Why I Study FMAs

From the Boston Globe:

City gangs turning to machetes, police say

By Christine MacDonald, Globe Correspondent | August 16, 2004

As a boy growing up in El Salvador, Somerville pastor Luis Morales said, he was never frightened when he saw peasant farmers with machetes hanging from their belts. For rural Salvadorans, the long knife is a basic and ubiquitous tool, as common as a Swiss Army knife is here.

Morales, pastor of the Vida Real Evangelical Center, has watched in dismay as Hispanic street gangs have transformed the rural implement into an intimidating urban weapon. Area police say street gangs, whose members once might have favored switchblades and homemade zip guns, now prefer the long knives with blades that can be nearly as thick as an ax and as long as a sword.

Sure, sure you could say "Hey, a knife fight is what happens when you forget your gun." But, the point is that it's nice to know some "old-school" methods haven't completely gone by the wayside.