Indian martial arts

Indian martial arts refers to the fighting systems of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. This includes India, PakistanSouth Asian martial arts is sometimes preferred for neutrality, the fighting styles of all the aforementioned countries are generally accepted as "Indian" due to shared history and culture. This article will refer to India in the historic sense to include most of what is now southern Asia., Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Although
A variety of terms are used for the English phrases "Indian martial arts" or "South Asian martial arts", usually deriving from Sanskrit or Dravidian sources. While they may seem to imply specific disciplines (e.g. archery, armed combat), by Classical times they were used generically for all fighting systems.

Term	Translation
śastra-vidyā	knowledge of blades
āyudha-vidyā	knowledge of weaponry
dhanurveda	science of the bow
bira-vidyā	warrior knowledge
taṟkāppuk kalai (தற்காப்புக் கலை)	self-defense art

Weapons

A wide array of weapons are used in South Asia. Armies used standard weapons:

• wooden or metal tipped spears, 
• swords, 
• thatched bamboo, 
• wooden or metal shields, 
• axes, 
• short and long bows..

The Agni Purana divides weapons into thrown and unthrown classes. The thrown (mukta) class includes twelve weapons altogether which come under four categories:

• yantra-mukta: projectile weapons such as the sling or the bow
• pāṇi-mukta: weapons thrown by hand such as the javelin
• mukta-sandarita: weapons that are thrown and drawn back, such as the rope-spear
• mantra-mukta: mythical weapons that are thrown by magic incantations (mantra), numbering 6 types

 These were opposed to the much larger unthrown class of three categories.

• hasta-śastra or amukta: melee weapons that do not leave the hand, numbering twenty types
• muktāmukta: weapons that can be thrown or used in-close, numbering 98 varieties
• bāhu-yuddha or bhuja-yuddha: weapons of the body, i.e. unarmed fighting

Systems 

As in other respects of Indian culture, South Asian martial arts can be roughly divided into northern and southern styles. The northern systems may generically be referred to as shastra-vidiya, although this term is often used synonymously with gatka. The main difference is that the north was more exposed to Persianate influence during the Mughal period, while the south is more conservative in preserving ancient and medieval traditions. The exception to this rule are the northeastern states which, due to their geographic location, were closed off from most pre-European foreign invader.

 

Regional Styles

• Andhra Pradesh
• Bengal and Bangladesh
• Karnataka
• Kashmir
• Kerala
• Maharashtra
• Manipur
• Odisha
• Panjab region and Rajasthan