Gatka Video - SIkh Martial Art

**dem0nfox** · Posted On: 5/15/2008 5:01pm

what i think is particularly interesting about gatka is that its main weapons are the saber, and the dagger, bare handed fighting is really not a essential on the battle field. and the steel blade is a sacred symbol to them.

when in combat with a tulwar (or saber) the methodology is to twirl the blade in arcs so that the curvature of the sword gives the blade circular appearance. the pattern can be broken at any given time and a cut made for the neck or an appendage.

with the dagger attacks consist of leg sweeps and jujutsu-like movements with the dagger held by the waist so that it can be gouged into the torso, or when sweeped the enemy falls onto the blade.

very fluid from what ive seen

and yes, the fact that some kid came on here to talk about it and he was bullied out was just disgusting, which is why i took up his cause, the martial arts that my family has passed down is very similar in foot work, and striking, atleast allows me to explain gatka to a certain degree. it would have been nice if he was still here (the art really helped to shape the face of the asian subcontinent)

**AAAhmed46** · Posted On: 5/22/2008 12:41am

I find, other then self defense or sport, i find studying a fighting style is also studying a piece of the culture it comes from.

I think this is interesting, to say the least.

TM · Posted On: 5/27/2008 10:35am

Bump bump bump

**Singh Soormeh** · Posted On: 10/16/2008 7:23am

Originally Posted by Poop Loops

God dammit you people are stupid.

I said the outfits are stupid for fighting in. They are impractical. I wouldn't give a **** if I saw people casually dressed like that.

A few members of the forum hinted upon the fact that the art of gatka has become more of a demonstration. This is also relevant to the idea of the costume. I myself practise gatka and have experience many of the problems that are forseen with having such a loose and flowing garment. The main issue with the garment is that it has been altered too look more spectacular infront of crowds. The more practical and original version of this garment was much shorter, as Sikhs are required to wear undershorts at all time, which are meant to go to the knees. The 'flaps' of the garment were tied off behind the back before going into battle.

The other main point i want to hint at is that the main art of gatka has been lost. The literal meaning of the word Gatka is stick. Gatka was a part of the training involved in the original art of Shastar Vidya(definition: the art of the weapon). Though there are some Sikhs that preserve this original artform, the more demonstrative techniques of gatka have survived alot better in society than all the other parts of Shaster Vidya. Another main reason why the art in gatka has been lost is that there was a large influence from the British. When the British colonised India, there was a large loss of this art as the ones who were best at it and the most fittest were either forced out of society or conscripted to the British army. For this reason, alot of the sparring in gatka is very similar to fencing. That said, there has been a more recent recovery of gatka, and more importantly Shastar Vidya due to the preservation by nomadic Nihang Singhs, the traditional warriors of the religion.

I will be very happy to answer any questions and i hope that what ive said above does help sort some of this mess up.

As a side note, there is no denying the spread of gatka. Ive lived in Australia my whole life and am currently practising gatka, and i reckon the main beuty of it is that its designed for configuration. Most of the things shown in the original video are the basics that lead on to self building. If you are interested, there are organised sparring competitions held in Canada and i'll try to dig up some videos.

***DerAuslander*** · Posted On: 10/16/2008 7:31am

This thread has been dead for a long time thanks to a few assholes who drove the Gatka practitioners away with their idiocy. Thank you for your post & first hand information on Gatka.

We'd love to know more.

**BackFistMonkey** · Posted On: 10/16/2008 11:43am

The video links from earlier in the thread do not seem to be working .

and for what it is worth , I too am interested in seeing and hearing more .

**antman** · Posted On: 10/16/2008 2:12pm

please share with us more.

**Singh Soormeh** · Posted On: 10/17/2008 2:38am

To start off with I would like to mention that I'm very encouraged with the positive feedback and reckon that this path of eduation is what the Sikh religion needs, for people who hate us because we share a resembleness with other negatively minded people.

From experience, alot of the good sparring we do, including the smart hits and the good techniques have not been taken on camera due to the spontaneousness of the situation. In Shastar Vidya, just like in Sikhism, those that practise it are always students. (this is one of the main resons i like Shastar Vidya, it allows you to understand the parts of the body that are more susceptable to certain techniques, and allows you to experiment and develop new moves, whilst still maintaining a strict guideline of techniques which aid you in the multiple enemy, and quick killing that Shastar Vidya was made for)

Shastar Vidya is a very large form of martial arts and has many tiers. Though we assume the main factor is the phsical aspect, there is the added forms of mental preperation and stratergy. Alot of gatka is just the physical aspect. The purpose of the mental preperation is riddding the bdy of fear and pain. Though this sounds superficial, I think some of you may have experienced a fight or a spar in which your adrenaline has taken over, and you no longer feel the pain of a hit, till well after the fight.

Since Shastar Vidya was developed for and during the times of war, it is hard to reconstruct the setting and the purpose in which the art was developed. You can't just walk nto the streets, wepon laden, and begin to kill random people. In many cases, this has led to a softness in the art, and the additional weight (and cost) of armor has not helped the situation.

Here are a few videos showcasing some of the basics of Shastar Vidya. I'll also add that these videos will seem choreographed if watched closely. The reson is, either they are or because the moves used are not as dangerous as other moves.

[IMG]file:///C:/WINDOWS/TEMP/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG]http://au.YouTube - Holla Mahalla 2007 Gatka Demonstration

A video on the use of a katar (punching knife) and Dhal (small round shield). The katar was a close range weapon designed for piercing of chanmail and a qick finishing off after you have disarmed the opponent. As a fellow bullshido member mentioned in a previous post, Sikhs favoured the sabre as a primary weapon. The downside of this is that it is very hard to get a quick kill on a person who is wearing a set of armor. The Katar has a double blade, that takes advantage of the punching style to apply excess force along the edges. This allowed the edges to shift (and if used well, cut) the chains in chainmail and allow a quick penetration of the armor. There were many variations of the Katar and one of my favourite was one that was similar to scissors(except a little more deadly). In this version, the katar blade was split along the middle and and has about a 1cm gap. the handle has two bars which wen squeezed, run the blades along each other and generally leave the victim in a state of heavy bleeding to discourage them from fighting on.

Once again, i thank those members of the bullshido community that appreciate the artform of Shastar Vidya for what it is. I will continue to post more about the various weapons and styles, adding a video to show an example f how the weapon is handled.

Lastly, Sikhs are taught to ask forgiveness for anything that may be offensive or wrong. So just as an ending i would like to ask for forgiveness and hope that i can continue to add more to this thread and the forum as a whole.

**selfcritical** · Posted On: 10/17/2008 10:41am

Edited because my browser had cut off the reply that already answered my question.

**Sophist** · Posted On: 10/17/2008 10:07pm

Originally Posted by Singh Soormeh

Lastly, Sikhs are taught to ask forgiveness for anything that may be offensive or wrong. So just as an ending i would like to ask for forgiveness and hope that i can continue to add more to this thread and the forum as a whole.

There is nothing on your side that needs forgiven. Some ignorant people posted early in the thread, and we were angry at them for driving off the person who originally created it. We appreciate your patience in giving the thread another chance.