Written by Illmatical |\u00a0@illmaticalmind<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

We’ve reached February, the month America ostensibly\u00a0pauses to acknowledge the contributions of Black folks; like the one\u00a0month shout out compensates for several hundred years of free labor.\u00a0I know what you’re thinking, “Chill out chopsticks!”\u00a0You ain’t Malcolm and my name isn’t Brother Baines;\u00a0we ain’t walking in the yard, so you don’t need that lesson.<\/p>\n

The Last Dragon<\/a> is a martial arts film that has successfully transcended racial\u00a0and ethnic boundaries. However, the protagonist of the film, although\u00a0played by a biracial actor, if he was walking down the street today,\u00a0he’d be labeled as a Black man. While delivering pizzas in Harlem,\u00a0he’d be subjected to stop-and-frisk and the way the NYPD has been treating\u00a0brothers recently, he’d be hella busy catching bullets with his teeth.<\/p>\n

Before the month ends, we have to acknowledge the real life Bruce Leroys<\/a>;\u00a0the real life Sho’nuffs<\/a> too. Like their Negro League<\/a> counterparts, these\u00a0brothers played and never got paid. There is more to Black martial arts\u00a0than the late great Jim Kelly<\/a>; masters whose stories come right out of a\u00a0comic book.<\/p>\n

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This post is kings only, men who created their own viable martial arts systems, were accomplished fighters and were instrumental in pioneering organized fighting as we know it today. There was a golden age of martial arts, in America, the 1960s – 1970s; full contact tournaments on both coasts and the Midwest. Black martial artists dominated competition during this time.<\/p>\n

In west Africa, a griot<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>was a storyteller, a lyricist who persevered history.\u00a0African American griots became rappers; they have spent more than enough time\u00a0recanting tales of drug dealers, basketball legends, pimps and plenty of bars\u00a0dedicated to big booty hoes.<\/p>\n

Since they’ve failed to give you the lessons, it is time for this griot to grab\u00a0the mic and drop science on the great Black martial arts masters. \u00a0After Chuck Norris turned his back on martial arts (per Aaron Banks); when\u00a0he took an “L” to Bruce Lee on film, all of the Black champions and fighters\u00a0of the golden era ceased to exist; hence the name Forgotten Fury<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Moses Powell<\/h2>\n

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