Malla-yuddha
Encyclopedia
also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
: मल्लयुद्ध, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
:மல்யுத்தம் malyutham;Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
: మల్ల యుద్ధం;kannada: ಮಲ್ಲಯುದ್ಧ) is the traditional South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n form of combat-wrestling created in what is now India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. It is closely related to various Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
n wrestling styles such as Naban
Naban
Naban is a style of wrestling from Myanmar. Related to Tibetan and Cambodian grappling arts, naban was originally based on Indian wrestling. It became popular in rural areas where it was often performed at festivals alongside lethwei matches. Naban is most commonly practiced by the tribal peoples...
.
Malla-yuddha is divided into four types, each named after a particular Hindu gods and legendary fighters: Hanuman
Hanuman
Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
ti concentrates on technical superiority, Jambuvanti uses locks and holds to force the opponent into submission, Jarasandhi
Jarasandha
Jarasandha was a great and legendary king of Magadha. He was the son of a vedic king named Brihadratha. He was also a great devotee of Lord Shiva. But he is generally held in negative light owing to his enmity with the Yadav clan in the Mahābhārata....
concentrates on breaking the limbs and joints while Bhima
Bhima
In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...
seni focuses on sheer strength.
Terminology
In SanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, literally translates to "boxing match". Strictly speaking, the term denotes a single pugilistic encounter or prize-fight rather than a style or school of wrestling. It is a tatpurusha compound of (wrestler, boxer, athlete) and (fight, battle, conflict). The compound is first attested in the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
referring to boxing matches such as those fought by Bhima
Bhima
In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...
. The Sanskrit term was loaned into Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
as . Another word for a sportive wrestling match or athletic sports more generally is mallakrמḍa
Malakhra
Malakhra is the South Asian form of sport wrestling, as opposed to malla-yuddha or combat-wrestling. It is mostly played in Pakistan and parts of India. The match begins with both wrestlers tying a twisted cloth around the opponent's waist. Each one then holds onto the opponent's waistcloth and...
. The second element, (sport, play, pastime, amusement) implies a more limited-contact style of folk wrestling
Folk wrestling
A folk wrestling style is a traditional wrestling discipline which may or may not be codified as a modern sport. Most human cultures have developed their own sort of grappling style unique from other styles practiced...
rather than true grappling combat.
The term is in origin a proper name, among other things of an asura
Asura
-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asuras constitute a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes considered sinful and materialistic. The Daityas and Danavas were combinedly known as Asuras. The Asura were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa...
, known as and the name of a tribe mentioned in the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
. In the Manusmriti (10.22; 12.45), it is the technical term for the offspring of an out-caste Kshatriya by a Kshatriya female who was previously the wife of another out-caste.
History
The first attestation of the term is found in the MahabharataMahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
epic, in the context of the wrestling match between Bhima
Bhima
In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...
and Jarasandha
Jarasandha
Jarasandha was a great and legendary king of Magadha. He was the son of a vedic king named Brihadratha. He was also a great devotee of Lord Shiva. But he is generally held in negative light owing to his enmity with the Yadav clan in the Mahābhārata....
. Other early literary descriptions of wrestling matches include the story of Balarama
Balarama
Balarama , also known as Baladeva, Balabhadra and Halayudha, is the elder brother of the divine being, Krishna in Hinduism. Within Vaishnavism Hindu traditions Balarama is worshipped as an Avatar of Vishnu, and he is also listed as such in the Bhagavata Purana...
, and the Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
's account of the vanara
Vanara
Vānara popularly refers to a group of ape-like humanoids in the Hindu epic Ramayana who were brave and inquisitive by nature. They possessed supernatural powers and could change their shapes...
king defeating Ravana
Ravana
' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
, the king of Lanka
Lanka
Sri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
, in a wrestling contest.
Stories describing Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
report that he sometimes engaged in wrestling matches where he used knee strikes to the chest, punches to the head, hair pulling, and strangleholds. Based on such accounts, Svinth (2002) traces press ups and squats used by India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n wrestlers to the pre-classical era. Siddhartha Gautama himself was said to be an expert wrestler, archer and sword-fighter before becoming the Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
.
