Jailhouse Rock

Jailhouse rock or 52 Hand Blocks is a name used to describe a collection of fighting styles that were practiced or developed within black urban communities in the 1960s and 1970s. It has a mythological origin story of having been originated with the US penal institutions back in the 1960s and 1970s, but despite the origin story the teaching of fighting systems by inmates are not allowed.
Today Jailhouse Rock is more commonly known and referred to as “52 Hand Blocks” or “52”.
There is many different manifestations of 52 Hand Blocks but they all share a commonality in blending western boxing with other stylised martial arts techniques. The origins of 52 Hand Blocks, although highly debated, coincide with golden era of martial arts in America when Chinese cinema was booming.
The name 52 Hand Blocks, although contested, is most likely derived from the reference of the fifty-two blocking techniques encompassed in the art. These techniques consist of traditional western boxing blocks, covers and parry’s but also include offensive elbows, elbow blocks, knees, head butts and other martial arts techniques.
Jailhouse Rock or 52 Hand Blocks is comparable to French Savate. Originally it was a semi-codified fighting method associated with an urban criminal subculture, and later it gradually underwent a process of codification before becoming an established martial art accessible to the cultural mainstream.
52 Hand Blocks has been referenced numerous times by contemporary media including by journalist Douglas Century’s Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside the Franklin Avenue Posse, as well as numerous Wu-Tang Clan songs and Ted Conover’s book Newjack. Recently, celebrities including actor Larenz Tate and rapper Ludacris have taken up the fighting system for film roles and self-defense, shining a brighter light on this previously underground martial art.