Okichitaw
A modern reconstruction of Plains combat technique, led by George Lépine since 1997. It is built on the weapons of the Cree and Assiniboine nations.
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About Okichitaw
Okichitaw is a modern reconstruction of the combat technique of the North American Plains nations, specifically the Cree and the Assiniboine. The system has been led since June 1997 by George Lépine, of Plains Cree and Assiniboine descent and from Manitoba, who obtained the consent of Elders in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario to assemble the syllabus. It is therefore not an unbroken fighting lineage but a documented attempt to gather scattered, orally transmitted technique into a teachable whole — and this page says so, because the difference between tradition and reconstruction matters. The sources are of two kinds. Before the age of thirteen Lépine learned traditional games and wrestling-and-striking technique through rites of passage; to that he added formal martial arts, holding high grades in taekwondo and hapkido and training in judo and in police tactics. The name refers to the okichitawtawak, the "worthy men" who held a protective role in the community. The technical core is the weaponry of the Plains: the knife, the gunstock war club, the tomahawk and the short lance. What is characteristic is that empty-hand movement is derived from holding a weapon rather than the other way round — the hand traces the path a blade or club would take. The system works with biomechanics, leverage and the use of terrain and weight; the teaching also includes tracking and the philosophical frame of the Four Directions and the Seven Grandfather Teachings. Okichitaw is recognised as an Indigenous martial art by the World Martial Arts Union and is associated with UNESCO patronage in the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.
Similar styles
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