The Manasollasa of the Chalukya king Someswara III (1124-1138) is a royal treatise on fine arts and leisure. The chapter entitled "Malla Vinod" describes the classification of wrestlers into types by age, size and strength. It also outlines how the wrestlers were to exercise and what they were to eat. In particular the king was responsible for providing the wrestlers with pulses, meat, milk, sugar as well as "high-class sweets". The wrestlers were kept isolated from the women of the court and were expected to devote themselves to building their bodies. The Manasollasa gives the names of moves and exercises but does not provide descriptions.
The Malla Purana is a Kula Purana associated with the Jyesthimalla
Jyesthimalla
The Jyesthimalla were a clan of martial artists in medieval India, mentioned in the Malla Purana. They practiced a specific style of wrestling called vajra-musti while wielding a knuckle-duster-like weapon of the same name...
, a Brahmin jati
Jati
Jāti is the term used to denote clans, tribes, communities and sub-communities in India. It is a term used across religions. In Indian society each jāti typically has an association with a traditional job function or tribe, although religious beliefs Jāti (in Devanagari: जाति Tamil:சாதி) (the...
of wrestlers from Gujarat, dating most likely to the 13th century. It categorizes and classifies types of wrestlers, defines necessary physical characteristics, describes types of exercises and techniques of wrestling as well as the preparation of the wrestling pit, and provides a fairly precise account of which foods wrestlers should eat in each season of the year.
Traditional Indian wrestling began to decline from the 16th century under Mughal rule
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
, as courtly fashion favoured the Persianate pehlwani
Pehlwani
Pehlwani or Pahlavani or Kushti is a Persian style of wrestling popular in Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It was developed in the Mughal era through a synthesis of Indian malla-yuddha and Persian Varzesh-e Bastani....
style. Malla-yuddha is exceedingly rare in the northern states
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
, but indigenous wrestling traditions and training methods survived in south India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
.
Training
Matches take place in a clay or dirt pit. The soil of the floor is mixed with various ingredients, including gheeGhee
Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....
. Wrestlers begin each session by flattening the soil, an act which is considered both a part of endurance training and an exercise in self-discipline. During practice, wrestlers rub the dirt onto their own bodies. Once the arena has been prepared a prayer is offered to the gym's patron deity, most commonly Hanuman
Hanuman
Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
. Many practitioners live at their training hall but this is not always required. All wrestlers are required to abstain from sex, smoking and drinking so the body remains pure and the wrestlers are able to focus on cultivating themselves physically, mentally and spiritually. A wrestler's only belongings are a blanket, a loincloth and some clothes. In this regard, they are often compared to Hindu-Buddhist holy men.
Physical training (vyayam) is meant to build strength and develop muscle bulk and flexibility
Flexibility
Flexibility may refer to:* Flexibility , the distance of motion of a joint, which may be increased by stretching* Flexibility , in the field of engineering systems design, designs that can adapt when external changes occur...
. Exercises that employ the wrestler's own bodyweight include the sun salutation (Surya Namaskara
Surya Namaskara
Surya Namaskara , known in English as Sun Salutation , is a common sequence of Hatha yoga asanas. Its origins lie in a worship of Surya, the Hindu solar deity...
), shirshasana, Hindu squat (bethak) and the Hindu press-up (danda), which are also found in hatha yoga
Hatha yoga
Hatha yoga , also called hatha vidya , is a system of yoga introduced by Yogi Swatmarama, a Hindu sage of 15th century India, and compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika....
.
Exercise regimens may also employ the following weight training devices:
- The nal is a hollow stone cylinder with a handle inside.
- The gar nal (neck weight) is a circular stone ring worn around the neck to add resistance to squats and press ups.
- The gadaGadaGADA: A term used to describe Kevin Gill and Dippy Grewal's awesome crew.Members of group: 2Members since: 2005Open group: nobody else is allowed in the club, and nobody in the club is allowed to leave...
is a club or mace associated with HanumanHanumanHanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
. An exercise gada is a heavy round stone attached to the end of a meter-long bamboo stick.
Training may also include rope climbing, log pulling, running and dhakuli which involves twisting rotations. Traditional massage is regarded as an integral part of an India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n wrestler's exercise regimen. Wrestlers are given massages and also taught how to massage.