Attn: Joy/Vajramusti

[anerlich]

I thought you (and perhaps others) might find this article interesting. Your namesake, if you will.

http://bjj-australia.blogspot.com/2007/11/knuckledusters-luck.html

[Vajramusti]

Thanks much Andrew. He is fortunate that he came across a copy of the written text. Choosing the name Vajramusti wasnt an accident.
Vajramusti had several different versions and was not limited only to Gujarat.
The versions combined striking and grappling.
In the epic Mahabharata there are descriptions of serious grappling fights where double elbows were used at close quarters.
In one Indian movie distributed in the US---Mira Nair's version of the Kamasutra -there is a Vajramusti challenge battle which included a knuckleduster with sharp portrusions.

India historically was a rich and very diverse source of martial arts. With the decline of feudal and royal sponsorships- things changed into sporting events.

Classic Indian martial arts and the extensive variety of hand weapons were elaborate worlds. Bits and pieces still remain here and there.
Again, thanks much for sharing.

joy

[Vajramusti]

Vajra=lightning, musti=fist, kusti=grappling.
Some forms of vajramusti had small hand weapons, others began with free hand training.
I believe Draeger and Smith's old work on Asian martial Arts had a diagram on favored hitting areas of vajramusti.There is a literature("marmashastras") which details key hitting points-marmas.
Grappling is one of the oldest activities and Indian grappling is quite old. The coming of the Mongols(Moghuls) added the hooking elements(derived from fighting on horseback at close quarters) and transformed wrestling all accross the path of the Mongols-Kazakhs,Indo-pakistanis, Persians , Turks etc and shuai-chao as well.,

The original Indian training regimens had the dunds, baithaks and clubs-still used in some akharas(gyms). The clubs have had revivals in the west from time to time.The Persians had their
equivalent "mil". Some mma folks-Miltech?-have used them.
The dunds and baithaks(Hindu squats) were part of the late Karl Gotch's training regimen sometimes imitated but not always duplicated.
There as in many other activities-details matter.
"Hindu" originally refered less to religion and more to region--area marked by the Indus river.
Andrew-thanks again for the reference. Regards, joy