[For background on Frontier JKD see this brief essay to set the stage.] San Francisco’s Barbary Coast received this nickname from its violent rough n tumble nature. The original Barbary Coast refers to the Berber Coast of North Africa where Muslim Pirates held sway for some time. The US fought a series of engagement wars there from 1801 to 1805 known as The Barbary Wars—it is from one of these battles that we get the line “… to the shores of Tripoli ” in the Marine Hymn. With the advent of The California Gold Rush in 1849, San Franciso and its environs went from a population of 492 to over 25,000 people. Most all seeking fortune in the gold fields or…in less savory ways. From overlanders who crossed the continent to get there and folks who ‘rounded the Horn via sailing vessel, importees from the penal colony nation of Australia, a huge influx from China, a notable contingent from the Five-Points Gangs of New York and many other wild mixes of cultures and men and women of...
Examining & Resurrecting Indigenous Skills and Frontier Rough & Tumble Combat