The approach to 52 Hand Blocks, and its Historical Context

From the Diaspora to New York City ©2006

By Daniel Marks

52 Hand Blocks is an urban phenomenon that found it self rising to a Noble

status around the late 60’s in New York City. Each borough has stories and legends
of this Noble Art form, and the urban culture that surrounds it. Whether you’re
from Harlem, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens or Staten Island you can find practitioners
often keeping low in the shadows knuckling up like days past. Who started it? And
where did it come from? These are good question to ask, but my answers may not be
agreed upon by everyone. It’s important to know that we as Africans have been on
this planet a long time,
and that we have establish a culture that has sustained us for thousands of years.
But that would be too long a story to tell, so I will focus on the time period
after the Middle Passage, and try to trace the steps of our Ancestors who carried
with their lives this very Art form. It is also important to note that each
generation rules the nation, and that the name 52 Hand Blocks can not be trace
back any further than when the name was coined.
The name describes more than just the fight but has references to the surroundings
of that era. 10 years from now we might call it something else it is my hope that
that name be what our Ancestor called it.

What is 52 Hand Blocks?

Well that depends on who asks. A fighting style made famous by street
gangs, hustlers and old number- runners. Was it always called 52 Hand Blocks?
and what’s the significance of number 52? Good questions and to answer them will
take some doing so bear with me as the name of the fight wasn’t always called 52.
A lot of the older heads guys in their late 40’s and older knew the fight by
another name of Jail House Boxing. So before I go into the name 52, let me
explain JHB\ JHR.

Jail House Boxing/Jail House Rock as it is some times called is boxing, more
of a defensive style but boxing none the less. Can you describe it for me? Just
like 52, JHR has a unique characteristic that embodies the essence of style and
one-man ship, and the roots of this fighting style can be founded in the early
accounts of slave fighting in the Diaspora, arts like Cutting ( old style of
boxing close in practice to Rough and Tumble), Side Hold ( a form of wrestling,
were you would trip or sweep your opponent to the ground), and Knocking and
Kicking ( like side hold, but the key to this art was using the Head also known as
Butting)... So is JHR and 52 one and the same? Yes and no, the best way to
answer the question is to bring you up to speed on who we are. Africans of the
Diaspora are a diverse group of Africans from Central and West Africa.
All who survived the middle passage were divided up according to skill or trade
to work in a number of disciplines in the newly conquered lands of the Americas
and the Caribbean.

From Farming to Blacksmithing, or any other useful trade helped to rebuild

the land and make it prosperous for the power elite of the time namely Spain and
Portugal. After the fall of Granada the last Moorish strong hold which fell in
1491 A.D., the known world was divided between these two principalities. As with
any fallen nation you take part in rebuilding a new nation or in this case a New
World. The undermining of Africa was about stealing a workforce needed for the
mass undertaking of restructuring the wealth and resource of previously own
Moorish territories. However, I digress for now, as this is another subject to
build on, but I mentioned it because it relates to our plight here in the west.
To make a long story short, Africans had to overcome language barriers and inter-
tribal conflicts to form a new world view for our survival. In some cases we
maintained our independent way of thinking. Like the Maroons of Jamaica, the
revolt in Haiti, the Quilombo’s in Brazil, and the Underground Railroad in the
States. All of these are signs that we didn’t lose our African world view. For
each of these events our spiritual system stayed in tact. Although fragmented, it
stayed a symbol of rallying strength for the prisons of war (slaves). Basically,
a P.O.W.s knows his plight, lays low and waits for his moment to strike. However,
a slave succumbs to conditioning and accepts his fate. Each part of this dilemma
is rooted in our spiritual system. On one hand we fight, on the other we
compromise. Who’s to say what the greater good is? It may seem weak to some
people but how long would our children have survived it we all fought and died?
Some times the best laid plan is to put the lion to sleep, and resurrect it when
your numbers and world view are stronger. While warriors accept their fate as
they will be reborn during the resurrection. As are the priest men and women of
great knowledge who will return when the time is right to explain what we have
lost. In short, not every sacrifice is in blood, some things take time just like
the pyramids were not built in a day. From our struggle new forms of spiritual
practices began, while hiding our spiritual point of view, and keeping our
practices and beliefs secret became a matter of survival. So we accepted the
oppressor’s religion on face value. From this new way we would honor our Gods
through song and dance rejoicing in our triumphs which kept us strong.

