Malla-yuddha

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Malla-yuddha" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Malla-yuddha (

Malla-yuddha incorporates wrestling, joint-breaking, punching, biting, choking and pressure point striking. Matches were traditionally codified into four types which progressed from purely sportive contests of strength to actual full-contact fights known as yuddha.^[2] Due to the extreme violence, this final form is generally no longer practised. The second form, wherein the wrestlers attempt to lift each other off the ground for three seconds, still exists in south India. Additionally, malla-yuddha is divided into four categories (see below). Each yuddhan is named after Hindu gods and legendary fighters:

• Hanumanti - concentrates on technical superiority.
• Jambuvanti - uses locks and holds to force the opponent into submission.
• Jarasandhi - concentrates on breaking the limbs and joints while fighting.
• Bhimaseni - focuses on sheer strength.

In

Wrestling in the Indian subcontinent,^[2] making it the oldest known codified form of fighting in the region. Competitions held for entertainment were popular among all social classes, with even kings and other royalty taking part. Wrestlers represented their kings in matches between rival kingdoms; death matches before the royal court served as a way to settle disputes and avoid large-scale wars. As such, professional wrestlers were held in high regard. In pastoral communities, people would even wrestle against steers.

The first written attestation of the term mallayuddha is found in the epic Ramayana, in the context of a wrestling match between the vanara-king Vali and Ravana, the king of Lanka. Hanuman, a Ramayana character, is worshipped as the patron of wrestlers and general feats of strength. The Mahabharata epic also describes a wrestling match between Bhima and Jarasandha.^[1] Other early literary descriptions of wrestling matches include the story of Balarama and Krishna.

Stories describing Krishna report that he sometimes engaged in wrestling matches where he used knee strikes to the chest, punches to the head, hair pulling, and strangleholds.

Competitions in medieval times were announced by a kanjira-player a week beforehand. Matches took place at the palace entrance, in an enclosure set aside for games and shows. The wrestlers typically came of their own accord during public festivals, along with magicians, actors and acrobats. Other times they would be hired by nobles to compete. Winners were awarded a substantial cash prize from the king and presented with a victory standard. Possession of this standard brought national distinction.^[4]

The scene of action was gay with flags flapping, and the citizenry quickly packed the rows of benches. When the wrestlers climbed into the arena, they strutted around, flexing their muscles, leaping in the air, crying out and clapping their hands. Then they grappled, holding each other tightly around the waist, their necks resting on each other's shoulder, their legs entwined, while each attempted to win a fall or break the hold.

The Manasollasa of the

The Malla Purana

As the influence of Indian culture spread to Southeast Asia, malla-yuddha was adopted in what are now Cambodia, Malaysia, Java, and other neighbouring countries. It became popular not only among commoners but also patronized by royalty. The legendary hero Badang was said to have engaged in such a wrestling match against a visiting champion in Singapore.

Traditional Indian wrestling first began to decline in the north after the medieval Muslim invasions when influences from Persian wrestling were incorporated into native malla-yuddha. Under Mughal rule, courtly fashion favoured the Persianate pehlwani style. Traditional malla-yuddha remained popular in the south, however, and was particularly common in the Vijayanagara Empire. The 16th-century Jaina classic Bharatesa Vaibhava describes wrestlers challenging their opponents with grunts and traditional signs of patting the shoulders. Sculptures at Bhatkal depict wrestling matches, including female wrestlers.^{[citation needed]}

As part of his daily routine, the king

Then the wrestlers begin their play. Their wrestling does not seem like ours, but there are blows (given), so severe as to break teeth, and put out eyes, and disfigure faces, so much so that here and there men are carried off speechless by their friends; they give one another fine falls too.[9]

Malla-yuddha is now virtually extinct in the

Wrestlers train and fight in a traditional arena or akhara. Matches take place in a clay or dirt pit, thirty feet across and either square or circular in shape. The soil of the floor is mixed with various ingredients, including ghee. Before training, the floor is raked of any pebbles or stones. Water is added approximately every three days to keep it at the right consistency; soft enough to avoid injury but hard enough so as not to impede the wrestlers' movements. 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 throw a few handfuls of dirt onto their own bodies and that of their opponents as a form of blessing, which also provides for a better grip. Once the arena has been prepared a prayer is offered to the gym's patron deity, most commonly Hanuman. Every training hall has a small makeshift altar for this purpose, where incense is lit and small yellow flower garlands are offered to the god. This is followed by paying respect to the guru by touching the head to his feet, a traditional sign of respect for elders in the Indian subcontinent.

Many wrestlers live at their training hall but this is not always required. Traditionally revered as extensions of Hanuman, 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. This purity is also said to help achieve the highest level of martial and sporting perfection. A wrestler's only belongings are a blanket, a

• Vyayam: Physical training in general. This includes rope climbing, log pulling, running and swimming.
• Rangasrama: Refers to the wrestling itself and its techniques. Includes locks, submission holds, takedowns and, formerly, strikes.
• Gonitaka: Exercises done with a large stone ring called a gar nal in Hindi. It can be swung, lifted, or worn around the neck to add resistance to press-ups and squats.
• Pramada: Exercises performed with the gada (mace). An exercise gada is a heavy round stone attached to the end of a meter-long bamboo stick.
• Uhapohasrama: Discussion of tactics and strategies.
• Mardana: Traditional massage. Wrestlers are given massages and also taught how to massage.

• Gatta Gusthi
• Musti-yuddha
• Vajra-mushti
• Mukna
• Boli Khela
• Inbuan
• Khmer traditional wrestling