Today we’d like to introduce you to Da’Mon Stith.
Hi Da’Mon, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story has many beginnings. Many births and rebirths.
In some ways, it started in two different places at two different times: with two different gifts: one from my father and the other from my mother.
At the age of six, my dad bought me a sword.
It was a toy but was magical to me.
With it, I could be like the heroes in the stories that danced around my heart.
But in those stories that surrounded and grounded me, there was no one that looked like me.
So I could never truly be like them.
This fed my self-hate, that insidious monster that lurks inside your head.
The idea that you were nothing and came from nothing and would amount to nothing.
I trained my body in the arts making it my way of life but I always felt like an outsider.
My second birth was when I was thirteen, my mother would take me to the library and later on to the bookstores where I was exposed to different ideas about the world. I developed an insatiable thirst for knowledge learning more about mythology history, philosophy, and especially the martial arts and the warrior cultures that created them.
I was looking for myself.
Looking for my story.
Looking for the story of my Ancestors and Elders.
Before slavery.
Before colonialism and institutionalized racism that taught me that it was shameful to be of African descent.
That Africa had contributed nothing to the world.
That Our story started with the slave trade and that it was through the shackles that we were freed from the bondage of savagery.
It was at that time I started to see the pieces of the puzzle.
The fight had only just begun.
At that moment, I started to combine my love for African history with my love for the martial arts searching for the forgotten warrior traditions of the Ancestors.
Over thirty years later, the struggle still continues.
Five years ago, I founded an organization dedicated to research, reclamation, and reconstruction of indigenous martial arts from Africa and in the Diaspora called HAMAA, Historical African Martial Arts Association.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The obstacle is the way! I have faced many obstacles and distractions along the path. The first one is just getting up every day and feeling like your dream is valid and valuable. In our culture, we tend to value production over the process. If you aren’t producing then you aren’t of value. The first and last battle is getting up every day and reminding yourself that your dreams are necessary, needed, and attainable. Everyone has a story to tell, a purpose to share, and a light to provide in this world.
Once you can actively walk in that truth all other obstacles become an exercise in that belief.
I struggle with that first fight every day.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a martial artist and swordmaker. I am most known for being a weapons expert and the founder of HAMAA (Historical African Martial Arts Association) specializing in swordsmanship from Northwest Africa and the Horn. In addition to that, my partner and I created Street Forge Armoury, the first-ever Black-owned armoury in the United States specializing in African weaponry.
I am most proud of the amount of growth and ground that I have covered as an individual, an entrepreneur, and as an organization. None of this would be possible without my community which has supported me and my dreams over the many years.
What sets me apart from others is the passion and the path.
This is a way of life for me.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Dune… by Frank Herbert My favorite book in the world. I read it about eight times and each time I read it the more I learn.
Master of the Forge by Harold Courlander
I discovered this book by chance at the old Half-Priced Books on Guadalupe. It came at a time when I was struggling with a lot of self-doubts and the Universe provided me with exactly what I needed. The book recalls the story of a blacksmith who desired to be respected and treated like the heroes and warriors of his village but couldn’t because of the rigid caste system of his people. After challenging and defeating one of the heroes to a duel the protagonist leaves his village and travels around the countryside in an attempt to understand heroic virtues.
Go Rin Sho (Book of the Five Rings) Miyamoto Musashi
I found this book by accident while looking for Lord of the Rings! This book was written by the most famous swordsman of Japan, Miyamoto Musashi. I found a lot of inspiration in Musashi in that a lot of his development as a swordsman was spent through self-practice, self-reflection, and testing oneself against others. As a martial artist and artist in general. I didn’t always have access to instruction so I spent a lot of time training myself. If someone like Musashi or even Bruce Lee could grow and prosper under similiar conditions, I felt like I had a chance as well.
Contact Info:
- Email: austinwarriorarts@gmail.com
- Website: silentsword.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/damonstith/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/damon.stith.7
- Youtube: UCLhj-QKSoweEWXFGJqSU4PQ
