GUAZÁBARA

GUAZÁBARA™:

By Nelson Perez, Esq. & Carlos Torres

Guazábara™ is a 21st century martial art system with origins in the pre-Columbian Caribbean islands. Introduced as a modern martial art by Maestro Edgardo Pérez, Guazábara™ is a dynamic weapons based fighting system that is genuinely unparalleled. Its conception and development are rooted in the study of the Caribbean Taino Indians and their combat tactics. In fact, the word Guazábara means “war or combat” in the Taino language. The art of Guazábara™ is a hybrid fighting system that combines elements of the Puerto Rican Taino Manaya (Axe) & Macana fighting, Jibaro combat ¹machete, Police close quarter battle (CQB) tactics, and the Korean Martial Art known as HAPKIDO.

Although Taino indigenous peoples were known for their peaceful nature, they were also warriors who fought to protect their nation. Particularly, Puerto Rican Tainos were the most warlike because of their proximity to the fierce Carib Indians who occupied the islands of the Lesser Antilles and Vieques.

This section was taken from the 1903-04 25^th Annual Report of the U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

“One statement of Oviedo that should be emphasized as separating the Borinquen Indians from the three other Greater Antilles is that they were more given to war and more adept in the use of Carib weapons, a characteristic that can be traced either to contact with the Carib or to a greater proportion of Carib blood, for the aborigines of ²Porto Rico were more closely related to the Carib then were the Tainan people of Cuba and Haiti.”

Section: Pre-Columbian Population. pg. 26

Indeed, the indigenous name of Puerto Rico is Borikén, which means “the land of the valiant and noble lord”. Historical records clearly indicate that Tainos preferred to fight in close quarters and attacked first to gain a tactical advantage. Often times these attacks were heralded with the war cry "guazabara". Accounts of man-to-man combat detail that Tainos were exceptional and tenacious fighters. During the conquest of the Caribbean, the Taino believed the outsiders to be gods, once it was realized that they were human beings like themselves these warriors valiantly fought the outsiders with their inferior weapons, but ultimately, were defeated due to overwhelming force and decease brought by the outsiders. Nevertheless, their warrior spirit and close quarter battle tactics remain as relevant today as they did 500 years ago.

Defeated, the Taino resorted to guerilla warfare or low intensity conflict while combining forces with the Carib and escaped African slaves. New weapons were utilized, including the machete. They developed a specific method of combat using the machete to fight the conquistador swords. Since many of the conquistadors were excellent “esgrimadores” (fencers) and because the machete was made of inferior metal that could not withstand a direct assault from a sword, these warriors learned to move within the invader's circle (close the distance) and neutralize its power.

The Puerto Rican Jibaro, which means “people of the forest” in the Taino language, perfected the use of the machete as a weapon. In their continued resistance against Spanish colonial tyranny, Jibaro freedom fighters employed Taino machete tactics and guerilla fighting collectively earning them the nom de guerre of macheteros or machete fighters. Eventually, many Jibaros would go on to use these machete tactics in challenge matches and would adhere to the old custom of binding their hand or leg to one another with a cord of up to three feet long. Today, the Jibaro are the mountain folk of the island and are considered the quintessential Puerto Ricans, proud of their land, their culture and their never-ending desire to help their fellow man.

In 1991, after having been raised hearing stories of old machete fights that took place in Puerto Rico, Maestro Perez began his research of these encounters, utilizing his past martial arts and police combative experience he systematically formulated a fighting system that would be applicable in today’s environment while still showing honor to the Taino, African, and Spanish Warriors of yesterday. After over ten years of study the new martial art was founded and given the name GUAZÁBARA™.

In 2002, Master Victor Rivera of the Puerto Rico Tae Kwon Do Federation introduced Maestro Perez to the Puerto Rico martial arts family and was instrumental in bringing Guazábara™ for the first time as an official martial arts fighting system to Puerto Rico. After a successful tour of the island teaching and demonstrating Guazábara™, the World Guazábara™ Federation was formed

Guazábara™ is now recognized as an official martial art by organizations all over the world and is proud to have such noted advisors as Hanshi Carlos Montalvo (Tampa, Florida) of the Ronin Brotherhood, Professor Jose Velez (Atlanta, Georgia) of Ju Kido Kai Ryu Vee-Jitsu, Professor Daniel Torres (Orlando, Florida) of Dan Tor Ryu Vee-Jitsu. and Mr. Fernan Vargas of the International Combatives Self-Defense Association. It is currently being taught to police officers and civilians in the Chicago area.

Maestro Pérez intends Guazábara™ to be a tribute not only to his Taino and Jibaro ancestors, but also to the memory of all the Borinquen and African warriors that bravely fought together to persevere. He humbly offers the art of Guazabara™ to the People of Puerto Rico and World Community.

1-HISTORICAL NOTE: Please keep in mind that after 1898 Puerto Rico was incorrectly spelled Porto Rico in all official documentation. U.S. Congress officially changed it back to Puerto Rico on May 17, 1932.

2-HISTORICAL NOTE: The Machete is not indigenous to Puerto Rico, it was introduced at the time of first European contact.