They call it Creole, the mixed bag that’s become the Diaspora of Africans of
the Slave trade. We began to combine our music, dance and combatives through our
new world view. Spiritual practices like Kalinda, Candomble, Vodou, Palo and
Santeria. While fighting styles emerged like Mani (Cuba), Ldaja (Martinique),
Pinge (Haiti), Capoeria (Bahia, Brazil), Stick-Licken (Trinidad & Tabago), Knockin
and Kickin\JHR\52 HB (North America), Broma (Venezuela), etc.

Knocking and Kicking is the predecessor to JHB, as it made its way up north with
the Southern man. By way of the minstrels shows, Rail Roads, Blues Singer, and
Boxers, from the great migration of the early 1900’s. Its home is the Carolinas,
Virginia, Georgia and Louisiana home to the Blues and Jazz. Why do you keep
mentioning the music? Simple each generation moves a nation. The music and dance
of those eras was and is a part of triumphs and struggles of our people. If you
study you will find the resurrecting spirit coming alive in each manifestation
that we created. Now that I have laid the frame work let us began with the
boxing.

In the late 1700’s two Black Champions fought for the World Crown in boxing.
Bill Richmond and Tom Molineux were Bare-Knuckle Champions of North America.
Both men were former slaves who fought their way to freedom. Both men fought with
and lost to the English champ Tom Cribb. This would set the stage for Blacks in
Prize fighting for the next 300 years in the America’s. What about boxing in
Africa? Boxing in Africa is dated as far back as 6000 years ago. Along the Nile
river in the Kush\Nubian empire of Kermera. Some say Ethiopia, but the name
Ethiopia is a Greek name from a later period, and doesn’t speak of the First
Civilization in Africa. Research says that the Nubian developed their wrestling
style by watching gorillas play; thus Boxing in Africa implies striking and
tussling (which is to grab and throw). Other forms of Boxing in Africa are Dambe
or Hausa Boxing from Nigeria, and is still practiced today. A type of slap boxing
called Kadenka from the Congo, and Laamb. Although Laamb would be considered
wrestling it employs striking from boxing making it a hybrid art form. However,
there are thousands of fighting styles in the Motherland and too many to name
here.
 Boxing was the ghettos past time before any of the other sports in the U.S.
became popular except for Baseball. So of the modern boxing era you have fighters
like Edward “Bearcat” Wright, Peter Jackson, Jack Johnson, Sam Langford, Joe
Jeannette, Sam Mcvey the fearsome foursome, and the list goes on and on. These
are your 19th century boxers who fought with out being given the chance to become
a champion, with the exception of Jack Johnson who won the Heavy weight title in
1909. Johnson and Langford fought plenty, but once Johnson won the title he
wouldn’t take the risk and fight with Sam. But this was nothing new for Black
fighters of that era. Most of the White fighters ducked him too. So Black
fighters fought with each other every chance they could get, to earn a living. So
this era produced many of the styles that we see today such as: “the Crouch”
Edward Wright, “Armadillo,” made famous by Archie Moor, the “Peek-a-Boo” used by
Sugar Ray Robinson and Floyd Patterson. Let’s not forget the Brown Bomber Joe
Louis with his inside fight game and blistering short punches. Boxing and
Entertainment were our great escape from the clutches of poverty. Although Blacks
would find other ways out of poverty, one would only need to study the impact of
the greatest fighter of the 20 century Muhammad Ali. Like his predecessor Joe
Louis, Ali transcend race through the sport and rose to prominence. Some of our
other noted hero’s had to make their fame the hard way, as struggling to survive
by any means was common theme, your true rags to riches story. Most of the old
guard like, Moore and Patterson both spent time in juvenile facilities during an
era where boxing was king, and thus learn the sweet science as a means to change
their lives. Of course there were other fighters, street fighters, club fighters
that were feared for their hand skills, but like most we focus only on those who
have become legends. I would love to collect and document them all, no small task
I know, but that’s the least that I can do.

Prison boxing became popular shortly after WWII because of the success of
Joe Louis an ambassador of the sport. Due to the raise in urban unrest, cities
like New York would experience a rise in crime reeling from the depression up and
until the end of the Second World War. Young Blackmen were no-longer sought after
for menial labor,
jobs like shop keepers, factory worker, and dock workers. Many of these jobs were
being done by newly imported emigrants, and young blackmen had to find their way
by any means. This meant hustling, and providing muscle for crime lords. This is
the climate between the 20’s and 40’s while Jazz along with Rhythm & Blues became
the moving body that propelled Black culture. All of the dances of this era were
a mixture of the Diaspora, and each time we faced a setback Black people responded
with something new.

