Central-Asian Martial Arts - Inbuan Wrestling, Aki Kiti, Silambam

Inbuan Wrestling

This wrestling style, native to Mizoram, thought to have originated in the village of Dungtland around 1750. It is a sport with strict rules that prohibit kicking actions, bending the knees, or stepping out of the fighting area-a 15-16 ft (4.5-4.9 m) diameter circle. The rules of inbuan wrestling state that in order to achieve a decisive victory fighters must lift their opponent off the ground before three rounds (each lasting between 30 seconds and one minute) have elapsed. Belts worn by the players, which must remain tight at all times, are often used as leverage instruments to help effect a swift and decisive lift.

Aki Kiti

This is a kicking art and sport that is practiced at tribal ceremonies in Nagaland. Although the Nagas are now mostly Christians they were formerly practicing head hunters.

In aki kiti only the feet are permitted to be used and they serve as both striking and blocking tools for the fighters. The goal of the competition is to fell an opponent by either driving him to his knees or out of the circular ring area assigned for the competition. There is no existing training syllabus for the art but any exercises that help the fighters with strength, stamina, and flexibility, along with target practice, are part of the fighter's normal training regime.

Score-settling

Rather than having set forms or patterns similar to "kata" in Japanese martial arts, the art is solely intended for the sporting tournaments that may serve the purpose of righting wrongs, restoring honor, or settling scores between tribes and tribesmen without the need to resort to more extreme violence.

The art is unique in the way that the fighters kick; usually front kicks or leaping front kicks are performed to the sides, waist, or chest area of the opponent. Although padding is not worn, fights are generally light contact and, although foot collisions are common, serious injuries are rare.

Silambam

Silambam is a stick-fighting art based on bamboo staff-fighting arts purportedly used by indigenous people of the area while defending themselves against both animals and bandits. The main solid staff in use today is approximately 51/2 ft (1.67 m) in length, has a diameter of around 2 in (5 cm), and weighs anything between 1-2 lb (0.5-1 kg). Once mastered, techniques can also be transferred to the use of live blades and sometimes the metallic whip; the double deer horn, sword, and club are also used in the art form.

Ancient history

Although claims of the art having a history of 5,000 years are difficult to verify (and there is no known literature from the period to definitively support the theory), staff-fighting in India is common, and many of the ancient martial arts of India include staff-fighting.

However, we can reasonably assume that the art as codified today bears a good resemblance to the older stick-fighting arts in the region with a two- to three-thousand-year history.

The ultimate goal of the modern art is that a practitioner should be able to defend himself with a stick against multiple opponents brandishing various weapons. The bare-hand training aspect of the art is known as silambam kuthu varisai. Training for this includes a number of set routines of punching sequences that supplement the standard weapons-training regime.