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Indian martial arts -
12-08-2002, 10:26 PM
Yeah there are. One style is called Kaliyiprayat(sp). The prospect warrior would begin training at age five.
Some excercises were supposedly taken to Shaolin temple in China by an Indian Buddhist monk Boddhidharma, who is famous as Da Mo in china.
Legend has it he went to Shaolin temple and was struck by how weak the monks were. He then introduced excercises to keep them strong and fit. Something like chi kung which is a Chinese version of astanga yoga with emphasis on breathing and energy (chi/prana) manipulation. Employing standing forms as well. From these, animal styles evloved, tiger prayin mantis etc. As the need to protect the temple grew it became more militaristic. So the story goes.
China seems to have done a better job at systematically documenting this kind of knowledge than India, but surely all cultures would have developed some system of defense.
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