I just typed in "street machete fight" on tube and found videos in Mexico, Morocco, Germany, Trinidad, Thailand, Dominican Republic and the Philippines. And that was just on the first page. My step-dad was a fireman/EMT in Alameda, CA and saw blade wounds almost everyweek for 20+ years. My sister-in-law is an ER nurse here in Metro Manila were I now live and she sees multiple blade wound victims daily.. People use what's available when they want to be violent - it doesn't mean they necessarily trained in martial arts. In the US the number one tool used in homicide after guns & blades is a hammer. Other than Thor, I know of no one claiming to be a master of the hammer.
Looks like this was getting heated
Some countries just have more individuals who have kept alive combative and defensive blade culture. It's never the art, its the person. And even then it depends on what they are fighting for.
I've been researching the historical and cultural influences on Filipino Martial Arts since the late 80's. I'm still running across stuff I had never heard of. I have a friend based in Belgium who is deep into HEMA Historical European Martial Arts: he's also master of the Montante a 2-handed 5'6" blade used for multiple opponents. Before him, i had never heard of this weapon used by the Spanish. It is interesting to note that a number of former Spanish colonies still have instructors of their blade cultures - whether indigenous and/or Spanish influenced.
Here's a cool sample of something he found. During the Sangley Rebellion in 1603, the Spanish forces consisted of a core of Spanish troops, supplemented by Japanese mercenaries and Pampangan troops. Here is a short passage describing them in combat:
"During this pause, a thousand Pampangan Indians entered the city, armed with arquebuses and pikes. Then, sallying forth to fight with the enemy, along with some Spaniards who led them and urged them on, they killed more than a thousand Sangleys."
Original text: En este interin entraron desorro en la ciudad mil indios Pampangos arcabuzeros y piqueros, y saliendo a pelear con los enemigos con algunos Españoles que los capitaneavan y animavan, mataron mas de mil Sangleyes…
Source: Primera parte de los veinte i un libros rituales i monarchia Indiana, by Juan de Torquemada, p. 805 (Madrid, 1615)
He's always finding new stuff. Sometime it leads me to find things that others in my research communities that I have never seen. Sometimes it has me rethink my hypothesis. Just because we've never seen something doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Lastly duels, were something for upper and middle class folks. It often dealt with honor. Watch the movie, "The Duelist" which is historically correct based on a real life challenge that fought multiple times of years. Poor folks just fight. I've seen less than a handful of street altercations with blades. They are not romantic, stylistic or even pretty. They are common and happen all over the world.
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They are just flailing away like idiots and dont even close the distance to really attack. And you even started another thread on this? Blades in other cultures are both agricultural tool and weapons if need be. I fail to see any relationship to this and martial arts.
Oh dear, you are beginning to sound like an abusive troll. As you seem so keen in posting this stuff I had assumed you came from Dominica anyway. What exactly do you do? Not HNIR that's for sure as you seem to think Musashi did Iaijutsu. You seem to think 'we' are idiots' yet still you don't back anything up except with videos. It's ghetto fighting. There is probably far more of this in Africa than in Dominica
