Annotate With Sara

Martial Arts Right Off The Bat

The opening scene of Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward is a fight or flight scene, just like the opening moments of Dante’s Inferno—the novels’ namesake.

The start for both stories is a dark wood on a moonlight night.

• Let Us Descend: Annis spars with her mother, learning hand-to-hand combat.
• Inferno: Dante faces three beasts on a hill and runs for his life. 

Heirloom Teachings

Annis fights with her mom in the woods because of her grandmother, Azagueni or Mama Aza. Her “way of fighting” is a family heirloom passed down maternally along with her stories (Chapter 1, page 17). Mama Aza was a warrior wife in the Kingdom of Dahomey, married to the Fon King. That’s where she learned the art of fighting before being stolen and enslaved in North Carolina (Chapter 1, page 2 and 12). 

Mama Aza passes on her knowledge to her daughter Sasha, Annis’s mom. Sasha, in turn, instructs Annis once a month on full moon nights. Mother and daughter slip away from their quarters to a sparring ground, their private, sacred clearing marked by a lightning-struck tree. Two staffs, one made by Aza and one made by Sasha, are safekept in sandy soil under the tree. 

Martial Arts Insights

My friend Seanathan Polidore, of Sean P. Presents, is an educator, public speaker, podcast host, author, and fellow Bookstagrammer. Sean and I read at least one book a month together, and this November we are reading Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward, along with our friend Billie. On day one of the buddy read, Sean felt intrigued by the fight scenes in Let Us Descend and commented generously in our group chat. He pointed out to Billie and me that a deep knowledge of martial arts was required to write the scenes where Annis and Sasha sparred.

From Sean on Martial Arts Theory:

“In all my years in martial arts training, this is the most important part. Page 17 toward the middle.

“Knowing when to stand and when to go, when not to fight, well, that’s a part of fighting, too. Knowing when to wait and bide and watch and duck. You got to know that, too.”

The most important part of any martial art is not to be in the fight to begin with.”

From Sean on Apprenticeship:

“The staffs that they’re using. I’m thinking once again about Star Wars and the lore about where their lightsabers come from. It’s a pretty big deal where their lightsabers come from and who fashioned what lightsaber.

So, I’m saying that because at a certain point in the book there’s a changing of the guard when her mama gave her her staff. It was a big deal. It was a pinnacle moment.

Imagine it like Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi having these duals and battles. Even better: Obi Wan Kenobi and Anaken who becomes ultimately Darth Vader. That was his apprentice, and they did so much sparring and fighting, preparing—until he became who he was.

Thinking about all those kinds of things that come together that I’m sure she was drawing from directly or indirectly. These things are happening over an over again, over many stories, over time.”

Sean Talked to Jesmyn Ward in New Orleans about Martial Arts

Sean brought his Let Us Descend martial arts curiosity to Jesmyn Ward’s book tour event in New Orleans at Baldwin and Company on November 9, 2023. Lucky for us book nerds, at the end of the night, he was one of three audience members who got to hold the microphone during the Q&A and ask Jesmyn Ward a question. He delivered a memorable, funny, and heartfelt question about martial arts. Jesmyn Ward’s response was incredible.  

From the Live Author Talk

SEANATHAN POLIDORE: 

“Alright, so first thing is you know that saying ‘we’re not vulnerable as guys.’ Your Sing, Unburied, Sing is the only book I ever read that made me super emotional after the death of my grandmother. 

So, the question is, in Let Us Descend, you had a lot of martial arts and fighting references and specific detail. So, how much fighting did you study or were you just watching John Wick [audience laughter] and that’s where you get your knowledge from?”

JESMYN WARD:

“So, I love this question. I love this question. Because my dad is low-key a Kung Fu master. Yes. My dad started studying martial arts after Hurricane Camille when his whole family relocated up to Oakland. So, in the 70’s — my dad was 17 —he started studying Kung Fu in the Bay Area. He tells us all these crazy stories about fights and stuff that he got in, but I believe he’s not lying. Like, he’s for real. He’s been studying martial arts since he was 17 with different masters in different places.

When I was younger, I wasn’t any good at it, but when we were little we would—this is the most specific like country Mississippi [audience laughter]—my daddy used to have us out in my grandmama’s yard, and he would be teaching us Kung Fu in the dirt when I was seven years old. Different forms and different combinations, like sparring combinations, and then, when we got older, we would actually have to spar with him for two minutes. Longest two minutes of my life! I would be dying and just swinging—just haymakers—just swinging on him. He’s swatting them away, doing the thing like this, and laughing in my face. It was terrible, but that’s where I get a lot of the fighting knowledge from—my daddy, the low-key kung fu master.

[I wrote this transcript from the Instagram Live recording posted by @baldwinandcompany on November 10, 2023. Seanathan Polidore asks his question 70 min, 38 sec. into the recording (78:54 minutes total length). I lightly edited the transcript, removing some filler words for clarity.]

This is Why

Reading in community with other book lovers is so enriching. I hope you are lucky enough to find your book people. As Sean wisely said to me once, having good book friends is like having a good gym buddy. The friendship deepens your reading (or strength training) practice, and your friends’ life experiences enhance every book you read (or every workout you do) together.

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