Rock, the Civil rights era\Pan African movement brings us up to the era of
the 50’s and 60’s. With the sounds of Doo Wop, and Bee-bop, and Cuba’s Rumba, and
Salsa feeling in the spots where Blues and Jazz began to drift out of the out of
the mainstream. These new expressions created new dances and an urban style of
dress, as cool cats played the wall in their fly digs. Yeah style was everything
and you had to be sharp as the progression toward self identity was beginning to
sweep the urban environments with cries of respect, and no more Jim Crow. The
Civil rights struggle was laying the seeds for the musical movements that spawned
in the 70’s ( Soul Funk, and Disco) as this era brought about self awareness being
Black and proud to say it. This is also the era where the art of Street Boxing
that we now call 52 hand blocks made its way onto the scene. Yes, Hip Hop was born
out of this new struggle, the struggle of self pride and dignity.
But it would be the old guard returning from Prison that influenced early Hip hop.
The style of dress and behavior (the hard rocks or b-boys most of them ran with
local street crews, and former gangs members too many to list) while the Jamaican
Sound Boards DJ’s made their way through the hoods looking to start a party.
“Turn up the base its better when its loud cause to me MC means Move the Crowd”
(Rakim). The city was dealing with a new wave of gang violence, and young men
were entering the Gladiator schools of Upstate New York at an alarming rate.
Upstate long served as a proving ground for young hustlers, but now the city greed
for prison labor (another way of saying I don’t know what to do with these young
people just lock them up, and make them useful) was turning prisons into
industrial complexes manufactories goods for sale. Prison like the Military is
the prefect place to reach young soldiers and exchange ideas, cultural groups like
MST, NOI, NOGE, Folk and People Nations (some now Bloods and Crips). Young
Blackmen had no choice you either choose to run with the family or gang, or be fed
to the beast. Time past and the streets would get a new warrior some armed with
knowledge of self, and yet others are just better at hustling, 52 Hand Blocks is
born. We now enter the 80’s and Hip Hop is running stronger than any music genre
of the era. Go-Go (DC) and House (Chicago). New dances follow this new beat the
sound of the 808 drum, and breaking, the art of the B-Boy. So with the return to
the drum we have come full circle and we have been resurrected.

What is 52 Hand Blocks?

I think that the way to answer this question is to explain what it is not.
I will cross reference things from a time
period that was the turning point for Black Identity in this country. From the
time of integration until now we have had to fight
for self respect in one form or another. From Negro to Colored to Black, Afro
American to African American a lot has changed in the way we see ourselves. So
much hinges on identity in America that some of us have abandon the very thought
of being African. National pride has become the banner that most former slaves
fly. You can even hear Black people saying that I’m not African as if it was an
impoverish word. This lost of identity is why we rename our cultural expression
with the vernacular of our common day struggle. 52 hand blocks describes the
method that young Blackmen used to defend themselves in the urban landscape and
the industrial complexes of prison systems in up state New York.

The era is the 60’s and what we would experience in that decade would shape
the live of Black folks for years to come.
This was the era of the mighty Civil Rights movements picking up steam since the
Supreme Court handed down its decision on Brown vs. The Broad of Education a
verdict that integrated the public school system and the protest of other Jim Crow
laws were being challenged in every city and county across the country. This
unrest would become a bloody struggle, as Black people found themselves fighting
for their very lives. Keep in mind this wasn’t anything new in America Black
people, from slavery to the rise of the KKK, have had to practice the means of
self protection.

What made the 60’s different from the past?

The Climate, America was being watched by the world, and had to deal with its
image on human rights issues which Jim Crow laws clearly violated. This was the
prefect time to push back against a double standard of American policy. Black
people simply wanted equal treatment and protection under the law that we fought
and died for in the previous World Wars. We were no longer willing to ride the
back of the bus having given our lives for so much of what America stands for; we
simply started fighting back for what we were denied as slaves; civil
indoctrination into the American Dream and of course this was no easy fight.

