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Ancient India is widely considered to be the origin of some of the most relevant martial arts in human history. Several Indian martial practices and traditions of ancient nature, like the martial forms of Yoga, Malla-yuddha (more commonly known as Mallayuddha) and the Kshatriya systems of organised armed and unarmed combat as described in the Rigveda predate other ancient traditions such as the Greek martial art of Pankration, which was introduced in the Olympics around 648 BC.
Various forms of Yoga emphasise on the knowledge of pressure points and manipulation of these points to achive desired results, accounts of these arts being used by the Indian monks (both hindu and buddhist) for self defence in events of violent assault during long journeys are abundant in both the ancient texts and inscriptions. Images of a meditating yogi from the Indus Valley Civilization are thought to be 6 to 7 thousand years old. The earliest written accounts of yoga appear in the Rig Veda.
The fighting systems belonging to the Kshatriya caste of hinduism are some of the oldest descriptions of organised martial arts documented in the Rigveda, these fighting systems include armed and unarmed fighting and other aspects such as conditioning, horse riding etc.
Mythological figures in the Ramayana are known to practice several martial arts, lord Rama and his brother Lakshman have trained in archery and Lord Hanuman is revered as a fierce wrestler, still worshipped by the Indian practitioners of Pehlwani. The Ramayana was written down in 5th century BC and the events of the epic have also been dated to as early as 6000 BCE by adherents of archaeoastronomy.
The other Indian martial art system to gain prominence as one of the oldest martial arts in history is the Malla-yuddha (more commonly known as Mallayuddha), which is described in the Indian epics as the fighting style of warriors such as Bhima. The art is supposed to have gained maximum prominence in ancient India at the time when the oral tradition of the Mahabharata epic was concieved, the Mahabharata was compiled in textual form during the 5th century BC, the epic's setting has a historical precedent in Vedic India, where the Kuru kingdom was the center of political power in the late 2nd and early 1st millennia BCE. It is believed that mallayuddha was regarded as a prominent martial art in that era.
Martial arts of the India are very diverse and have origins of different times from various different ethnic groups of undivided India. A number of ancient and sophisticated Dravidian martial arts were developed in South India including Kuttu Varisai (empty hand combat), Varma Kalai (the art of vital points) and Adithada (kickboxing) in Tamil Nadu, and Kalari Payattu (way of the arena) in Kerala. Dravidian martial arts was influential in various "Indianized" kingdoms of Southeast Asia. Some scholars claim that martial arts of the Indian sub-continent was also influential in China and Japan.
The occupation of India by England was instrumental in the decline of Indian martial arts. The british supressed several Indian martial arts to obscurity during the British Raj. The rule of the british saw Indian economy turn from the wealthiest in the world to the poorest, leading to widespread poverty, illitracy, overpopulation and the ultimate breakup of undivided India into many smaller countries.
During the recent years, Indian martial arts have obscure, with many martial arts almost extinct and many others being practiced on a microscopic scale.
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