caveman

http://www.thesundayindian.com/07062009/st...99&pageno=1 ''Picking up the fight to save Shastar Vidya Whether you like it mild (Gatka) or strong (Shastar Vidya), Sikh martial arts will floor you, and how! The indomitable spirits of the lion-hearted Sikhs are known to have instilled fear into the hearts of many a soul. Their power even helped the nation retain its cultural and religious identity. The secret to their martial prowess was Shastar Vidya. When the Britishers finally managed to constrain the Sikh army in 1849, they immediately did all they could to dilute the tenacity of Shastar Vidya. Yet, in the following years, the art that re-emerged was a watered down version that came to be called Gatka, but there were people who quietly continued to practice Shastar Vidya in its original form… Hardeep Singh Khalsa belongs to the oldest Gatka group in Amritsar. He says, “Many Sikh communities have changed the style of practicing Gatka. It used to be Shastar Vidya – hand-to-hand combat, basically fight to kill – but it’s now changed. Shastar means weapons and vidya – knowledge; Gatka was what it was called by the British. They saw that the Sikhs were fearless warriors who used guerrilla tactics. They changed a lot of things in our Indian culture and they made changes in Shastar Vidya too because in the army they didn’t want their officials to face such great fighters going at them. They made it look like a game so people start enjoying it. But it is still practiced in the old tradition in the older groups till now.” So the style that one learns depends on where he/she learns Gatka from. The milder version that was allowed to flourish under the British Raj has more practitioners and is thus more popular too. Shastar Vidya practitioners in UK, taught by Nihang Niddar Singh, believe that it is a myth that Gatka and Shastar Vidya are similar. “Gatka and Shastar Vidya are worlds apart,” asserts Nihang Teja Singh who has been learning Shastar Vidya for the past 5-6 years. Practicing Shastar Vidya helps a person stay fit, as well as fearless and tranquil from within. Back in time, women too were proficient at Shastar Vidya and several bibis are believed to have fought shoulder to shoulder with men in the battlefields. Says Teja Singh, “My main aim was to just keep up the heritage because I realise that the art is dying out… This art has been there for many thousand years and it’s our responsibility to keep it going, to keep it alive.” Wondering how difficult would this art be to master? “The basics are very easy to pick up but as you advance up the levels of Paenthra (footwork), it becomes more difficult. Once you’ve learnt the basics of different styles, it’s a matter of refining it, and that takes many many years,” says Niddar Singh. “We mainly use tiger step, Lord Shiva step, Hanuman step, bull step, crane, monkey, etc. Just as in Kung-fu, there are different kinds of steps,” explains Hardeep Singh Khalsa. The similarities in Shastar Vidya and other martial arts lead many to wonder if they have common origins. “In Punjab it is believed to be the grand daddy of all marital arts. The Chinese and the Japanese believe that in the 5th or 6th century, Bodhidharma took the Indian martial arts over to China and Japan. In most of Punjab, especially among the Nihangs, the traditional belief is that it is from Taxila where, after it was plundered around 6 AD by the Huns, the Buddhists took over the art. Instead of crediting Bodhidharma the individual, there is a word ‘Bodhidharm’ in Punjab that translates into ‘Buddhist faith’.” While many proponents of the art also attribute its origins to Sikh gurus, Niddar Singh has a theory which he has developed after extensive research, “The art can be traced back to Shiva. From Shiva it came to the Pashupatis (master of animals, the cavemen) then to Kapalikas, then to Taxila where Kshatriyas trained in it, and from them to Yogis and Sikhs. Sikhs are just the latest custodians of this art.” Niddar Singh recently demonstrated Shastar Vidya to masters of martial arts from China and Japan. “We showed the highest techniques, the Mahakal and Shiva Paenthra. The Chinese and Japanese from Jujitsu schools and Katori Shinto identified in the techniques, secret techniques that they themselves don’t teach anybody unless they’ve been with them for 40 odd years!” “If the Chinese, Japanese and Europeans can appreciate the quality of our classical arts, there should be no reason why Indians can’t,” says Niddar Singh. The Sikhs speak of the exploits of their ancestors with a lot of pride. Shastar Vidya was at the heart of their power. It is up to our generation now to ensure that this ancient art form does not join the lost and the forgotten… Anu Gulmohar '' gatka is real yudh vidiya, and shastar vidiya is a khel

exactly singha!, its soo annoying to see ''drinking bhang'' use the correct term!

