Indian Martial Arts
India is home to a variety of fighting styles. In Sanskrit they may be collectively referred to as śastravidyā or dhanurvidya. The former is a compound of the words śastra (weapon) and vidyā (knowledge), meaning "knowledge of weapon" or "knowledge of the bow". The latter term derives from the words for bow (dhanushya) and knowledge (veda), literally the "science of archery" in Puranic literature, later applied to martial arts in general. The Vishnu Purana text describes dhanurveda as one of the traditional eighteen branches of "applied knowledge" or upaveda.
In Tamil, they are known by the umbrella terms kaḷarik kalai (Tamil: களரிக் கலை) "art of the battleground" or taṟkāppuk kalai (தற்காப்புக் கலை) "art of self-defence".
Famous quotes containing the words indian, martial and/or arts:
“Music is so much a part of their daily lives that if an Indian visits another reservation one of the first questions asked on his return is: “What new songs did you learn?””
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“As yet her conduct has been great both as a free and as a martial nation. We hope it will continue so, and finally baffle all her enemies, who are in fact the enemies of human nature.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“Insurrection is an art, and like all arts has its own laws.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)