Gurbar Akaal

Found it on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/15124876@N06/2119394427/

Coke does cost more than Petrol, but you dont drink 35+ litres of coke a week.

http://www.sewapanthi.org/htmls/mahapursh_...irathsingh.html Some information on Mahant Tirath Singh.

Very few martial arts provide the student with a complete fighting style, therefore you have people as above having to mix and match arts to get rounded skills. The problem with this is that there isnt a constant unbroken flow between fighting styles, you can see where one ends and the other begins. Muay Thai is ok, but obviously lacking in complete fighting skill, the battlefield version of it is called Krabbi Krabong, which includes knife and stick fighting, grappling, ground fighting, etc. In the same way that Gatka is a limited art, and Shastarvidiya is the complete art.

http://www.punjabheritage.org/manuscripts/...tani-jatha.html

Have a look at this, theres a few schools on there. http://www.martialartsclubs.com/bycounty/westmidlands.php Tai Chi is very good if you can find the right school that has an understanding of the combat side. Cheng Man Ching school should be good but I would go there and ask questions about their ciriculum and maybe ask for a demonstration of how good their combat side is.

What exactly is a "Shastarvidiya Freestyle"?

Does keeping Singh & Kaur in the name apply to all Amrithdaris and Sehajdharis / non Keshdharis alike?

Respect to the Singh, in todays society very few people intervene when trouble erupts.

Is this Soho Road Gurdwara? My friend had a similar problem with them too.

He has got one, viewing Sikhsangat and studying the actions of Sikh Youth.

There is nothing stupid about trying to maintain the honour of your family. Firstly the girl goes out with a Muslim, regardless of religion, children of that age should not be engaging in such activities. When the family found out, in order to save face they arranged the girls marriage, this is a common procedure, what do you expect them to do? Ignore the fact that their daughter is going out with someone out of marriage? When they mentioned this, she ran away from home, if this isn’t irresponsible then I don’t know what is. Now what do you expect the parents to do? Let their daughter roam the streets and forget about her? When they tracked her down, they would have brought her home. No parents want bad for their family, when you have children you will understand how much they mean to you and how much honour your children hold for you. Nowadays everyone thinks that the parents are in the wrong for trying to keep their family together. As the article states, their intentions were well intended, but the result was tragic. At the end of it, the parents ended up in a situation worser then before.

Poor girl? Poor family more like.

www.flickr.com

Fantastic pictures! Thanks

Id rather have a few quality peices then a room full crap newly made "weapons" which are out of balance, and made out of proportion. If your looking for show peices, go to shastarman and the other sites, if your looking for authentic battle weapons then go to the sites i mentioned.

Get some propa shaster from www.akaalarms.com www.toshkhana.com www.ashokaarts.com www.oriental-arms.com

greater toronto area i believe

To compare Gatka and Shastarvidiya from some videos youve seen on the net would be a grose mistake, as the videos on the net were and are not real representations of the true art. The videos on the website were very basic and not very technical in their demo, the Uptej Singh vs Niddar Singh video has been debated and argued many times without result. From my knowledge and how I interpretted it, Niddar Singh caught Teji Singh within the first second of the fight starting, but obviously he couldnt follow through as it would have hurt him and made Niddar Singh look like the bad sport if he knocked him out. The "fight" was a demo and not a real match, the reason why Niddar Singh offered the Hadh Thor Challenge to Uptej Singh is to remove any doubts and declare a real winner, a challenge that was not taken up by anyone. If you would like to see the real difference, pop to Niddar Singhs Akhara and ask him to demontrate. However if you consider Gatka and Shastarvidiya to be the same, then you must accept that that is the real art of the Gurus and was used on the battlefield by the Khalsa. If this is your belief then we can discuss the technical details of Jang Vidiya, Ghum Sehn and Formation fighting to ascertain whether what you learn/teach is the same as what Niddar Singh teaches. My intention is not to offend or upset anyone, but rather make more awareness of traditional fighting skills of the Khalsa, regardless of the views and beliefs of Niddar Singh on Sikhi, no one can dispute his knowledge of Jang Vidiya.

Budha Dal Singhs in India have no idea of what traditional shastarvidiya is, due to the art being partially known to a handful of Babeh the art has more or less dissapeared from the Nihang Singhs. They can only relate to what they have seen, and that is Gatka. Gunpowder and guns were used by Guru Gobind Singh, so to say that their emergence resulted in the decline of close quarter engagement is ridiculous. Yes guns were used by Singhs to a great effect, even praised by the British at how good they were with them, but when each musket takes roughly a minute to clean, load with gunpowder, pellet, light and fire it wasnt the best choice when a skirmish attack happens. Therefore they would still train highly in normal warfare.

Panj shastar rehit emphasises the concept of "tyar bar tyar", readiness for battle and war. Just carrying them alone is of no purpose as Guru Gobind Singh states "bina abhihas shastar bhik mano", without training recognise your weapons as poison.

The Kesh Panj Shastar are not part of the original Khalsa Rehit, they came into existance about a century after. The Panj Shastar Rehit of carrying 5 weapons isnt specific to certain weapons, they can be anything. In olden times it would be something like 2 tulwars, a Ramjunga, Teer Kamaan, Pash, Katar. But even the 5 would be a bare minimum, if you study old photos you will see that the Singhs were armed to the teeth, tanked with char aina armour, sheilds, chakars on dumalas, necks, shoulders, biceps, and wrists, pistols, small daggers, bagh nakhas, and so on Each warrior has his own particular skill level and ability, therefore he would carry weapons that compliment his fighting style. Depending on the environment and threat level, the Singhs would adopt a Jang readiness, for example always carrying a naked tulwar and not allowing people withing certain distances. To say that there is one set combination of weapons is incorrect, there are litterally thousands of different weapons in the indo persian arsenal, and to just extract a set 5 would be detrimental to the armies as each situation in a war requires varying tactics employed by using varying weapons. In todays day and age, this maryada means nothing to majority of Sikhs as they all carry weapons for show without knowing how to use them.

The punjabi in the steek isnt at a very complicated level, easy read. Ive attached a partial translation of Panth Parkash Pracheen_Panth_Parkash.doc

Adopting a Teacher / Ustaad / Gurdev for high skilled arts is vital if you wish to excel in it properly. Basics can be put into books but the subtle aspects cannot be put into words. Whatever you learn takes time and effort, learning at home is one thing but taking sikhiya from a experienced teacher is where you will find the most benefits as all questions and doubts can be answered.

The shabad has nothing to do with promoting the wearing of a turban or keeping kesh. The shabad emphasises that the external actions of people are fruitless if they dont worship god properly, rather than keeping a turban, they should see god everywhere and their self awareness should accept this.