Indian physical culture is the form of physical culture originating in ancient India.
Indian physical culture is the form of physical culture originating in ancient India.
Physical fitness was prized in traditional Hindu thought, with cultivation of the body (dehvada) seen as one path to full self-realization. [2] [3] Buddhist universities such as Nalanda taught various forms of physical culture, such as swimming and archery, [4] with Buddha himself having been well-acquainted with martial activities prior to his enlightenment. [5] Gurukulas focused significantly on physical education alongside academics, with Hindu epics such as the Ramayana often depicting kings marrying off their daughters to men who excelled in athletic events. [6]
A variety of ball games and war-training activities were present in ancient India, [7] [8] [9] with both men and women participating. [5] The traditional Indian physical culture generally used little to no equipment. [10] Ayurvedic medical treatises such as the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita emphasized exercise as a way of avoiding conditions such as diabetes, and prescribed exercise in accordance with the seasons. [11] [12] Some specialist communities were known for their acrobatic performances, such as dancing on bamboo. [13]
Hunting for recreation was common through Indian history, and was partaken in by royals; it was done for a variety of reasons, such as proving manliness, for religious purposes, or simply for thrill-seeking purposes. [14] [15] [16] The emphasis on hunting coincided with an overall view of the forest as being an area to be conquered and used by the state, which resulted in conflict between kingdoms and forest-dwellers. [16] [17] [18] Though Hindu scriptures warned against excessive hunting of animals, [15] by the end of the colonial era, some animal species had been hunted to extinction, such as cheetahs. [19] Other exercises done with animals included provoking intoxicated elephants for the purpose of building strength by maneuvering around them and escaping their wrath. [20]
Wrestling was common in Mughal India, with even the loser of a wrestling bout being awarded some money in order to avoid discouragement. [21] Pehlwani emerged as a fusion of Persian and native Indian wrestling traditions during this time. [22]
During the colonial era, Indians felt emasculated by the British, [24] who had disarmed and demilitarized Indian society throughout the 19th century. [25] The poverty and starvation of the era reduced Indians' ability to participate in physical exercise. [26] Bengalis became particularly involved in seeking to combat British stereotypes of effeteness by pursuing physical culture and martial arts, [27] [28] [29] with organizations such as the Hindu Mela contributing. [30]
Influences from Western physical culture became prevalent in India, as mediated through influences from groups such as the YMCA, [31] as Indians sought to benefit from the scientific nature and European nationalistic vigor present in Western schools of thought surrounding physical culture at the time. [32] [33] The British sought to impose their standards of physical discipline onto Indians, while discouraging traditional Indian games and negatively depicting Indian physiques. [34] The British also used hunting as a way to establish imperial dominance and protect Indians from attacks by wild animals. [35] [36] [37]
Indians used victory in sport as a method of proving themselves against the colonizer. [38] Indians also sought to standardize and revitalize their native physical culture during this time period, with institutions such as the akharas and vyayamshalas playing a role. [39] [40]
Cricket, a British sport introduced into India during the colonial era, [41] has emerged as a major aspect of modern-day India, with success in World Cups and the emergence of the Indian Premier League influencing society. [42]
In 2023, cricket star MS Dhoni invested in a company called Tagda Raho (transl. "stay strong"), which is seeking to revive traditional Indian workouts and which has received significant interest from different groups in the cricket world. [43]
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has encouraged loyalty to India as a Hindu country in its followers through the practice of traditional Indian physical culture. [44]
In the colonial era, gyms and other physical culture institutions helped freedom fighters build their strength towards anti-colonial resistance. [45] In the modern era, some communal violence has been linked to Hindu movements that use physical culture to become more organized and strong. [46]
Yoga and Indian clubs are among the most globally widespread elements of physical culture originating from India. [47] [48]
Wrestling has been popular in India since ancient times, it was mainly an exercise to stay physically fit. The wrestlers, traditionally, use to wear a loincloth, langota. In Ancient India, wrestling was most famously known as Malla-yuddha . One of the protagonists of the Mahabharata , Bhima, was considered to be a great wrestler of his time, with some of his contemporaries including Karna, Jarasandha, Kichaka, and Balarama. The other prominent Indian epic, the Ramayana , also mentions wrestling in India and Hanuman is described as one of the greatest wrestlers of his time. During the reign of Mughal Empire, who were of Turko-Mongol descent, the influence of Iranian and Mongolian wrestling were incorporated to the local Malla-yuddha to form the modern Pehlwani, wrestling style popular throughout India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in modern times. [50]
Wrestling in India is also known as Dangal, and it is the basic form of a wrestling tournament. It is also called kushti in Punjab and Haryana. The wrestling in Punjab and Haryana will take place in a circular court with soft ground which in Punjabi is called an "akharha". Two wrestlers will continue to wrestle until the back of one touches the ground. The winner will parade the court with the loser following him.[10] The wrestlers are called Pehlwans who train with modern weights and traditional weights such as a Gada (mace). The aim of kushti is to wrestle the opponent and to block the other player.
