African martial arts...

We've been bombarded by international cultures in Africa so much that we often forget we have our own arts & creations. We know of kung fu, muay thai, karate, fencing etc. but our arts are often left in the shadows. So here are a three African combat sports / arts that we can learn & study, maybe create our own competitions & dojos...

1) Capoeira: From my knowledge & research, capoeira was an Angolan combat-dance that was popularized by Brazilian slaves. It's more a dance than a martial art but I believe capoeiristas do learn a few combat skills from being in capoeira.

2) Laamb: Laamb is Wolof / Bambara (Senegalese) wrestling... I'm not sure how it's done but here's a Wikipedia article.

3) Zulu / Nguni stick-fighting: Also known as ukucwiya is a typical Zulu past time among umlabalaba & others. I believe it was used to train youths for combat.

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The problem with a single African currency.

Preword: It's funny because one of the main reasons I found the courage to blog on African matters was due to a West African(?) gentleman who proposed the concept of a said "swal" & "zul" as a continental African currency in a blog. His boldness & conviction in his idea just captivated me & today I have to debunk this idea of his. But, hopefully, Africa sees why. African technologies & financial solutions Oh, Africa. We are so romantic; "United States of Africa", "Single African currency", "African unity", "Ubuntu"... all these fluffy, lovey-dovey concepts that will be ripped to shreds in the globalised world. I debunked why a United States of Africa would likely collapse as soon as it sees the light of day. Today, I will debunk the concept of a "Single African currency" & explain why it would leave our enemies salivating. I can't blame people who like stuff like United States of Africa...

A viable single African currency concept.

The original reason why I believe a single African currency would not work. Below is how we could attempt to make it work. The many currencies of Africa. To prevent destabilization of the continent's economy, there could be two currencies: The Lami for countries lying mostly north of the equator & the Ng'ombe for countries mostly south of the equator. Both currencies would be independent with the Lami having it's bank & headquarters in Addis Ababa while the Ng'ombe could have it's bank & headquarters in Nairobi. N.B.: Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, DRC & Kenya would use the Ng'ombe currency while Uganda & Somalia would use the Lami currency. North of equator = Lami South of equator = Ng'ombe More stable countries with higher GDP per capita could be first to use the new currencies i.e. Seychelles, Mauritius, Gabon, Botswana, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, Algeria, Na...

What did King Shaka look like?

I've heard some people quoting from King Shaka's praises claiming that he was "like the sun" therefore light-skinned. But I'd like to ask how comparisons with the sun equate with being light-skinned? If anything, if King Shaka was light-skinned, they'd compare him to something terrestrial like the colour of a cow hide, wood or other object because very few extraterrestrial objects have the colour of any human skin. Even white people are called "ondlebe zikhanya ilanga" ('those who have translucent ears") & not "abakhanya okwelanga" ("those who shine like the sun"). King Shaka's mother was from Elangeni & there is the Langa clan in KZN, all of them are black with many being exceptionally dark-skinned so I don't think the comparisons comparing King Shaka with the sun have anything to do with his complexion. Even the whites who first saw him & drew him wrote that he was dark & fairly tall. I also don...

Ponderings of the Man from Mpofana...

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