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i dont want to open a can of worms as they say but look, what niddar teachs is the pure vidiya not watered down simple as, take what you want. I had a history teacher i hated him soooooooo much he could be a communist for all i know, i hate communism but doesnt mean i wont learn from him id take what i want from him and then apply it to myself. but since you dont want to buy any books on shastar vidiya in the future thats teek.

there shall be books on shastar vidiya very soon most likely 2010 or 2011..the real shastar vidiya not a book on gatka!.

YOU SHOULD SEE MY FACE ITS JOKES ASWELL! na im a good looking bunda oh my ego indeed, there have been reports that cavemans pugh is very nice today and his point is soo sharp it can pop a balloon!!

sup nigg**S

well said. what does mone panj pyiare have to do with anything? some people are so hysterical its surprising no ones kicked them out of the panth as well. I had to say it HSD

now let me give my controversial reply... many people on this forum are hypocrites! now ive said that let me give you an example, them two guys who killed that nang phoola, they are moneh and they did it but soo many people on this forum said give them a saropa etc they are brothers in arms etc soo what about that they cut their kesh they must drink eat chatka what ever but they are being hailed as great warriors for doing that, so like i said hypocrites. hate me or love me caveman, of the zulu tribe :cool:

I HATE! when people say that, if you eat it you eat it no point not eating it on certain days, just stupid

''professional'' Leave him alone Caveman...he may have a lisp lol

i ate saag and paneer the other day was sooo nice

''professional''

LOL ''so please dont go off on a fit about it''

dude your saying vote BNP? maybe you have a taagga(thread) loose from your top, get it sewn up or seen to before you become pagal, but serious BNP you must be next! also one thing i must add, lets say for example BNP got voted in and that nick guy is PM yeah, when the gore come to bash your brains in because your not white just tell them you voted BNP and see if stop and leave you alone and i must add, this is England the movie...when the kala gets beaten up by the gora same thing would happen to when if they were ever elected which they wont as there arent enough idiots to vote for them!

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

were is the ''bhul chak marf''? anyway i would like to see what you would have done in the guys position, it is very easy to say a sikh screaming dont kill me dont kill me but mr bond singh have you ever been stabbed in the abdomen? if so please tell me what you did..if you haven't experienced a knife attack then dont comment like that ''oh come on for gods sake'', it is very easy to see stuff in hindsight but actually dealing with it is a different matter! Who are you to ask where the Bhul Chuk Maaf is? Don't mock me, I will not allow a Niddar Nang chela to mock me. My names not Bond Singh but Sunny Singh. I have not been stabbed in the abdomen, have you been? Have you got into fights from age 4 to 13 allmost daily due to your saroop? Have you ever been the only Sikh (even no monas) at school with all goreh or Muslims? Are you the only Sikh in your whole neighbourhood? I did not win each time, I DID lose, but I never cried or screamed 'dont beat me or don't bully me' at them. BHUL CHUK MAAF, WJKK WJKF nihang niddar singh chela? vah vah nice words mr bond singh. i have had a 12 inch knife to my throat by a random stranger and yes he would have likely cut my neck as he was that messed up! indeed i have my friend indeed i have since around 5 actually till 13 nai i am not the only ''sikh'' in my area and teeeka glad you never said ''dont beat me'' but like i said everyone has different ways to deal with a beating some may cry some may laugh after or some may scream during.

thats your opinion my friend, believe it or not many sikhs class themselves as Indians so don't speak for yourself saying Sikhs aren't Indians.

were is the ''bhul chak marf''? anyway i would like to see what you would have done in the guys position, it is very easy to say a sikh screaming dont kill me dont kill me but mr bond singh have you ever been stabbed in the abdomen? if so please tell me what you did..if you haven't experienced a knife attack then dont comment like that ''oh come on for gods sake'', it is very easy to see stuff in hindsight but actually dealing with it is a different matter!

''sponsor, concentrate'' correct spelling