Gurbar Akaal

In the armies the strategies and techniques would have been discussed and practised, those who learn the vidiya keep it close and hidden and do not show anyone their techniques, in olden times if spies came and saw how you trained they could create strategies against you. However, with the vidiya now near extinction it has been neccessary to bring it out to the open world and present what is available in a hope to get as many students learning so they can pass it down to the next generations. Only a small handfull will ever get the real complete vidiya, but awareness will be created amongst the masses that this vidiya exists.

That Illustrisimo guy is good, he has the Hath Katti down well and his anticipation and reading of Tartheeb is good also. Shame he never showed much footwork, but thats mainly due to his opponents inability to angle off. As he starts off you can see glimmers of the Mahakaal penthra in how is misaligning the strikes before they even come in. Very good. Another fantastic martial artist to check out is Dr Hatsumi of the Bujinkan.

Its all about the white ramal with flower embroidery :cool:

The Nihang book is going to be massive, a series of 10 volumes. It wont be out for a long while yet.

Thanks for clearing that up, all the best to those involved.

Manmeet Singh used to come to the akhara a number of years ago, however his focus on Santhiya reduced his attendance. He told Niddar Singh when they met in India that he wishes to teach Gatka and Santhiya in the UK to promote Dharam Parchar from a Nihang perspective. Niddar Singh has no issue with him teaching Gatka, as long as he doesnt associate his teachings with the Akhara because he is not trained in the higher levels of the art, only the basics. Currently there is no student who is capable of teaching Shastarvidiya.

Class Times and locations are also on the website.

Lessons are free, each student may give money as he can afford to as a donation. All aspects are taught, from stand up striking, grappling, ground fighting, weapons, fighting against multiples etc Best to turn up and have a look yourself, class times and locations are on the website.

A Martial art is only as good as the practitioner, just because someone does X art, does not mean they will automatically be a good fighter.

Nanak Dev Singh is also a student of Niddar Singh Niddar Singhs series of 10 books on Shastarvidiya will cover its history, traditionals, phylosophy and strategies, it will not be a manual for Shastarvidiya as it would be impossible to learn. It is hard enough to learn it in person at the akhara, let alone trying to learn the thousands of variables that occur within a fight thru a book! Baba Gyana Singhs book is very basic in terms of what is published, he even states that in there that it is a basic guide, however they provde the mantar from Sri Bhagauti Astotar, after which they state "Jo Iss Mantar Ka Jaap Karega, Uss Nu Sri Mahakaal Deh Khazaneh Vicho Aad Shakti Deh Penthreh Millegeh", which is a refference to the Chandi / Mahakaal penthras, There is also images of Baba Gyana Singh in the MahaVishnu Mudra. Traditionally the highest levels of the vidiya are not noted down or written down to be passed on, it is the Gurdevs duty to pass the skills and techniques via personal teaching, and the students duty is to practice over and over and attain the vidiya through Kartiv practice. Over the years you learn so much, to put that onto paper is a near impossible task. Those who truely wish to learn should seek out a competant teacher and put in the dedication to learn, in the same way how Raag, Santhiya and other skills cannot be learnt from books, the same way true Shastarvidiya cannot be learnt.

I doubt the book by Baba Gyana Singh has been digitised, there is one book by a H.S Akali available on the net at http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_39/597000..._formatting.pdf

Are there any reports of the other 50 gurdwaras which were attacked? Ive always heard about this but never seen evidence for it, any lists of the names of the Gurdwaras etc?

http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?showtopic=24166&hl= I put a rough guide up a while ago on the above link

If there are other Nihangs who have Jang Vidiya then that is a great thing. Best thing to do is learn as much as you can while these babas are still around to teach it.

Chris Crudelli comments on Shastarvidiya follownig the article in the Independant today. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00k5...ive_05_05_2009/ Forward to 2 hours 53 onwards.

Its in the actual newspaper, full page spread on page 13

There are very few translations of panth parkash available. One that I saw a little while ago had most of the original text included in there, instead of expunging it, the author gave his own view that "i do not believe this is correct in gurmat" in the footnotes. I cant remember the author, but the surname "dhillon" comes to mind. I will find out and let you know.

