of spiritual survival?". Black Belt Magazine (July 1974 issue). pp. 16–21. ISSN 0277-3066. Retrieved 2023-02-16. [Miguel "Milky" Pinero] describes his introduction to prison martial arts: "The first thing I did in the joint was to check out the style and learn to fight with a home piece-somebody from my neighbourhood on the streets. I learned the Woodbourne shuffle, an evasion technique that was used in the joint at Woodbourne and got passed around. Then I learned wall-fighting, and somebody thought me the Comstock style."
  3. ^ "Professor Mo: Everything to Know About 52 Blocks". Black Belt Magazine. May 22, 2019.
  4. ^ "The growing popularity of 52 Hand-Blocks". September 19, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Taylor, Gerard (2007). Capoeira: The Jogo de Angola from Luanda to Cyberspace, Volume Two. Blue Snake Books. p. 183. ISBN 9781583941836. [Mestre Preto Velho], brought Jailhouse Rock to the fight sequence. An indigenous Black American fighting art, it was started in the 19th century America when slaves were first institutionalized and needed to defend themselves. It evolved secretly within U.S. penal system, with regional styles reflecting the physical realities in specific institutions , e.g. , Comstock style, San Quentin style, and others.
  6. ^ "The Legend of the 52 Blocks". www.vice.com.
  7. ^ "The 52 Hand Blocks, Sexual Dominance, and Mother Dear as Archetype" (PDF). Cardiff University. March 11, 2020.
  8. ^ Inc, Active Interest Media (July 20, 1974). "Black Belt". Active Interest Media, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  9. ^ García, Raúl Sánchez; Spencer, Dale C. (2014). Fighting Scholars: Habitus and Ethnographies of Martial Arts and Combat Sports. Anthem Press. p. 14. ISBN 9781783083466. Fifty-two hand blocks is an African American vernacular martial art (VMA), also known as jailhouse, jailhouse boxing, jailhouse rock, or the 52s. It developed as an underground cluster of fighting techniques in places such as prisons and rough urban areas. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, it became for accessible and public, instruction in the art is becoming codified and taught on regular bases even though still not in big numbers.
  10. ^ Svinth, Green (2010)
  11. ^ a b c d e f Ahmariah Jackson and Iatomic Seven (foreword by Mumia Abu-Jamal) (2011). Locked Up but Not Locked Down: A Guide to Surviving the American Prison System. Supreme Design Publishing. ISBN 978-1935721000. The first and only martial art originated by Black people in the US [is known as] "Jailhouse Rock" ... According to Dennis Newsome, Jailhouse Rock (JHR) began to adapt as prisoners were taken across the country into prisons that were designed differently. Some examples of its many styles are 52 Handblocks, Comstock Style, San Quentin style, Mount Meg, 42nd and Closing Gates. Many of these styles of JHR evolved regionally in different penal institutions.
  12. ^ Porter, Justin (June 17, 2009). "In Tight, a New (Old) Martial Art Gains Followers". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  13. ^ a b c Darling, Anne; Perryman, James (July 1974). "Karate Behind Bars: Menace, or means of spiritual survival?". Black Belt Magazine (July 1974 issue). pp. 16–21. ISSN 0277-3066. Retrieved 2023-02-16. Another ex-inmate says the first time he ever saw a karate technique was in Coxsacki, a New York prison, in 1948. "The different prisons had and still have their own fighting styles," he says.[...] Kid Gavilan (world welterweight boxing champion, 1951-1954) used Coxsacki variation, and Floyd Patterson's peekaboo style was a Coxsacki variation too.
  14. ^ "The 52 Hand Blocks, Sexual Dominance, and Mother Dear as Archetype" (PDF). Cardiff University. March 11, 2020.
  15. ^ marco maniscotti (2014-06-28). "Gun Hill: Ammo: 52 Blocks". BET.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  16. ^ Fighting Scholars: Habitus and Ethnographies of Martial Arts and Combat Sports. Anthem Press. December 2014. ISBN 9781783083466.

Sources[edit]

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