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Colombian grima

Grima
Also known as Colombian grima, Colombian fencing, Colombian machete fencing
Country of origin Colombia
Parenthood Machete fighting in Haiti, Machete fighting in Cuba
Olympic sport No

The grima, Colombian fencing or Colombian machete fencing is a sport and martial art practiced in Colombia.

In the early twentieth century, the Afro-Colombian communities of the Gran Cauca and Tolima were epicenters for esgrima or grima, a martial art utilizing sticks, knives, lances, and particularly the machete. Also known as "juego de machete", this dynamic art taught its adepts to defend themselves with extreme corporal dexterity and cunning. Grima experts passed on this art through formal master and disciple relationships, and often helped to spread important counter-memories of popular participation in the nation‟s conflicts.

Among contemporary masters of the art, there are a number of competing ideas as to the origins of grima. Although there are numerous variants on these, they fall into four groups. The first group views grima as having come from Africa along with enslaved Africans brought to work in the mines of Colombia and the second group traces grima directly to European sword-fighting experts who visited Colombia in colonial times. The third sees grima‟s "desgonses" as evidence that Colombian grima was formed by blacks developing their own styles inspired by the European sword-fighting they witnessed, while the fourth group traces grima to the Wars of Independence when it was taught by foreign soldiers to Colombian troops. In the near future comparative research on the fencing histories of the Atlantic world may provide clearer details on the historical relationship between Colombian grima styles and other fencing traditions in the wider Atlantic world.


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