Every country has its own Martial Arts. They have also
good history in developing these arts. India also has many martial arts which
are backed by good histories. One of the famous martial art in North-West India
is Gatka.
Gatka (Punjabi: ਗਤਕਾ gatkā) is a weapon-based martial art
associated with the Punjab region. It has also traditionally been practiced by
other ethno cultural groups in India and Pakistan. The word gatka properly
refers to the wooden sticks which were used for sparring. It might have
originated from the Sanskrit word for sword (khadga), or it may derive from the
Persian khat. While it is primarily an armed fighting style, gatka also
incorporates pehlwani as part of its empty-handed training component.
Gatka
originated in what is now northwest India and neighboring Pakistan, its
techniques ultimately rooted in the fighting methods of the medieval Panjab is,
Rajputs, Gurjaras and the Kshatriya caste in general. These techniques are
termed shastar vidiya, originally used in reference to sword-fighting but also
a generic word for armed combat. The Sikhs in particular became renowned
throughout India for their heavily martial culture. Guru Nanak, the founder of the
Sikh religion, was born into a Kshatriya family, as were many of his first
disciples. His successor, Guru Angad Dev, taught followers to train the body
physically, mentally and spiritually, encouraging the practice of martial arts.
The sixth Sikh patriarch, Guru Hargobind, propagated the theory of the
warrior-saint and emphasized the need to practice fighting for self-defense
against the Mughal rulers who, during the reign of Aurangazeb, attempted to
forcibly convert Hindus and Sikhs to Islam.
The tenth
patriarch, Guru Gobind Singh was a master of shastar vidiya who galvanized the
martial energies of the Sikh community by founding the Khalsa brotherhood in
1699. The Khalsa's aims were to fight oppression, assist the poor, worship the
one God, abandon superstition, and defend the faith. This is symbolized by the kirpan
or dagger, one of the five Ks which every baptized Sikh is required to carry.
In regards to training the brotherhood, Guru Gobind Singh pledged that he would
"teach the sparrow to fight the hawk". The Akali Nihang, a stricter
order of Sikh warriors, exemplified his principles of combining spirituality
with combat training.
Following the
Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848 to 1849 and the establishment of the British Raj,
the Sikh martial traditions and practitioners suffered greatly. Ever wary of
the Sikhs, the British ordered effective disarmament of the entire Sikh
community. The Akali Nihang, considered the keepers of all Sikh traditions,
were regarded as disloyal to the colonists. More than 1,500 nihang were killed
by the British for plotting rebellion. According to folklore, some fled and
spent the rest of their lives in the northern mountains.
During the
Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Sikhs assisted the British in crushing the
mutiny. As a consequence of this assistance, restrictions on fighting practices
were relaxed, but the martial arts which re-emerged after 1857 had changed
significantly. The new style applied the sword-fighting techniques to the
wooden training-stick. It was referred to as gatka, after its primary weapon. Gatka
was used mainly by the khalsa Army in the 1860s as practice for hand-to-hand combat.
As Sikh colleges opened during the 1880s, European rules of fencing were
applied to create what is now called khelor sport gatka. The other techniques
and weapons of traditional shaster vidiyawere taught to experienced students as
rasmi or ritual.
The European
colonists also brought Sikhs from India to other British colonies to work as
soldiers and security guards. Gatka is still practiced by the Sikh communities
of former British colonies and neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Hong
Kong and Thailand.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatka
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