An Original Photo Book and Martial Arts Manual
Explore the heart of Haiti's cultural heritage through Haitian Machete Fencing: The Avril Family Method-a unique blend of history, art, and combat technique, passed down through generations. Haiti is a country rich in culture, though economically poor. In the countryside, where time-honored traditions thrive, a legacy of African ancestry continues in music, dance, spirituality, folk medicine, and-perhaps most intriguingly-martial arts.
A Legacy of Protection and Precision: This manual takes you into the world of Haitian machete fencing, where blade-work meets art. Under the watchful eye of skilled masters, practitioners engage in intense physical practice, yet amidst the clash of steel and wood, there is an ever-present tenderness, a deep care for one another's safety. This delicate balance is as much a part of the system as the techniques themselves.
The Demand for a Timeless Tradition: The idea for this manual began with Professor Avril, who guided his students through the four core principles of his family's method before allowing them to graduate from wooden replicas to live blades. Now, for the first time, these principles are accessible to the public, providing an in-depth guide to a martial tradition long shrouded in secrecy.
Featuring rich photography and detailed instructions, this book is both a visual journey and a practical manual-a must-have for martial artists, historians, and cultural enthusiasts alike.
Espey, Charles: - Charles Espey is a world-renowned maker of violin bows based in Port Townsend, Washington, as well as a documentary photographer and filmmaker. His career as one of the world's most sought-after bowmakers has given him the time and resources to travel the world in search of images for much of the year. His photographic work shows superlative respect for the cultures he documents, from community-based reforestation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest to the African-American rodeo scene of rural Mississippi to the boatyards of his hometown. In each of these contexts, he demonstrates a profound knack for earning the trust of marginalized communities, and documenting people in moments of action, connection and introspection. His work can be seen at charlesespey.com.
Rogers, Michael Dylan: - Dr. Michael Dylan Rogers is Assistant Professor of Liberal Arts at Pacific Northwest College of Art / Willamette University in Portland, Oregon. His research explores the intersection of ideas about science and politics in 20th-century German philosophy. He holds a PhD in History from Cambridge University, and has published on various topics related to the history of ideas. His book Epistemology and Political Thought in Interwar Germany and Austria, 1914-1945, is forthcoming from Springer Nature. He first traveled to Haiti in 2002 and has spent over five years living and working there. As Co-Founder of the Haitian Machete Fencing Project, he is the only non-Haitian known to have mastered the art of Tire Machèt, and is featured in the award-winning documentary film Papa Machete.
Turnier, Reginald: - Reginald Turnier is Executive Director of the nonprofit organization Cultural Capital Haiti and steward of his family's ancestral lands in southeastern Haiti. For the past 20 years, he has lived in Haiti full-time, working in collaboration with local stakeholders to protect and restore his community through sustainable development practices. He has served on the boards of various nonprofit organizations, including Kay Angel, an orphanage for children with HIV and other serious medical conditions. In the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, he served as Administrative Director for an emergency birthing clinic run by the international midwifery organization Bumi Sehat. He is also Co-Founder of the Haitian Machete Fencing Project, and worked as a consultant on the award-winning documentary film Papa Machete.
