Gatka

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Gatka

Gatka is a traditional Sikh martial art. There are two (or more) conflicting theories on how it came to be. One is that it was created from the remnants of an earlier and more complete Sikh martial system called Shastar Vidiya after the British overran and subjugated the Sikh kingdom in the two Sikh wars of the mid-1800s. The other is that it is an authentic system handed down from the times of the 6th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Hargobind Sahib (early 17th century) who learned and instructed his Sikhs to learn the martial art. Both theories have their strong and vocal advocates.

Origin as a martial art

Gatka as an authentic system will be dealt with first.

What is clear is that it emerged formally from its original birthplace in the Punjab region of northern India.See: Disputed history of Kalarippayattu and Indian martial arts.

Gat means grace, liberation, and respect in one's own power. Ka means one who belongs or one who is part of a group. Gatka means one whose freedom belongs to grace. It was originally created along three principles:

it had to be easy to learn
it had to make use of every possible weapon
it had to allow for fighting multiple opponents at once

Unfortunately much of it has been lost and what is left primarily exists only through oral tradition.

The Sikhs mastered Gatka and perfected its use in battle. Many hundreds, if not thousands, of battles were decisively won by the Sikhs, despite often being outnumbered. The techniques within Gatka were combined with the spiritual practices of the Sikhs to create a complete fighting system. Opposing forces are documented to have cursed the Sikhs for their skills in fighting.

The Sikhs actively used Gatka in warfare for over 200 years, until they finally enjoyed peace under their own rule, free from the Mughal Empire. Since then, Gatka has been passed down as a tradition amongst the Sikh generations. With the emigration of Sikhs to western countries such as the UK, Gatka has grown again in the hearts and minds of the new generation of Sikhs. Now, in the 21st century, martial artists in the West are slowly beginning to recognize Gatka and inquire about it.

Origin from a prior system

A different theory of origin is that Gatka is a remnant of Shastar Vidiya system. According to mostly oral tradition and some writings, Shastar Vidiya was a system learned from the Rajputs (another kingdom in NW India) in reward for aid in liberating some fifty-two Rajput princes from the Mogul empire in India. It was perfected by the time of the tenth and last Sikh Guru.

It blended the skill practice with deep spiritualism. It taught the learners that they learn from their Gurus and also from the weapons themselves. In a manner of speaking, the users also worshipped the weapons as teachers. The practitioners would not submit to British rule of the Punjab. Shastar Vidiya was found intolerable by the British occupying forces and the exponents were proscribed and hunted down. Supposedly, it nearly died out except for a few surviving members. However, it was kept alive even though the British authorities and some Sikh accommodating the new government started Gatka as a replacement for it. The British favoured Gatka as it kept Sikh militarism as a useful (as part of the British-officered Indian Army), and controllable (no latent hostility against the British interests), asset.

Technique

One of the most important things learned in gatka is a Paenthra. Paenthra is the ritualized footwork involved in fighting moves, and every fighting move has a different paenthra. A very important paenthra is also performed before picking up the weapon of choice. The paenthras used for picking up a weapon is unique to each gatka club, or school. One with experience in gatka would therefore be able to see which club a practitioner is from, merely by looking at their paenthra.

The arm movements are circular representing the Sikhs belief of one God who was never born and will never die, similar to one of the five Ks, the kara(or bracelet). Some Gatka members state that the above sentences further support the theory that Gatka was in fact an authentic system passed down from Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji and not the remnants of "shaster vidya".

Weapons

It is largely weapon-based. The three primary types of weapons used are:

Swords - Tulwar
Sticks of bamboo (from one to three meters in length) - Lathi
Flexible weapons, such as whips and chains.

Gatka had none of Shastar Vidiya's almost unarmed fighting system (e.g. Chakra or Kara, the sharpened war wrist bracelet used in hand to hand combat and also as a quoit (deadly flying disc)).

It has few of the original fifteen weapons (e.g. Barsha (spear), Choori (large Khyber or Afghan knife), Peshkarj (dagger-like knife) etc.) except for the Tulwar (single-edged Persian sabre), Lathi (staff), Khanda (Double-edged sword) and some other weapons.

This theory is also controversial as there are somewhat strong feelings for and against it. As mentioned above, Gatka is primarily a weapons based art.

Modern Controversy

According to the Shastar Vidiyia exponents, Gatka eventually devolved into a sport and exhibition form that is shown at Sikh festivals and is shorn of the ancient and actual combat skills. There was at least one reported instance where a Shastar Vidiya exponent challenged a leading Gatka organization head to a no-holds barred match for the purpose of re-establishing the ancient methods of perfecting methods by combat. This interesting ritual has rules that reportedly gave assurances that all injuries, deaths would be forgiven in the quest for perfection and that the loser (if alive and not permanently maimed) would receive more teachings from the winner to perfect himself and then ask for a rematch with the winner. Below is a report stating that the contest had taken place and is recorded on film. Although the final result remains somewhat inconclusive, the strong feelings and controversy involved is readily apparent.

Currently there is a huge feud and rivalry between The International Gatka Organisation (Mainly Baba Fateh Singh Gatka Akhara) headed by Ustad Bhai Uptej Singh "Teji" and the Shastar Vidiya Organization headed by Nihang Niddar Singh. It started from when the Shastar Vidya organisation started to put down Gatka by stating superiority of Shastar Vidya and calling Gatka a mere sport. One recorded battle took place between Teji and Niddar with the fight being broken up before a winner could be found. There is no audio for the tape so what happens after the grappling begins (i.e. when Teji allegedly debunks or rebukes Niddar) is subject to conjecture. The summary following was provided by an assumed spectator present at the contest. Teji can be seen knocking Niddar's stick out of his hand thus turning the fight into a grappling match. After Niddar jumps on Teji, he is rebuked. The video can be watched here: http://tv.waheguroo.com/?view=21

External links

References

Nanak Dev Singh Khalsa & Sat Katar Kaur Ocasio-Khalsa (1991) Gatka as taught by Nanak Dev Singh, Book One - Dance of the Sword (2nd Edition). GT International, Phoenix, Arizona. ISBN 0895090872

Indian martial arts | Sikhism