Jailhouse rock

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For the Elvis Presley film, see Jailhouse Rock (1957 film).

Jailhouse rock or JHR is a name which is used to describe a collection of different fighting styles which were practiced and/or developed in US penal institutions. The “styles” of JHR seem to vary greatly, with an emphasis on a free style governed roughly by underlying principles. Some examples of the many styles of JHR are 52 Hand blocks, Comstock Style, San Quentin style, Mount Meg, 42nd and Closing Gates.

Many of these styles of JHR are thought to have evolved regionally in different penal institutions. Others assert that these are just idiosyncratic variations of street fighting and not a "proper" martial art.

For a long time, the existence of this martial art was hotly debated, but near-mainstream media exposure, such as a magazine article available in scanned form at Stickgrappler.tripod.com, have gone a long way towards verifying the veracity of Jailhouse rock. Professional fighters such as Zab Judah and Mike Tyson have testified to the existence of the style, as well as rap songs by such artists as the "Wu Tang Clan". Tales of the pugilistic exploits of legendary 70's NY prison fighter, "Mother Dear", have gone a long way toward spreading the fame of the systems. The 52 Hand Blocks aspect of JHR is featured in a true crime book called Street Kingdom, published in 2002 and written by Douglas Century.

The name 52 may also be a reference to playing card games or 52 Pickup and the expression to "let the cards fall where they may."

According to some researchers and practitioners, JHR is an indigenous African American fighting art that has its origins in the 17th and 18th centuries, when slaves were first institutionalized and needed to defend themselves. It is said to have evolved secretly within the U.S. penal system, with regional styles reflecting the physical realities in specific institutions. This theory relates JHR to the fusion of African and American fist-fighting styles known as "cutting", which is said to have been practiced by champions such as Tom Molineaux, and also to the little-known African-American fighting skill known as "knocking and kicking", which is said to be practiced clandestinely in parts of the Southern US and on the Sea Islands.

Alternatively, other practitioners claim that JHR was not a product of penal institutions but something which was evolved from one of the many African martial arts or fighting games which was practiced by slaves. Starting from the same artform but evolving separately in different penal institutions. The art surviving and evolving on the inside, while unfortunately being lost and forgotten on the outside.

Jailhouse Rock may be a modern American manifestation of the many African martial arts that were disseminated throughout the African diaspora, which may have fueled the evolution of other martial arts including Brazilian Capoeira, Cuban Mani, Ladja of Martinique, and Eritrean Testa.

Although modern versions of JHR allegedly exist (eg Bum Rush), it appears that the original styles have become extinct in the current penal systems, particularly as the influence of western boxing has spread. Floyd Patterson's patented "peek-a-boo" defense may illustrate the marriage between boxing and penal fighting arts, in that it was allegedly taught to him by cons during his stay at the Coxsacki penal institution in New York, and of course later passed on to many other fighters by his trainer Cus D'Amato after he witnessed it's effectiveness at Patterson's hands. Now JHR seems to be in the hands of the few, e.g. the 'more senior' incarcerated and a few torch bearers on the outside such as Dennis Newsome, although an urban youth may be seen fending off 3 or 4 attackers swinging his belt buckle here, or mixing mind-blowing spins, ducks and flips in his combat elsewhere in the "hood".

Elements of this art may also be seen in the 1987 film Lethal Weapon, as taught to and choreographed for actor Mel Gibson by Dennis Newsome.

[edit] External links

• Group discussion of the martial art Also contains the previously mentioned scan of the magazine article about the martial art.

http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39967

• Jail-House-Rock, the martial art
• "Testa: A Beautifully Brutal African Martial Art" by Ron Bruster, Inside Kung Fu magazine, October 1982.

• "Ghetto Blasters: Born in prison, raised in the 'hood, the deadly art of 52 Blocks is Brooklyn's baddest secret" by Douglas Century, Details magazine 19:9, pp 77-79, August 2001.