13 Ancient Indian Martial Arts
When we hear the word Martial arts, all that many of us imagine is the great Shaolin Temple of China.
This is exactly the effect of the Kung Fu movies!
But, there is a whole culture that is being sidelined without enough attention.
Yes, The subcontinent of India has hosted many civilizations dating back to time immemorial and in fact, is home to real ancient wisdom.
FACT: The rulers of Colonies destroyed the martial arts of the respective regions by massacring the local martial artists as they were fierce.
This has happened all over the world and is the sole reason for the great loss of martial art wisdom!
Below is the list of Indian Martial arts that have been existing in low light for centuries now and it is time they gain the respect they deserve.
- Yuddha kala
This is a Sanskrit term that refers to the art of warfare.
Yuddha kala, comes from the words yuddha meaning fight or combat and kala meaning art or skill.
This art is presumed to have been existed since Mahabharatha times.
- Dhanurveda
Dhanurveda derives from the words for the bow (dhanushya) and knowledge (Veda), the “science of archery” in Puranic literature, later applied to martial arts in general.
Anyone who has read Indian stories definitely knows the importance of Archery in Indian culture.
Archers were held with great respect in the society and this skill was a must for a warrior of those times.
Some of the great archers in Indian history are Bhishma, Arjuna, Karna, Rama, Lakshmana, and Bhargava Parashurama.
- Malla-Yudha
This is the traditional form of combat wrestling that originated in the Tamizh region in South India.
This art is the ancestor of Kushti or The Indian mud wrestling.
Malla-yuddha incorporates grappling, punching, biting, choking, and pressure point striking.
Matches were traditionally codified into four types which progressed from purely sportive contests of strength to actual full-contact fights known as yuddha.
- Mushti Yudha
This literally means fist combat.
The fighters get into the ring with their bare fists and fight until one of them is knocked out, they are thrown out of the ring, or submitted.
This martial art form is the ancestor for many arts like Muay Thai, Lethwei, and also boxing.
- Kushti/ Indian mud wrestling
This art is derived from Malla Yuddha.
Kushti became very famous during the times of Mughals who had brought down wrestlers from Iran as well to conduct competitions.
This art requires great amounts of stamina, physical fitness, ability to lift, and also very quick muscle refluxes.
As someone who learnt this art from an orthodox Akhara, I’m proud to say I’m a mud wrestler.
- Silambam
This weapon-based martial art has been mentioned in literature since the time of Tamizh gods.
Fact: The first documentation of this great art is the Kamba Suthiram by Sage Agastya.
Many among the present generation conclude that Silambam is limited only to performances using the staff.
There are nearly more than 30 weapons used in this martial art and it is very hard to find people who trained in the vintage orthodox method.
For Silambam classes in Chennai, please feel free to reach out to me on Instagram — The Vintage Indian
- Kalari
This ancient Martial art is said to have been founded by Bhargava Parashurama, the sixth Vishnu.
This art belongs to the Konkan coast region and there are two major schools of Kalari — Vadakkan, and Thekkan (North and South).
Southern Kalari lessons have many similarities with North Tamilnadu Silambam styles.
- Varmam
This is another great ancient Martial art which is now scarce to notice.
The art of Varmam involves self-defense, medicine, pressure point attacks, and special weapons exclusive to Varmam alone.
This art was again founded by Sage Agastya and it was made popular by the Pandya Dynasty.
Varmam is the base for the famous Acupuncture treatment.
- Gatka
Gatka is the name of an Indian martial art associated with the Sikhs of Punjab.
The Nihang warriors are living this legendary lifestyle to date and it is a style of stick-fighting, with wooden sticks intended to simulate swords.
The tenth Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji was known as the greatest master of weaponry of his time.
The Sikhs successfully used this weaponry art in the 16th — 17th centuries for their protection against Mogul aggressions.
The modern-day Gatka was developed in the 19th century.
- Adimurai
Adimurai is a Tamil martial art which is regarded as one of the oldest and most important martial arts to have been practiced in ancient south Indian Subcontinent.
It is also considered as the origin of certain martial arts techniques.
It is a subset of Varmam and it is believed that Adimurai originated from Southern Parts of Tamil Nadu.
- Mukna
Mukna is a form of wrestling from the north-east Indian state of Manipur.
The game is generally played on the last day of the Lai Haraoba festival.
Matches begin with the competitors holding each other’s belts called ningri. The object is to pin the opponent with their back touching the ground.
The winner is called a yatra.
Mukna contains many techniques which require absolute physical fitness and skill to be mastered.
Holding the opponent’s neck, hair, ear or legs with the hands is not permitted.
- Banshay
Banshay is a weapon-based martial art from Myanmar focusing primarily on the sword, staff, and spear.
You might think Myanmar is not India. Right?
Absolutely. But this region in the ancient times belonged to many Indian Kings.
Influenced by Indian sources, Banshay is closely related to similar Southeast Asian Martial arts like Silat.
- Lathi Khel
This martial art which is the same as Silambam is limited to the freestyle staff fight alone.
The Bamboo staff is called Lathi and it involves a series of attack and defense moves.
This art is practiced by many in northern India and is well kept in trend by the Indian forces.
Conclusion:
It gets interesting as you start reading about your culture and find a lot of details are still available but, are not brought out.
The main aim of all the martial arts in the Indian Subcontinent is to protect their people and maintain a healthy lifestyle by defending themselves from danger.
Many martial art legends have been forgotten and I wish to write a post on them as well.
Surprisingly, while researching I found that Ayurveda is a part of Kalari, Kushti, Varmam, and Silambam.
All this knowledge might go away if we don’t preserve these arts.
Let's start respecting our culture and bring more martial artists into the limelight!
