Shastra Vidya

Book excerpt: Shastra vidya is the name of the ancient North Indian martial art of the Kshatriyas - Hindus of the Vedic warrior class. This work, which is the result of many years of devoted research, looks at Shastra vidya's history, philosophy and technique.With textual evidence extracted from ancient Hindu scriptures, epics and treatises, this book presents the Kshatriya's art of armed and unarmed combat which includes punches, palm slaps, finger jabs, kicks, elbow attacks, knee strikes, head-butts, chokes, strangles, body throws, ground-fighting moves, sword strikes, mace blows, trident thrusts, lasso hurls, discus throws, archery techniques and mantras for operating divine missiles - all accompanied by nearly 120 line drawings.Also included: the connection between Hindu gods and martial arts, the life and fighting skills of renowned ancient Hindu warriors, weapon worship, animal sacrifice, Dharmic rules of warfare, the four enemy-defeating remedies, formidable fortification, training of war elephants, horses, chariots and infantry, pre-battle goddess worship, battle arrays, battle spells, espionage, assassination methods, martyrdom and more...