when west african slaves would covertly do this, kalinda. >> rondel: this martial art based on our research is maybe 500/600 years old. >> keegan: stick fighting variations occur throughout the caribbean but in trinidad and tobago it's like deep in their blood. >> anthony: this martial art was illegal for many, many years yes? >> keegan: yeah. >> anthony: i mean certainly during slavery times it was illegal. >> rondel: to this date i believe there are still laws on our books that ban this stick and if you're caught with it you can go to jail. >> anthony: the laws of slavery times forced this sport underground. like capoeira, it often has to be disguised as a dance, but this ain't no dance. >> rondel: the guys with the whip and the guys with the stick were all the guys saying you have not broken us. we will continue to resist till the ends of time.
tobago it's like deep in their blood. >> anthony: this martial art was illegal for many, many years yes? >> keegan: yeah. >> anthony: i mean certainly during slavery times it was illegal. >> rondel: to this date i believe there are still laws on our books that ban this stick and if you're caught with it you can go to jail. >> anthony: the laws of slavery times forced this sport underground. like capoeira, it often has to be disguised as a dance, but this ain't no dance. >> rondel: the guys with the whip and the guys with the stick were all the guys saying you have not broken us. we will continue to resist till the ends of time. >> anthony: rondel benjamin and
♪ ♪ >> anthony: rondel benjamin and keegan taylor studied fighting styles from around the world before coming around to their own, homegrown martial art. >> anthony: now what's legal? >> rondel: what's not legal. >> anthony: or let's say what's not legal? >> keegan: you can't hit to the legs. >> anthony: you can't? oh damn, 'cause that would be the first thing i think of. i'm thinking, oh i've got to get that knee in particular. >> keegan: now to be honest in stick fighting, legal and illegal is a concept, but it doesn't stop that kind of stuff from happening. >> anthony: but i mean let's face it, this is a pretty heavy object. if i get a good swing, if i tee off and i get a clean shot on the head --. this is what the new york police department would call a deadly weapon.
keegan taylor studied fighting styles from around the world before coming around to their own, homegrown martial art. >> anthony: now what's legal? >> rondel: what's not legal. >> anthony: or let's say what's not legal? >> keegan: you can't hit to the legs. >> anthony: you can't? oh damn, 'cause that would be the first thing i think of. i'm thinking, oh i've got to get that knee in particular. >> keegan: now to be honest in stick fighting, legal and illegal is a concept, but it doesn't stop that kind of stuff from happening. >> anthony: but i mean let's face it, this is a pretty heavy object. if i get a good swing, if i tee off and i get a clean shot on the head --. this is what the new york police department would call a deadly weapon. >> king david: yes sir. if i'm fighting, if i'm really fighting, i'm a monster. i got to lick you down, i got to kill you, i got to dig you up, i got to bury you, i got to murder you, i've got to take you out. the demon in me is going to come out.