The Six Prominent And Ancient Martial Art Forms Of India

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Marital arts have existed as an indispensable part of Indian civilisation and culture. India's Martial traditions originated in South India. India has its own wrestling art called Khusti. Indian Martial arts have influenced Asian martial arts in significant ways. Martial arts is also being practiced nowadays by the fitness conscious youth of today and it is categorized into two styles, the North and the South styles.

1. Mardani Khel, Maharashtra

Mardani khel, an art that developed in the land of Maharashtra, especially in Kolhapur, involves the use of 14 styles of wielding weapons. The Vastads or the masters, had the talim or training centres to prepare the younger generation. the young fighters for the war. Again, as the British banned this art, it slowly turned into a folk game just to continue the legacy. Now this technique is used in movies and hence slowly reviving.

2. Silambam, Tamil Nadu

Silambam, the oldest martial art originating in Tamil Nadu, has been mentioned in the Sangam literature. It is the Stick fighting in its oldest robust form which was actually used against the British in the 18th century. It later assumed a full-fledged form which used to be displayed during the Pongal festival. This sport makes use of bamboo sticks and needs flexibility, hand eye coordination and solid footwork to master this.

3. Kuttu Virasai, Tamil Nadu

Kuttu Virasai is another unarmed combat form that has its roots in Tamil Nadu. This is taught to equip the student for learning of Silambam. It is taught as a bare handed unarmed combat and later the sticks are used instead of bare hands. This unarmed combat method closely follows the movements of animals that include Grappling, throws, locks, striking, punches and the Kaaladi footwork. Footwork by itself takes quite some time to master.

4. Thoda, Himachal Pradesh

Thoda is all about archery which is the native tradition of the Rajputs of Sirmour, Shimla and Solan. There are two groups called paasha' and 'saatha' which are believed to be Pandavas and kauravas, enact their game of warfare during Baisakhi. This art seems to have begun during the Mahabharata times.. This game was also included as a part of the cultural festival of Rihali fair. There are several art forms in India which haven't received their due and are on the brink of extinction while some have been receiving a lot of appreciation and are getting revived.

5. Gatka, Punjab

Gatka is a combative art which uses wooden sticks called Khukta for fighting. It is a blend of acrobatics and sword wielding that was prevalent in 16th and 17th century during the times when sikhs were fighting Mughals. This martial art was banned during the British times due to its violent nature. Gatka is of two kinds, of rasmi (traditional) and khel (sport). Gatka warriors called Nihangs have handed this art from generation to generations. Guru Har Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru was the greatest Gatka warrior for all times.

6. Thang Ta, Manipur

Meiti race from Manipur used the Thang Ta technique to shield themselves from the foreign invasion. It slowly got reduced to an art form. The main features of this fighting technique is the inter clan and inter-tribal warfare which is practiced even today to keep in touch with the techniques. This martial art form is employed by theatre and dancers, In the film namely. Thang-Ta Martial Art of Manipur, one can see the finer elements of this art beautifully portrayed.