I think that I will move this discussion further along now. In a essay paper written by Dr. Robert Farris Thompson, authour of "Flash Of The Spirit", "The Four Movements of the Sun: Kongo Art in Two Worlds", and "Afro American Art and Philosophy", Mr. Farris writes "As latin split into Spanish , French, Italian and Portuguese, so a nuclear set of combat moves from Kongo, when bought to the New World, differentiallycreolized into the mani, ladja, capoeira, and knockin and kickin black martial arts. These emereged, respectively in Cuba, Martinique, Brazil and the United States. the originating core from the Kongo includes special head butt, trips, and kicks". It goes on further to state " in the New World, the reinstatement of the tradition ranged from the core essentials, headbtting, and kicking; in USA knocking and kicking; to a mixture of dance, combat and songs in creolized Ki-Kongo". In answer to an earlier argument that I witnessed on this board about the origins of breakdancing, Mr. Farris states, "There are a myriad of styles of breaking to the earth in Kongo dance. Midway between these traditions and those which captured world mediain 1984 lies the critical kinescope by Thomas Edison, or one of his contemporaries, dated roughly 1895-1910, called "Three Man Dance". This film documents an African American moonwalking plus another breaking to the floor". As I recall the earlier argument was that breakdancing was not invented until the 80s, wrong, there is documented footage to prove otherwise, check the timelines. Also, Capoiera was not formally taught in the USA until the 70s by Mestre Jelon Viera in NYC, he happens to be an associate of ours, so capoiera could not have been the initiating influence for the practice of breakdancing. I have personally witnessed and practiced many of the movements attributed to breakdancing in West African dance, primarily Senagalese, Nigerian, and Ghanaian. By the way, Dr. Robert Farris Thompson is considered to be the one of the foremost scholars in the area of African/Kongo based traditions. He is also reported to be initiated into several African based mystery systems as well as he is of European ancestry. Some of them are willing to deal with the truth.
Mfundishi
Mfundishi
