Tahtib, the 5000 years old Egyptian stick martial art │ Egyptian Stick Fighting (Tahtib)

TAHTIB, the 5000 years old Egyptian stick martial art
Tahtib, a stick fighting sport from Upper Egypt

Description: In ancient Egypt, tahteeb was a form of martial arts. Now a festive game some of the old symbolism and values associated with the practice remain. Performed before an audience, it involves a brief, non-violent interchange between two adversaries wielding long sticks while folk music plays. Practitioners are male, mostly from Saeedy populations in upper Egypt. Rules of the game are based on mutual respect, friendship, courage, chivalry and pride with transmission occurring within families and neighbourhoods in the communities.

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The International Center for Arts of Tahtib - I.C.F.T

The Art of Tahtib (Stick Fighting)

History and Origin of Tahtib (Stick play):
First:
(The stick) being the main tool of tahtib, the stick was a tool that accompanied the man since he inhabited the earth, so it was initially a supporting tool for him to carry wherever he went, then developed to a longer hand that he used to pick up the fruits far from his reach, or turned into a third foot that helps him to move.
Stick then developed to be a major tool in cattle grazing, to become a symbol of the shepherd's authority over his own herd. With with the escalation of human conflict, the stick became a weapon used in self-defense against threats.
The name, tahtib, is derived from the Arabic name of branches of dry trees (Hatab).
Second:
(Tahtib Sport) Tahtib is considered a martial art by using a stick to achieve the physical and mental perfection.
The art of tahtib, through its technical and rhythmic means that has evolved throughout its very long history, brings positive and consistent energy for both competitors and the audience as well.
The art of tahtib convey huge contributive potentials at the social and cultural levels in Egypt and abroad.
With the dawn of ancient civilizations, the ancient Egyptians invented the rules and origins of this sport and took great interest in it, as tahtib was not specific to a certain social group, and the ancient Egyptian artists engraved it on many walls of ancient pharaonic cemeteries and temples. In Giza governorate, inscriptions were found that belonged to King Sahoo Ra II of the Fifth Dynasty, which included symbols of tahtib. On the other hand, tahtib symbols appears as a ceremonial art in the era of the modern state 1500 - 1000 BC on the archaeological walls of the regions of Luxor and Saqqara, and archaeological inscriptions were also found in Minya Governorate, and that was during the reign of the eleventh and twelfth dynasties in the Temple of Medinat Habu, which the king Ramesses III built in the twentieth dynasty of the era of the modern state 1183-1152 BC, also found symbols depecting men playing with sticks in "Khro AiF" cemetery in the tombs of the nobles in Al Asasef, the western mainland in Luxor.
Tahtib in the Roman era:
It has been mentioned in primitive Christian literature that tahtib was practiced for entertainment and a form of folk art appears on holidays and weddings.
Tahtib in the Islamic era:
This sport was not limited to the Pharaonic era, but we find it in the Islamic era depicted in a Mamluk manuscript for equestrian sports dating back to the ninth Hijri century (15th century), preserved in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo with record number (18019 -18021). This manuscript has five pictures, three of them in The Museum of Islamic Art and two in the Sharif Sabri collection and photographs and they are depicting men playing with sticks, either standing - on their feet - or on horseback.
Also, "the stick" and "stick play" have been mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and the prophet Muhammad's narrations many times.
The art of tahtib is currently practiced in various ways:
The first way:
It is practiced as a sport and technique for self-defense, The second way:
It is practiced as a traditional popular
Game.
Third way: It is practiced as a show dance with the stick, and it is worth noting that the three types are also engraved on the walls of pharaonic temples and tombs.
UNESCO listed tahtib on its List of Intangible World Heritage at the end of 2016.
Fact sheet about the International Center for Tahtib (I.C.F.T)
It is a voluntary center (NPO) established by Mr./ Sabry Mahmoud Al-Sohagi with a constellation of the most prominent tahtib professionals from various Egyptian governorates in 2012 with self-efforts to preserve this ancient heritage of extinction, when he felt that this art is about to disappear and was abandoned by some generations.
It is the first tahtib center in Egypt.
Our goals:
Establishing a legal entity for Egyptian tahtib sport, we are seeking to establish a tahtib association, we are looking forward to organizing a championship for tahtib, we are seeking to create a union for tahtib professionals or a community association that sponsors and develops this sport.