Gotham European Martial Arts Collective

Happy **JULY** everybody! We are only 16 days away from the Haitian Machete Fencing Workshop!!!

Join us for a celebration of **Tire Machèt**, a martial art with roots in the Haitian Revolution, still practiced as an important cultural and community building tradition.

We're hosting Michael Dylan Rogers, Master Instructor of the Avril Family Method of Tire Machèt, for a **two day workshop**! Proceeds from this event go to support the Avril Family in Haiti.

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We are excited for this year's TWO DAY TIRE MACHÈT WORKSHOP! Come learn about the Haitian art of machete fencing with Master Instructor Michael Dylan Rogers.

This event is accessible at all levels of skill and fitness; all proceeds go to support the Avril family in Haiti.

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In Haiti, the traditional art of machete fencing goes by many names, among them Tire Machèt (“Pulling Machetes”). Tire Machèt has roots in the Haitian Revolution, when the revolutionaries were often forced to fight with fewer guns than soldiers. Its combination of ancestral African combat systems proved highly effective both in battle and as a means of individual self-defense.

Professor Avril first asked his student Michael Rogers to introduce people "on the other side" to Haitian fencing nearly 20 years ago. Since that time, the Haitian Fencing Project has been dedicated to promoting and teaching this system worldwide; Michael has developed an intensive curriculum that can teach the basics of the Avril family system over the course of two 7-hour sessions.

About Michael Dylan Rogers, Master Instructor, Project Coordinator: Michael is an assistant professor of humanities at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. He first traveled to Haiti in 2002 and has spent over four years living and working there. He is the only non-Haitian known to have mastered the art of Haitian machete fencing, and is featured in the documentary short Papa Machete, which he worked on as a consultant from concept through post-production. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Cambridge.

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Busy Saturday!

Today in Instructor let a session on applying the four core principles to the Bauernstock!
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Our shrine is evolving nicely 🕯️⚔️❤️

What a special weekend full of surprises!

"I'm back baby!" - after a seven week sabbatical, we are so excited for return to teaching our butt-kicking Sword Fitness and Bauernwehr classes 💪💪💪

A special thanks and shout out to Arzang for making our first wooden machete trainer by hand! Such an amazing gift we are honored to receive!

Despite the bitter cold here in NYC we had a very full Bauernwehr class, including some new comers: welcome Cara, Sophie, and Al!

We here at Gotham Bauernwehr are lucky to have such great friends and collaborators at up in Tilton, NH! It is such an honor to share our arts and train together. Here, our respective mascots got to meet for the first time!

Beginning Feb 14th our Bauernwehr classes will transition to two hours blocks, so sign up now to reserve your spot!
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