''Tire machèt'' ("pull he

machete Older machete from Latin America Gerber machete/saw combo Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...

") is a Haitian

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

; a form of

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

with machetes. The origin of the practice lies in the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804, in which rebel slaves, many armed only with the machetes they had used to cut sugarcane, defeated the French colonial army. ''Tire machèt'' combines traditional African combat systems with elements of historical European fencing. It is traditionally practiced in secret. These secret societies inflicted punishments on fallen insiders and external enemies. Among blacks in many places in the Americas, including Haiti,

stick-fighting Stick-fighting, stickfighting, or stick fighting is a variety of martial arts which use simple long, slender, blunt, hand-held, generally wooden "sticks" for fighting, such as a gun staff, bō, jō, walking stick, baston, arnis sticks or simila ...

was used as a training tool in learning how to fight with machetes. Haitian master fencer Alfred Avril (d. 2014) was among the first to open up his practice to the world, through a 10-year collaboration with Reginald Turnier and Michael Dylan Rogers of the Haitian Machete Fencing Project. A 2014 documentary short film by Jonathan David Kane, ''Papa Machete'', depicted Alfred Avril training his sons and other students.

Literature

References

{{martialart-stub Fencing in Haiti North American martial arts Martial arts in Haiti Haitian culture African diaspora martial arts