Fighting Techniques
Although it is often argued that the inhabitants of Palmares defended themselves using the martial art form called capoeira, there is no documentary evidence that the residents of Palmares actually used this method of fighting, which historian Thomas Desh-Obi has connected with the Benguela Highlands region of Angola. Most accounts describe them as armed with bows, arrows and guns. They were able to acquire guns by trading with the Portuguese and by allowing small holding cattle raisers to use their land.
The inhabitants of the larger towns typically protected them with elaborate fortifications, including walls and palisades, pit traps and trenches. However, often the inhabitants abandoned and burned their towns when sizable Portuguese armies approached, melting away into the woods and mountains. Hence even the most successful Portuguese expeditions rarely captured more than a few hundred people. Zumbi's determined defense of his capital against the Portuguese, who brought up artillery to assist in the attack, was unusual.
Read more about this topic: Palmares (quilombo)
Famous quotes containing the words fighting and/or techniques:
“It is the ignorant and childish part of mankind that is the fighting part. Idle and vacant minds want excitement, as all boys kill cats.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The techniques of opening conversation are universal. I knew long ago and rediscovered that the best way to attract attention, help, and conversation is to be lost. A man who seeing his mother starving to death on a path kicks her in the stomach to clear the way, will cheerfully devote several hours of his time giving wrong directions to a total stranger who claims to be lost.”
—John Steinbeck (1902–1968)