The body has a soul, and Soul music fed the weary spirits of a people trying
desperately to cope with oppression.
Artist like James Brown with his battle cry “Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud”
and the Queen of Soul Ms. Aretha Franklin with R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Other artist would
join in the protest through song like Marvin Gaye’s “What’s going on, and Sam
Cooke’s “A Change is going come” songs like these vibrated across the airways
providing much nourishment for the struggle. Our thirst for equality would set the
stage for other movements that would cause the death of aspiring young Blackmen
and Women whose lost we can still feel today. Too many to name but I be remised
if I didn’t at least mention
Malcolm, Martian and Huey along with countless others whose name never made the
front page. Many became disenfranchise from the struggle watching the death toll
rise among our most promising young people, yet we fought on from the Court house
to the streets Black people were gearing up for a long battle.
But it would be in the street where the tactics of survival would meet its
greatest test. As the urban landscape became a battle ground for a different
reason. Fighting against the Police and Government policy was one thing, but
having to protect your neighborhood from the inside was a threat to the very
movement. Young people were being torn apart having to choose to fight city hall
and starve or to hustle in the streets to provide food. Each hood had it’s
protectors at least in the 60’s and early 70’s this was how it was. By the late
70’s gangs would feed off of the community that they formed to protect.
These gangs like the communities that they were from varied in discipline and in
purpose. Crews bounded together out of a since of lost, as families were becoming
more and more fragmented not since Middle passage and Slavery would black families
be hit so hard with lost. Black and Hispanic Communities struggled to make ends
meet, and often coming into direct confrontation with each other. The cultural
tides would bind those of common interest, and separate you by the same token.

Ethnic pride for other minorities would be use as a wedge to separate the
poor communities; in short if you were not Black (African American) you didn’t
necessarily see the Civil Rights movement as your struggle. This type of division
that started in the streets would carry on over in to the prison populations all
over the country. The rise of gang life would become the single most influential
movement in urban communities since the rise of the Civil Rights movement. New
York like other urban cities would see a rise in trouble youth, and struggled
along with the communities on what to do with their young people. Depression and
hopeless of seeing so much pain lead to the need to escape, hard to focus on civil
rights when there is no food to eat, or suitable shelter to live in, and the lack
of jobs lead to the communities imploding on themselves. Thus at one point in the
city the gangs ruled. With ex- members of the Political and Radical movements
controlling the horde, these gang lords would provide more to the upcoming youth
than just a place to hang out. Gangs Like the Black Spades, Savage Nomades, Savage
Skulls, Immortal 7, Peace Makers, Bronx Reapers, The Devil Rebels, Jelly Stoppers,
Tomahawks, Franklin Ave Posse, The Dirty Dozen, Latin Kings, and the list goes
on. Other urban cities had there gangs too, to name a few we have The People and
Folk Nations out of Chicago and their family crews, as well as the gangs of LA,
BGF, Bloods and Crips. Young men had to choose, join the movement or join a gang
some took the path of least resistance and joined the gangs for a greater since of
family. Gang members lived in the communities where many had and live through the
same hardships as the struggling youth. So for some it was an easy choice sticking
to the rivers that they where use to, or standing alone against your whole block.
Let’s face it, with out an education Young Black and Hispanic males, and females
would have been no use to the Civil Rights movement because most believed that it
was a hopeless endeavor watching all ofour leaders die, and our movements
destroying themselves from the inside. Yet in all of this turmoil the culture of
the Diaspora would survive and flourish keeping the spirit of the fight alive in
the soul.

Now enters the funk era “Make my funk the P funk I want to get funk up”
Parliament Funkadelic. Yeah Disco might have been main-stream and Motown was
still grooving us with soothing R&B, but it was Soul and Funk that would carry the
voice of the youth that’s until the raise of another genre. By the mid 70’s the
spirit had settled not satisfied but pacified a New Deal was struck with the
embattled communities and hip hop was born. But to be an MC you had to have the
gift of gab... that old slick talking and jive walking type of jazz. Dub it up and
play it sound boy, the urban story tellers talking about tales of adventure how it
was and how it is. This is the climate of 52 Hand Blocks; where the strong arm of
streets meant you had to be slick, and quick with the wit.
How did this the phenomenon begin? Well it never ended; we simply we’ve been
carrying the culture with us since our forceful removable from the Motherland. Our
need to survive keep the spirit alive in our struggle this Noble fight goes by
many names and has different forms as each manifestation is due to the need of the
people of that time period. It’s important to know that most of the Diaspora
history is told through word of mouth like in the villages of Africa we sit around
while the girot would tell and reenact our stories of the past. Like the Hip Hop
artist of old would rock a party with tall tales and truthful puns to spark
memories of how it was when a party meant having a good time. The dance floor
would be filled with Ritual combat, a cast over to the day’s old when battles was
fought and territories were won. But in Prison this style of rah rah would take on
another meaning, and would develop from a form of style into a full-fledged beast
when it returns to the streets.

