Welcome to the Historical African Martial Arts & Wellness (HAMAW). It is our pleasure to introduce HAMAW and a different view of healthy lifestyle to the South Florida community. HAMAW will consist of African & African Diaspora Martial Arts from the Caribbean and the Americas.
Unfortunately, many African & African Diaspora Martial Arts are not known to the mainstream public or martial arts community. With this in mind many people assume if it is not mainstream it does not exist. Our goal is to educate, inform & teach the HAMAW to everyone young and old. But our martial arts training will borrow from the past and give practitioners a holistic approach. One of the key element to this training is not trying to be a museum to collect and display antiques. Instead we will show you how ancient warrior arts that was practical centuries ago are still relevant to modern day lifestyle in the 21st century. At this school the practitioner will be exposed to 3 main factors of martial arts; the martial (combat/defense), the wellness (diet/health/lifestyle/traditional medicine/pain relief) & the mental (mental empowerment/stress relief). These 3 factors will be wrapped up in culture from the region of origins of these arts for one to get a better grasp on what help forged warriors from these regions.
The martial arts approach we use is meant for self preservation as our primary goal. In our view if a woman, child, elderly, disabled or a weaker person cannot use the art to defend themselves, then it is useless. Always assume your opponent is stronger, faster, younger and more skilled than you. With that being said you are not always expected to win a fight but loosing is not a option. Loosing can result in serious injuries or worse. All we try to achieve with our students is to survive a confrontation with as minimal damage as possible and get home in one piece to their families or loved ones.