A baithak, also known as a Hindu squat or a deep knee bend on toes, is performed without additional weight and body weight placed on the forefeet and toes with the heels raised throughout; during the movement, the knees track far past the toes. The baithak was a staple exercise of ancient Indian wrestlers. It was also used by Bruce Lee in his training regime. [55] It may also be performed with the hands resting on an upturned club or the back of a chair.
Sun Salutation, also called Surya Namaskar or Salute to the Sun, is a practice in yoga as exercise incorporating a flow sequence of some twelve linked asanas. The asana sequence was first recorded as yoga in the early 20th century, though similar exercises were in use in India before that, for example among wrestlers. The basic sequence involves moving from a standing position into Downward and Upward Dog poses and then back to the standing position, but many variations are possible. The set of 12 asanas is dedicated to the Hindu solar deity, Surya. In some Indian traditions, the positions are each associated with a different mantra.
Indian clubs, or meels, are a type of exercise equipment used to present resistance in movement to develop strength and mobility. They consist of juggling-club shaped wooden clubs of varying sizes and weights, which are swung in certain patterns as part of a strength exercise program. They can range in weight from a few pounds each to special clubs that can weigh as much as up to 100 pounds. They were used in carefully choreographed routines in which the clubs were swung in unison by a group of exercisers, led by an instructor, the way it is still practiced in Varzesh-e Bastani in Iran and similar to 21st-century aerobics or zumba classes. The routines would vary according to the group's ability along with the weights of the clubs being used. When the 19th-century British colonists came across exercising clubs in India, they named them Indian clubs.
Pehlwani, also known as Kushti, is a form of wrestling contested in the Indian subcontinent. It was developed in 14th century by combining Persian Koshti pahlevani with influences from native Indian Malla-yuddha. The words pehlwani and kushti derive from the Persian terms pahlavani (heroic) and koshti respectively, meaning Heroic wrestling. A practitioner of this sport is referred to as a pehlwan while teachers are known as ustad.
Indian martial arts refers to the fighting systems of the Indian subcontinent. A variety of terms are used for the English phrases "Indian martial arts", deriving from ancient sources. While they may seem to imply specific disciplines, by Classical times they were used generically for all fighting systems.
Malla-yuddha is the traditional form of combat-wrestling originating in the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to Southeast Asian wrestling styles such as naban and is one of the two ancestors of kushti. Indian wrestling is described in the 13th century Malla Purana.
Mallakhamba, or mallakhamb is a traditional sport, originating from the Indian subcontinent, in which a group of gymnasts perform aerial yoga and gymnastic postures using wrestling grips in concert with a stationary vertical pole. The word "mallakhamb" also refers to the pole used in the sport. The pole is usually made from sheesham polished with castor oil. Other popular versions of mallakhamba are practiced using a cane or a rope instead of a pole. The origins of pole dancing can be traced back to the sport of mallakhamba.
