Gatka
Gatka is an Indian Martial Art of the Sikhs religion. In the sixteenth century the Rajputs (Hindu warriors of northern India) taught this self defense method to the Sikhs in gratitude for releasing their warriors from imprisonment. At this time the Sikhs and Hindus were being violently oppressed by the Mughal Empire because of their non-Islamic religion. The Sikhs were eventually successful in defeating the Mughal. Gatka is based on the techniques of various hand-to-hand weapons including lathis (sticks of various lengths), swords, nun chucks, axes and kirpan (a curved sword). It is taught as a spiritual exercise in Sikhism and requires its students to focus on honoring the Name of God. Its foundation is the panthra, a methodology of moving the feet, hands, arms, body and weapons in unison. Normally it is taught with rhythmic accompaniment, such as a three-beat-per-cycle drum.
Most groups train in a religious or semi-religious situation such as in a Gurdwara- a Sikh place of worship. Although it was not intended as a competition sport recently some organizations have introduced competition. Gat means grace, liberation and respect in one’s own power. Ka means one who is part of a group. Gatka: one whose freedom belongs to grace. The three principles of the art are: - Easy to use
- Make use of every weapon
- Allow for fighting multiple opponents at once
Code of a Sikh Warrior A true warrior: - is humble and gentle
- has no arrogance and bears no malice, even to his enemies
- recognizes himself as an instrument of the greater spirit and not a being in his own right. The warrior will follow and serve the hukam (the natural order of the universal spirit)
- seeks justice, freedom and protection for all beings, recognizing the importance of all creation in nature
- is ready and determined to stand up for justice, combating injustice in word and action
- is a weapon of God. The one, who recognizes himself as such, realizes all inner self-identity, merging with the flow of God's law attaining the mental and physical powers of a warrior
- fights with his mind before fighting with a sword
- is a saint and soldier integrated into one
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