The climate of prison brought about a change in the communities where it was
once seen by many as shameful to be locked up, became a badge of honor for others.
Surviving Prison was like coming home from Vietnam young men and women were proud
to boast about the facility that they survived in. Hell holes like
Clinton, Mount Meg, Comstock, Cosakie, Attica, Sing Sing, Fish kills, Raw way etc…
Juvenile spots like Spodford, and Goshen were places where the trade of street
life would live out its desires on unsuspecting souls. In Prison where prey is
called meat you had to be up on the game or learn very fast what to do and what
not to do. Stepping out of line could cost you more than just your life. The
codes of the street as explain by a former member of the Peace Makers from the
Bronx. He explained that they had an unwritten rule on how to engage in battle.
“If you were walking through another gang’s territory they would ask you to remove
your colors, and if you didn’t the fight would be on” In some cases the crew would
choose who would fight as they formed line or circles around the combatant. The
object here was to force the other gang member into the coward where your boys
were standing and set it on him. Other rules were warning the rival crew that you
were seeking a member who broke a truce. Either he would be turned over, or the
whole gang would have to face the blunt of the transgression. These rules also
applied to prison, but in prison there was less of a family bond unless inmates
are from the same hood or went to same school together. So if an inmate broke a
rule for his cell block or crew, he may often be put on the auction block to keep
the peace. Doing time changes the game, on the street you can avoid your rivals
dip into the shadows, or leave town. But in the Joint (prison) every day you had
to deal with this cat and his crew, and not having those family ties usually meant
being by you’re self. In prison the term mine your own business would become the
golden rule unless you wanted to incur someone else’s debt. Thus defending your
self in prison also took on new meaning you no longer could count on a one on one,
as flesh eaters travel in packs like wolves. You couldn’t count on other inmates
helping you out as they wouldn’t want to cross the pack, or a badass inmate who’s
never going to see the streets again. People with nothing to lose could care less
if they hurt or add more time to their sentence by killing you. So not making
noise, or being too friendly was to only way to co-exist. Not like the street
where you wanted to join the crew and fellowship with the gang (family). Prison
forced groups to bond under even tighter code, as a fight in the joint could mean
trouble for the whole crew, and just like on the streets you couldn’t back down,
but unlike the streets you could hide or leave town. So adjusting to this type
life was a hardship for most young men having to serve older inmates to keep the
pack off them, but lose favor with an OG (Original gangster) and you would be sold
to rival crew for a credit. Meaning that you would no longer receive protection
and you would be left to face the pack alone. The good thing about being under and
OG is that he or his crew would pass on the rules and code that would help you
past the time. The bad thing is nothing is free, and if you were not a trusty then
you had very little value to the crew. Increasing your value became the only way
to ensure your personal safety.
I conclude by saying that there is no one story that can convey a history as
long as ours, or every detail from every point of view. 52 hand blocks is the
icon and the people who tell it’s story are sharing their experiences of survival.
What does the name mean? According to King Saladin a 5%er from Astoria Queens
The number 52 is in reference to blocks. Learning blocks and physical blocks that
helped you deal with a given situation. As he explained “we used the term whenever
what ever, like the drop of the cards”. A game in prison known as 52 pick up.
Where the numbers on the cards were used in setting the number of reps or sets you
would do with each exercise. Saladin called this “The Program”, the program went
along with learning those blocks. The Gods (5%ers) use a term from their supreme
mathematics call build or destroy which is the number 8. So before you can build
on the foundation of 1 (knowledge) you have to destroy the old foundation. This
remains me of boot camp which used the same strategy, of taken you out of your
civilian mindset and replacing it with a Military one. Saladin went on to say
that he learned 52 as a means of self protection. He said growing up in the early
sixties a man had to be able to use his hands as guns wasn’t so easily assessable
in those days. Plus you had Cops harassing you all the time, and the threat of
great physical harm was emanate. Saladin spoke of other Gods (5%ers) who helped
him learn his craft; gods like Victor (Money Green, SI) Old Man Sha Sha (Byln),
Brother China, the god Divine, and the infamous Mother Dear who took him his wings
when Saladin was a young pup. Every Borough had there warriors, and there is more
than one story to tell. What we call 52 hand blocks is at the very root of our
culture, the practice and ritual of the fight can be found in the spiritual
systems through out Central and West African, as well as through out the Diaspora.
So much research is needed to pin point exactly where the fight or ritual began,
but like Saladin I take it for what it’s worth, and value it as a testament of our
struggle as Black people in the Diaspora fighting for equality.