Yehoshua Sofer
- Yehoshua Sofer is also the name of a victim of the June 2010 West Bank shooting.
Yehoshua Sofer (Hebrew: יהושע סופר) is an Israeli-Jamaican hip hop and rap artist, and a martial artist. As a martial artist, he is the founder of Abir Warrior Arts Association of Israel, teaching his own style of “Abir-Qesheth Hebrew Warrior Arts” (אבי״ר-קשת אומנות לחימה עברית) in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, claiming it to be a tradition of his family dating to Israelite antiquity preserved by an underground school of "Bani Abir" in Habban, Yemen. Sofer perceives this style of martial arts training to be a continuation of the practices of the Jewish people prior to the Second Temple period. The style takes inspiration from the Hebrew alphabet, basing moves and stances on Hebrew letters.
Biography
[edit]He was born in 1958 in Jamaica and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1963 where he studied Tang Soo Do, receiving a black belt by 1968, aged ten. He studied Kuk Sool Won from 1974, advancing to 6th dan, and worked as a trainer and bodyguard during the 1970s and 1980s.[1]
Singing career
[edit]In the 1990s, he was a hip hop singer and rapper under the name Nigel Addmore, and was an MC on the album Humus Metamtem in 1993.[2][3] The album's track "Hummus makes you stupid" was a club hit in Israel.[4][5]
He appeared in the documentary films Awake Zion in 2005,[5] and Hummus the Movie in 2016.[6]
Martial arts career
[edit]In 2000, he ran a Kuk Sool Won school at the International Convention, Jerusalem.[7]
In 2002, he founded the Abir Warrior Arts Association of Israel, teaching his own style of “Abir-Qesheth Hebrew Warrior Arts” (אבי״ר-קשת אומנות לחימה עברית) in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, claiming it to be a tradition of his family dating to Israelite antiquity[8] preserved by an underground school of "Bani Abir" in Habban, Yemen, and styling himself Aluf Abir / אלוף אבי״ר ("Grandmaster of Abir"). Sofer perceives this style of martial arts training to be a continuation of the practices of the Jewish people prior to the Second Temple period.[9]
The word אביר abir in Modern Hebrew means "knight". The style takes inspiration from the Hebrew alphabet, basing moves and stances on Hebrew letters.[10]
See also
[edit]- Krav Maga, a 20th-century origin Israeli martial art conceived by Imi Sde-Or in the 1940s
References
[edit]- ^ https://www.ascentofsafed.com/cgi-bin/ascent.cgi?Name=KukSoolWon
- ^ Leibovitz, Liel (12 November 2012). "Fat Man Saves Israeli Hip-Hop". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
- ^ Goldsmith, Melissa U.D.; Fonseca, Anthony J., eds. (2018). Hip Hop around the World: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 353. ISBN 978-0313357596.
- ^ Siwek, Daniel (March 2005). "Zion Riddims". Tikkun. 2 (2): 75. ProQuest 212205595.
- ^ a b Fox, Michael (6 May 2005). "Rastafarians and Jews rock steady in 'Awake Zion'". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. ProQuest 367643580.
- ^ Spiro, Amy (14 August 2016). "The silver screen on a silver platter". Jerusalem Post. ProQuest 1814463003.
- ^ Schechter, Erik (24 April 2000). "The Flying Breslav Chasid". Jerusalem Report. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
- ^ Sofer, Yehoshua; et al. "The History of Abir". Abir Hebrew Warrior Arts. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- ^ Hakak, Yohai (2012). Young Men in Israeli Haredi Yeshiva Education: The Scholars' Enclave in Unrest. BRILL. p. 123. ISBN 978-9004234697.
- ^ Kamisher, Eliyahu (17 August 2015). "Self-defense, King David-style?". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
External links
[edit]- Hebrew Warrior Arts official website
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