[...] after screaming and jabbering at each other for nearly an hour, and keeping the whole
neighbourhood in an uproar, suddenly stripped to the waist, and ran at each other like rams. [...] The
two enraged men ran at each other with all their might, time after time, occasionally jumping into
the air and striking their heads together with a crash distinctly audible across a square of considerable
size.^138This description closely resembles the early account of capoeira by Johann Moritz Rugendas, who also does
not mention any kicking technique.^139 We can thus not assume that head butting and kicking were always
and inevitably linked. Yet they remained or became associated in three American combat traditions:
knocking and kicking in the United States, ladjia in Martinique and capoeira in Brazil.
African-Americans in the United States engaged in wrestling, fist fighting and a third form called
knocking and kicking. Although not much evidence remains for the time of slavery, knocking and kicking
was practised in South Carolina and Virginia. After Abolition it was still used during public contests in
intra-village competitions. It also seems to have played a role in African-American secret societies and
might have found its way, although under a very altered form, into the revivalist Christian ring shouts. The
clandestine nature of the societies prevented the spread of the art to wider audiences. Only recently have there
been attempts to revitalize knocking and kicking. T.J.Desch-Obi emphasizes that South Carolina received a
high proportion of Central African slaves, which would explain why the art was so prominent here, but then
spread to ‘igboized’ Virginia.^140
The combat game that bears the most striking similarities with the Brazilian capoeira is Ladjia (or lagya)
from Martinique, which is also based on the prominent use of kicks and head butts. Ladjia also uses hand
blows (as do most older forms of capoeira). It is generally taken for granted that ladjia developed under
slavery. Since that early date it served not only as a tool of slave resistance, but also of social control. To
keep in check their chattel, planters employed slave overseers with ladjia skills. The overseers were called
majò (major) in creole, which became a term of respect for a skilled fighter.^141 As with stick fighting,
planters occasionally encouraged their slaves to participate in ladjia contests that resulted in serious injuries
or even deaths.^142 Unfortunately the earliest known description dates only from the 1930s, when the United
States dancer Katherine Dunham visited the island and attended a ladjia contest in the southern fishing
village of Vauclin.^143 According to her account two opponents confront each other, accompanied by a hand
beaten drum, the percussion of the wooden ti’bwa, the lead singer and the chorus of the audience:
It is the player of ti’bwa (petit bois, or little wooden sticks) who sets the basic rhythm, the drummer,
who indicates the movements of the dance—the advance and the retreat, the feints, the sudden whirls
and lightning-like leaps in the air to sharp drops flat on the ground.Thus, as with maní and capoeira, constant interaction between the musicians and the fighters is also an
important aspect of ladjia. Dunham’s description of a contest between Alcide and Tel’mach also mentions a
‘basic movement’ that strongly recalls the basic capoeira step, the ginga:
then they face each other, ten feet or so apart, and, arms in the gesture of boxing, begin a slow rocking
motion on half-bent knees, legs wide apart. This is the basic movement of the ag’ya. All else is
variation and gesture and pantomime, with much improvisation.^144The movements she describes—which can also be seen in a short film made on the occasion—document the
similarity of bodily techniques in ladjia and capoeira, from the ‘elaborate prancing’ between attacks, the
62 THE CONTEXT OF THE BLACK ATLANTIC