Tahtib: The oldest Egyptian Martial Art
For years, I've been always wondering, does my country have a martial art? I looked for it in sporting competitions, nothing the only martial arts practiced in sport events are Asian and Western martial arts. Just recently thanks to the net I've discovered that the answer was right under my nose. Yes, an Egyptian martial art does exist and it's called Tahtib. Tahtib is the Ancient Egyptian art of stick fencing which is also a famous egyptian folk dance that's considered an African martial art, it is the oldest and possibly the one of the last surviving form of Ancient Egyptian Martial Arts alongside Wrestling and Fencing.
Like other martial arts of the world which are tied cultural to dance and music traditions, such as Brazilian Capoiera and Indonesian Silat, Tahtib is a special art form in that it combines both real combat aspects, and aesthetic aspect, and the concept of The Game or Play. There are five distinct areas of study in Tahtib, and a recognized expert in one may not necessarily know much about another. The modern style of highly choreographed Tahtib dance seen in stage performances in the Middle East is far removed from the wild nature of play seen at festivals and other social gatherings, where real blows get mixed in with the game of fakes and counters.
Several types were practised during religious ceremonies, processions and as sport or game and sometimes in fights in ancient Egypt. It is still practised in ceremonies especially during "Ramadan" (Islamic fasting month) where dancers using long (4') rattan sticks in a dancing solo or in a mock fight (well, usualy a mock fight - sometimes someone will force it to be "real").
The basics of Tahtib are very similar to those demonstrated by African Martial Arts Experts, this is no surprise, because of the link through Egypt. The term "Naboot" refers to the staff in both arts. The hanging guard and the overhead exhanges predominate these matches, with much faking and other stylisticic elements that involve energy sensitivity and a counter-for-counter flow. The fight is accompanied by drummers and is an event with its own cerimony and rules and conduct, like a Jogo de Capoiera. It can be practiced in different ways:
1) It is practiced as a true martial art from horseback known as “Horse Stepping”
2) It is practiced as a true martial art on foot
3) It is practiced as a combative dance between men
4) It is practiced as a solo, more social dance by men
5) It is mimicked in a flirty or cute version of the real movements by women
6) It is also used in Streetfights or Gang wars in Egypt.
The regular stick, called Asa or Asaya, Shoum or Nabboot, used for Tahtib is about 4 feet long, but when playing from horseback the stick is closer to 12 feet long. The importance of horses, and the realities of fighting from them, are mimicked in the dance. The men charge one another, and then circle in a dynamic spiral, exchanging blows and trying to find the open line on which to attack while covering their own open lines, which is the same way they would fight from horseback. One type of footwork used in dancing the Tahtib is even referred to as “Horse Stepping”.
Notation for Tahtib Music is very simple, and features the tahvol (bass drum) and oud (shrill pipe). The tahvol is a double sided drum worn with a shoulder strap so it hags sideways in front of the drummer, and is played with two sticks. The right hand uses a heavier stick with a hooked head to beat out the "dooms" which drive the heartbeat of the rhythm, while the left hand uses a light twig as a switch to produce rapid fire staccato "kahs".* Doom - Deep sound from striking center of drum with your right hand (or with knobbed stick), Kah - Higher sound from striking the edge of the drum with your left hand (or with light switch) There's a table for this at http://www.alliancemartialarts.com/tahtib.html
The female version has been developed with a flirtatious and generally less aggressive style, and the canes (assaya) are generally thinner, more lightweight and hooked at one end, and generally adapted for cabaret by embellishment with metallic coloured foil or sequins. The costume worn is usually folk style, a simple Beledi dress, though often Raqs al Assaya is performed as part of a cabaret set. Styles include balancing on head, hip or shoulder. It is often flailed in large figure 8 patterns across the body with such speed and violence that the displacement of air is loudly discernible.
This takes me back to the sport event issue, Tahtib isn't considered an official sporting event in Egypt, which is just wrong although there are contests in the countryside and in Upper Egypt. If they're worried about injuries then you don't have to use a real staff and they can use safety gear.
I hope you guys found this information useful, I might do more research on Ancient Egyptian Fencing and Wrestling someday. Here are some Tahtib pictures:
http://www.geocities.com/cazuzaz_z/amrwf.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/cazuzaz_z/Am1ff98.jpg
http://www.sahrasaeeda.com/gallery/F...%20contest.jpg
http://www.wichitabellydance.com/perform/r13_22a.jpg
http://www.dancevillage.com/images/d...le_bastone.jpg
http://org.ntnu.no/magedans/ill/tahtib.gif