The famous words were that the Guru would make jackals fight lions, and sparrows fight hawks, representing how they would make a perceived weaker group fight and beat a perceived stronger foe (ie sikhs were small in number and size compared to the large armies of the moghuls)

The website launch has been delayed for technical reasons but that you understand it will be ready to order from next week. Courier services will deliver on a prioroty service to UK, US, Canada, Australia and Europe at very competitive prices. Below is a review from the facebook group for this book.

The only student of Baba Gyana Singh who is listed on the shastarvidiya website as a Gurdev is Baba Mohinder Singh, the Gurdev of Niddar Singh. Baba Mohinder Singh has done their charaii and from Niddar Singhs visits to India and the Dal, there are hardly any Nihangs who do know shastarvidiya in its entirety, some may now very basic vaars and vital points, but nothing which they could peice together to create a martial science. The other students of Baba Gyana Singh were Baba Ranjit Singh and Baba Raam Singh, who have also done their charaii. Luckily Niddar Singh has spent time with them also and recorded their bachans on the vidiya so that their knowledge has been preserved. If there are still remaining Nihangs in India who claim to know the vidiya then they should come out to teach it, or at least record their knowledge so that it can be passed on.

Unfortunately for those of neo-sikh persuasion, there are no "gurmukhs" who know the traditional battlefield art of the khalsa, regardless of how much they may say they do. Re-labling Gatka as Shastarvidiya does not make it the real deal. :D

The book should be available soon from http://www.kashihouse.com and will cost 30 pound directly from the publishers. Or alternatively you can buy it for cheaper then the amazon price from the alternative sellers.

I believe allot of the skills to swordsmithing has been lost, you get allot of duplicates but nothing comes close to the antiques in terms of usability. I am going to India next month and I will attempt to get a certain number of things made, but due to them being small in size they wont be affected too much by weight imbalances. Even so, I will sit along side the person making it and ensure that he knows exactly what I want, even if it takes all day!

From my experience the manufacturer of shastars from nihangsingh.com (Nihang Baldev Singh) are not very good. Although he copies traditional designs and uses pretty decent steel in terms of it being able to keep an edge, the balancing of the weight is absolutely wrong. If your looking for a tulwar for a showpeice, then get one from him, else I would encourage you to look for a antique tulwar. Old swordsmiths understood the way weapons were used and how strikes are delivered. Each swordsman would have their tulwar custom made depending on their fighting style, that is why you find such a wide variety of Indo Perisian weapons, all differing slightly in how they are, size of handles, different types of sools, different guards, curvature of the blade etc. The Patiala factory of Budha Dal have okish shastar too, although again I would rather put my hard earned cash towards a very good antique peice. You can find antiques in India, but Rajastan and Hazoor Sahib are probably the best places, you will be hard pushed to find really good peices in Punjab. Watch out for people who make new shastar and try to sell em off as antiques, this is more tricky as you need to have a good understanding of what to look out for. Many times you will find a blade put onto a different handle, ruining its weight balance, always check the laak (black resign inside the handle which holds the blade in), if it looks dirty and brown in colour, then it is most likely original to the handle, however if the laak is redish then its more likely to be a replacement or a re-fix of the blade due to wobbling. My personal view is, id rather have a small amount of really nice shastar, then a room full of tat, save your cash up and just wait till some nice peices come available. There are some good antique sword websites around and they normally do good deals if you enquire about them. If you do intend to buy a new peice from nihangsingh.com or patiala, always haggle it, if in the end you feel you are payin too much, then just walk away.

The source of knowledge, The source of each and every thought, the source of each and every cell on this planet is already within you. Realise the inner being and then you shall automatically recieve brahm gian from the supreme soul inside you. Where did guru's get all knowledge from? Actually, i am sorry for calling that knowledge. That was guru ji wisdom. for us, its only knowledge, until we actually put what sggs ji tells us into practice. what good is knowledge if used not for any good? Knowledge is a curse if you become egostic about it and show off and think you're better than others. Gurbani says, the one who does not do what he preaches shall be reincarnated over and over again. Sikh of the guru says to the guru, o my guru, you're my beloved protector, you've given me so much, you've blessed me with this precious human life in this kaljug. please bless me so i can save myself and save my other fellow brother and sisters as well. to the humble soul, when god is satisfied with his bhagat, bestows permanent mercy upon him and unites with him. that is the our goal of this life. No one has stated that knowledge should be used to assert oneself over another, nor has anyone stated that whatever knowledge you attain should be contradictory to the teachings of the Guru.