I know this isn't a martial arts forum, but I'm also aware that there are many martial artists and martial arts fans who frequent the forum
I've been interested in different kinds of martial arts lately, and came across this one.
Jailhouse rock (fighting style) - Wikipedia
"therefore, your 52 handblocks was useless"
Anyone experienced this system first hand?
As a teenager and young adult I came into contact with a few young men who had been taught it, but learned very little of it myself. They were mostly showing off as they knew I was into a bit of street MA and interested in anything I came across. Most of my knowledge came from talking to people who had been beaten or at least tagged solidly by folks using it. The descriptions of how it is/was used from these different sources had common themes.
The biggest problem is the dearth of materials, lack of standardized technique, and very little exposure outside the Black community. I became drawn to this after realizing its similarity (in some respects) to Panantukan, the boxing application of Kali. Many of the blocks used in 52 are very similar to other SE Asian technique as well. Application is also similar in that you attack through your block/guard, trapping hands as you crash whenever possible, assuming you close at all.
As my Kali became more open hands, more defensive, and more geared toward multiple assailants, I realized it was morphing to something between 52 and the Filipino technique I had been taught. In large part, 52 is a highly defensive add-on to basic boxing. There are some rather silly-looking/extraneous hand movements associated with it, but these can either be looked at as movements to increase your hand speed, confuse an opponent, or just plain unnecessary. Some of them only look silly out of context - stuff like the crossed hands "Bum's Rush" actually work well and make sense when used on an opponent. Some of the body/head tapping is good for keeping your guard and hands moving.
It is a street, bare knuckle tradition, though some pro boxers have used bits of it in the ring. The crossed arm defense used by Norton, Foreman etc looks a great deal like some 52 or it could be convergent evolution.
Many defensive boxing technique don't work well bare knuckle because a sweaty fist is smaller and slips through and around unlike a fist with tape and a glove. You can't afford to eat a bunch of glancing bare knuckle jabs like you might if gloves are worn. The 52 blocks are designed to protect the most with the least amount of precision needed, an important consideration if two or three people are hitting you in the head at the same time.
The naming convention for the most common blocks seems to be based on the oral tradition and make it easier to remember:
Rob the Bank
Skull and Crossbones
Catch the Bullet
Raise the Gate
Close the Door
Major criticism is that it can expend a lot of useless energy if the hand movements are used continuously, and it needs a separate system for kick/leg defense/groundfighting. Some of this probably depends on the geographical area it percolated, as I've seen demonstrated with heel and knee picks, but never with any ground technique. Makes sense as a street SD you never want to be on the ground any longer than it takes to get back up, unless you're holding someone for a buddy to finish off.
All block/cover-heavy strategies can also be self defeating as it is somewhat easy to push the block to turn the individual - the blocks are structured to use the elbow, which makes them very strong compared to an extended arm block, but this creates a good lever to move the entire upper body
if unaccompanied by lots of counter punching and/or dynamic footwork and weaving.
I'm using it as an intro for my kids to eventually learn some Kali, as it is conceptually very easy to teach and they learn to protect themselves straight off.