A few days back someone narrated to me about an incident in New Zealand where an Indian was stolen off his belongings at knife point. He even declared Indians were easy prey for thefts as they are always very timid and chicken- hearted. On the contrary Australians or even the Chinese are very brave and always dared to challenge a thief who tried assaulting him.
This made me think for a really long while.Infact I am still thinking ………….We always proudly announce the bravery of our ancestors who valiantly fought battles against the princes or empires which tried to enslave them. The conceited attitude of our silver screen Indian hero who singlehandedly managed to uproot the Pakistani forces in movie Gadar showed how much rebellious we can be. Yet in reality we common Indians are actually cowards not ready to brave the challenge of an opponent.Perhaps this has something to do with the mental set up where one feels he or she is weaker than the other person whom he is confronting.
However our epics provide historical evidence to our warfare skills and also mention about the most devastating weapons used during those days.Certain weapons such as the Brahmastra were as strong as the Nuclear Weapons which have only been invented by Americans in the last decade.While a group of scholars may disgree to what I just said there is enough evidence to show that the epic Mahabharat and Ramayan were only a part of our history and not just a story out of someone’s pregnant mind.
More importantly India was traditionally rich in "martial arts" which includes dhanurveda , literally the "science of archery", śastravidyā , literally "knowledge of the sword".The Vishnu Purana text describes dhanurveda as one of the traditional eighteen branches of "applied knowledge" or upaveda..The historical form of wrestling is called mallayuddha in the north and malyutham in the south.
In contemporary India, major martial arts styles practiced are Kalaripayattu in Kerala, Southern India (an umbrella term for diverse armed and unarmed styles), and Pehlwani wrestling in Northern India. Notable regional styles include thang-ta from Manipur and gatka from the Punjab region.
I have myself undergone some training in certain forms of self defence and feel every Indian should undergo a basic training in some form of martial art to bolster his self-confidence. The education of today only trains ones mind for the virtual world but not for the actual world where any form of threat may be encountered by an individual.Moreover gyms promote body building but cannot build the mind.
Verma Kalai and Kalaripyuttu have specifically impressed upon me. Varma ati or Marma ati is a form of martial art which involves martial art based on attacking sensitive pressure points of the human body. On the other hand Kalarippayattu is one of the oldest fighting systems in existence, it is still practiced in Kerala and contiguous parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as well as northeastern Sri Lanka and among the Malayalee community of Malaysia. This martial art was practiced primarily by the martial castes like Nairs of Kerala.
Kalaripayuttu includes strikes, kicks, grappling, preset forms, weaponry and healing methods. Believed to have been introduced by Lord Parasurama who is said to have retrieved Kerala from the sea, this martial art was taken across to China by a South Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhi Dharma who incidentally, invented Zen Buddhism.Hence Kung Fu and other forms of Chinese martial arts have their origin in Kalaripayuttu.
Inspite of being the master of all martial arts at one time, today India can hardly boast of any Martial Art School promoting Kalaripayattu or Verma Kalai.Apparently, we may occassionally spot a Karate or Kung Fu training school in city locations however.
It is important to inculcate in all citizens of HINDUSTHAN the need to learn self defense techniques.The Government should ideally take a few steps to promote the Indian Martial Arts.Why do we need to adopt Chinese Martial Arts when we have better and more fierce self defense arts at our own backyard. More importantly the Government should take steps to include martial arts a compulsory subject in every education institute a child goes to.Every citizen should have the RIGHT TO BE BRAVE ....RIGHT TO SELF DEFEND just like the RIGHT TO SPEECH……………….
- DeepS
This made me think for a really long while.Infact I am still thinking ………….We always proudly announce the bravery of our ancestors who valiantly fought battles against the princes or empires which tried to enslave them. The conceited attitude of our silver screen Indian hero who singlehandedly managed to uproot the Pakistani forces in movie Gadar showed how much rebellious we can be. Yet in reality we common Indians are actually cowards not ready to brave the challenge of an opponent.Perhaps this has something to do with the mental set up where one feels he or she is weaker than the other person whom he is confronting.
However our epics provide historical evidence to our warfare skills and also mention about the most devastating weapons used during those days.Certain weapons such as the Brahmastra were as strong as the Nuclear Weapons which have only been invented by Americans in the last decade.While a group of scholars may disgree to what I just said there is enough evidence to show that the epic Mahabharat and Ramayan were only a part of our history and not just a story out of someone’s pregnant mind.
More importantly India was traditionally rich in "martial arts" which includes dhanurveda , literally the "science of archery", śastravidyā , literally "knowledge of the sword".The Vishnu Purana text describes dhanurveda as one of the traditional eighteen branches of "applied knowledge" or upaveda..The historical form of wrestling is called mallayuddha in the north and malyutham in the south.
In contemporary India, major martial arts styles practiced are Kalaripayattu in Kerala, Southern India (an umbrella term for diverse armed and unarmed styles), and Pehlwani wrestling in Northern India. Notable regional styles include thang-ta from Manipur and gatka from the Punjab region.
I have myself undergone some training in certain forms of self defence and feel every Indian should undergo a basic training in some form of martial art to bolster his self-confidence. The education of today only trains ones mind for the virtual world but not for the actual world where any form of threat may be encountered by an individual.Moreover gyms promote body building but cannot build the mind.
Verma Kalai and Kalaripyuttu have specifically impressed upon me. Varma ati or Marma ati is a form of martial art which involves martial art based on attacking sensitive pressure points of the human body. On the other hand Kalarippayattu is one of the oldest fighting systems in existence, it is still practiced in Kerala and contiguous parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as well as northeastern Sri Lanka and among the Malayalee community of Malaysia. This martial art was practiced primarily by the martial castes like Nairs of Kerala.
Kalaripayuttu includes strikes, kicks, grappling, preset forms, weaponry and healing methods. Believed to have been introduced by Lord Parasurama who is said to have retrieved Kerala from the sea, this martial art was taken across to China by a South Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhi Dharma who incidentally, invented Zen Buddhism.Hence Kung Fu and other forms of Chinese martial arts have their origin in Kalaripayuttu.
Inspite of being the master of all martial arts at one time, today India can hardly boast of any Martial Art School promoting Kalaripayattu or Verma Kalai.Apparently, we may occassionally spot a Karate or Kung Fu training school in city locations however.
It is important to inculcate in all citizens of HINDUSTHAN the need to learn self defense techniques.The Government should ideally take a few steps to promote the Indian Martial Arts.Why do we need to adopt Chinese Martial Arts when we have better and more fierce self defense arts at our own backyard. More importantly the Government should take steps to include martial arts a compulsory subject in every education institute a child goes to.Every citizen should have the RIGHT TO BE BRAVE ....RIGHT TO SELF DEFEND just like the RIGHT TO SPEECH……………….
- DeepS
good post buddy...:):):)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I was just talking to someone who mentioned their cousin in New Zealand was robbed- I hope this is not a prevalent practice there as my daughter will be going there for one year.
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