‘Okichitaw’ is a martial art style, which builds on the traditional fighting techniques of the Cree Indians of North America. This martial art was conceived and designed by the American Indian-born Canadian George J. Lépine, who is now considered the founder of modern ‘Okichitaw’. The word Okichitaw is derived from a Cree term for an honorary title, which was awarded warriors who had proven themselves in battles, called ‘Okichitawak’. Since this was not easy to pronounce for English people, it was renamed into Okichitaw.
George J. Lépine was raised under the Cree culture, and became early interested in Tomahawk and American Indian wrestling. Later, he devoted himself intensively to East Asian martial arts, where he was even able to achieve more than one black belt. Having gained enough knowledge, he now began to recreate Okichitaw. Soon after, he started teaching it in the early 1990s.
The main features and focal points are the battle with Long Knives, the Tomahawk and the Gunstock-Club (an Indian club). Newcomers will be taught how to fight without weapons and the combinations of movements of an armed battle. Later, they will learn how to fight with weapons.
At first, you will learn how to handle knives and Tomahawk that which can be used for clinches and throws. The Gunstock-Club represents the master class, because this is really not easy to handle. The Gunstock-Club resembles a gun stock (surprise!), in which a blade is set. Their origin is attributed to the appearance of the first firearms during the 16th and 17th century. The weapon can be thrown, but is mainly used in close combat.
The feature of the Amerindian clinch with these weapons is that there are hardly any possibilities to parry (?). So if you don’t want to be broken apart by an ax or smashed by a club, you have to dodge very quickly or even divert the enemy in an attack. Only the Long Knife can be used to trap strokes, but this is also not necessarily easy. In unarmed combats, wrestling holds are primarily used to bring the opponent off balance. In addition, is also taught how to dodge attacks with knives and axes and to deflect the attacks of the enemy with handles. Okichitaw in its original form appears very rough, which results from the fact that they wanted to turn down the opponent quickly and efficiently. Amerindians used to be elegant anyways.
Copyright and source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okichitaw and http://www.empireonline.com/features/movie-finishing-moves/?m=32
