The Ancient Vale Tudo of India: Vajramushti

[Syed01]

I was looking into popularity of mma in india and found this, kind of interesting to see how this ancient art is almost gone today



http://www.grapplearts.com/the-ancient-vale-tudo-of-india-vajramushti/

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

There are so many arts in India that the west has yet to explore. Vajramushti is definitely one of them!

 

[Jenna]

Interesting find @Syed01 is it just my ignorance or is there a lack of well-known Indian styles, the place having such an ancient history and all? x

 

[Steve]

John will is an interesting guy. A real ma pioneer. One of the dirty dozen, the first 12 non-Brazilian BJJ black belts.

Be cool to learn more abiyt this. Good find.

 

[Steve]

Looking for vids of the competition. Is this the same thing?

 

[Syed01]

Interesting find @Syed01 is it just my ignorance or is there a lack of well-known Indian styles, the place having such an ancient history and all? x

I guess most of the people don't know about indian systems simply because they're not being researched like other martial arts. Also these indian systems aren't that much well established outside india.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Hey Syed01 they are being researched and trained in all the time. However, they have not received the exposure that other systems have benefitted from. Yet, there are people with experience. I have trained in Kalaripayattu and a little bit of Silambam. I'm no expert in them but have experience and there are a lot more like me and many experts out there if you look for them.

 

[Steve]

Could someone share some video examples of this style? I'm fascinated, but am not sure the quick search I did produced reliable videos. Thanks.

 

[Syed01]

Hey Syed01 they are being researched and trained in all the time. However, they have not received the exposure that other systems have benefitted from. Yet, there are people with experience. I have trained in Kalaripayattu and a little bit of Silambam. I'm no expert in them but have experience and there are a lot more like me and many experts out there if you look for them.

Kalari, Silambam these can be also found in Malaysia & other countries where south indian communities have established themselves on the ground. However let's take a look at the broader umbrella of Indian Martial Arts, a few of them are known by people. There are multiple types of variations of wrestlings/grapplings in different indian states. If you count them, you'll realise how little research has been done by outside world regarding these old systems. The Marathis had their own martial art which barely survived in modern day Maharashtra. famous Rajput styled Talwar fencing is now almost gone, Nagaland's indigenous fighting system is now perishing these days too. Each day goes by, a tradition fades away. Like back in old days during the era of Bengal Sultanate we had Musti Juddho, more or less related to Burmese Lethwei (You can say it's a variation of Indian Musthi Yuddha). Now nobody in Bangladesh practice Musti Juddho because it's gone for good. Lathi Juddho is now Lathi Khela (Stick Fight) which is also fading away. So you see, modern day Indian & Indian subcontinental (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan) martial arts are vanishing and this will continue.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I disagree as I have friends training in India keeping their arts alive. Sure an art here of there may disappear. That happens everywhere. Still there are a lot of people training in India right now and I personally know several. There will be more and more Indian arts getting world wide attention in the near future as in the digital age nothing is in a vaccum anymore.

Look at Gatka and the efforts that various Sikh's are doing to keep their fighting styles alive. I know several teachers and even a local individual.

Times are changing and more and more of the Indian martial systems will be receiving recognition world wide!

I do not see the doom and gloom that you are mentioning but... lots of possibilities for anyone interested in the arts from India!

 

[Mou Meng Gung Fu]

I remember coming across an article in a magazine many years ago which discussed a Chinese martial art called Lama Pai or Tibetan lion's roar Kung Fu. In the article it mentioned that the origins of Lama Pai could be traced back to an ancient Indian martial art called Simhanada Vajramushti.

Vajramushti was one of the five martial arts of the Kshatriya warriors. I also learned much about it from a friend of mine named Guru Tjan, who happens to be an expert on the subject. I studied Vajramushti for a while but I never practiced it. It's just not my style. I love the Hindu stories and creation myths, though. It's a beautiful culture. They say that Vajramushti was founded by the god of thunder and lightning, Sri Indra.