The kaupinam, koavanam, kaupina, langot, or lungooty is a loincloth worn by men in the Indian subcontinent as underclothing. It is still commonly worn in South Asia by pehlwans (wrestlers) while exercising or sparring in a dangal. It is basically a rectangular strip of cloth used to cover the genitals, with strings connected to the four ends of the cloth, for binding it around the waist and between the legs.
Ambika Charan Guha, popularly known as Ambu babu or Ambu Guha, was an Indian wrestler who pioneered the growth of akhara culture in Bengal.
Wrestling is one of the oldest sports in India. Several regional styles and variations in folk wrestling exists in the country. Indian wrestlers have won numerous medals at international competitions in freestyle wrestling.
Bhartiya Kushti Patrika is an Indian monthly sports magazine focusing on Indian-style wrestling, Kushti. It was established by Ratan Pataudi in early 1962. The magazine's main goal is to preserve the literature of Indian Wrestling. Wrestling has been in existence in India since ancient times. This ancient tradition has a significant place in Hindu mythology as Lord Hanuman and Lord Krishna loved to wrestle.
The gada is a mallet or blunt mace from the Indian subcontinent. Made either of wood or metal, it consists essentially of a spherical head mounted on a shaft, with a spike on the top. Outside India, the gada was also adopted in Southeast Asia, where it is still used in silat. The weapon might have Indo-Iranian origins, as Old Persian also uses the word gadā to mean club; see for example the etymology of Pasargadae.
Sports play an integral part of culture in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Cricket is the most popular spectator sport in the state. Other popular sports include kabaddi and kho kho, which are played in rural areas, and field hockey, badminton, and table tennis, which are more common in urban areas, schools, and colleges. In the state's southern rural regions, annual wrestling championships such as Hind Kesari and Maharashtra Kesari are held. Games like Viti-Dandu and variations of Tag are played among children.
Wrestling in Pakistan, known locally as koshti, has been practiced since ancient times, mainly in Punjab (Pehlwani) and Sindh (Malakhra).
Modern yoga is a wide range of yoga practices with differing purposes, encompassing in its various forms yoga philosophy derived from the Vedas, physical postures derived from Hatha yoga, devotional and tantra-based practices, and Hindu nation-building approaches.
Joseph S. Alter is an American medical anthropologist known for his research into the modern practice of yoga as exercise, his 2004 book Yoga in Modern India, and the physical and medical culture of South Asia.
Bishnu Charan Ghosh was an Indian bodybuilder and Hathayogi. He was the younger brother of yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, who wrote the 1946 book Autobiography of a Yogi. In 1923, he founded the College of Physical Education, Calcutta. His writings influenced the development of modern yoga as exercise in India and Bikram Choudhury founded Bikram Yoga based on his teachings.
Gatta gusthi is a form of submission wrestling practiced in Kerala, India. It is competed inside an open ring on the ground, usually on a beach, known as godha. Wrestlers are called phayalvans. The sport consists of around 100 techniques. Gatta gusthi was popular in the state until the arrival of freestyle wrestling and karate in late 1960s. Its freestyle form is known simply as gusthi.
India has several traditional games and sports, some of which have been played for thousands of years. Their popularity has greatly declined in the modern era, with Western sports having overtaken them during the British Raj, and the Indian government now making some efforts to revive them. Many of these games do not require much equipment or playing space. Some of them are only played in certain regions of India, or may be known by different names and played under different rules and regulations in different regions of the country. Many Indian games are also similar to other traditional South Asian games.
Yoga is by origin an ancient spiritual practice from India. In the form of yoga as exercise, using postures (asanas) derived from medieval Haṭha yoga, it has become a widespread fitness practice across the western world. Yoga as exercise, along with the use that some make of symbols such as Om ॐ, has been described as cultural appropriation.
Western physical culture is the form of physical culture that originated mainly in the West.
In the 16th century, another northern wrestling influence was brought to the Indian sub-continent by the Persian Mughals. This practice combined with the indigenous form to create the pehlwani wrestling style popular throughout India, Pakistan and Bangladesh today.
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