New DVD: The Physical Body [Indian Wrestling]

[Stickgrappler]

NOTE:  Guro Crafty - if this is inappropriate, pls forgive me and pls delete this thread.

-----------

reposting from http://www.mma.tv -          http://216.235.242.58/TUF/index.cfm?ac=ListMessages&PID=1&TID=603162&FID=1&pc=147


my friend, and also Guro Crafty, Ajarn Salty and Top Dog's friend, pahuyuth is selling a dvd to finance his trips to SE Asia for research to finish up his upcoming books/dvds/articles on the SE Asian bareknuckle arts as well as Thai Krabi Krabong and other SE Asian arts/


From: pahuyuth1  
Date: 05/17/05 11:00 AM 11 AM  

My newest DVD The Physical Body: Indian Wrestling and Physical Culture is out today. The DVD focuses on the training regimens and routines of the indian wrestlers and the diverse scope of physical culture in india. As we know alot of this material formed the basis or inspiration for Karl Gotch's tremendous conditioning routines, combat conditioning and many other popular training regimens around today. The DVD offers alot of variations on the exercises from the hindu squats, hindu pushups as well as the hindu squat thrusts and everything from the gada,jori, nal, gar nal, sumtola to the unique Mallakhamb or wrestlers pillar. The DVD is set with several different chapters from showing the new ways of training in contrast to the older more ancient way in some of the top wrestling gyms in India to bonus footage and a stills gallery.

Proceeds from the DVD go toward completing the research for my forthcoming book and translating alot of the older texts I acquired over the time traveling and training.

The on line webpage has full details on the dvd, price/order info and a quicktime preview:

http://www.customflix.com/207195 or you can order by calling toll free at: 1 888 232-0439

Paypal, you can order through: NYCAinfo@aol.com (until MAY 24)

The DVD is $34.95 and runs 60 minutes

-----------------

For mma.tv members, and especially the few that emailed and needed more time: I can extend the paypal purchase until May 31st, the cost is $34.95 including postage to anywhere in the US or abroad included. Paypal: NYCAinfo@aol.com or you can email me at blackdiamondcobra@yahoo.com for further info. My travel plans were pushed back a bit so I will have a little breathing room. this is for a pay pal purchase only....

---------------

Here are interesting threads for those interested in the future of indian wrestling and where it is going:

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_739575.html? menu=news.latestheadlines

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/06/23/stories/2003062302080300.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3808647.stm

-----------------

Another recent review:

" This DVD is tremendous. Anyone interested in martial arts, history, wrestling, physical culture, old or new must have this in their viewing library. This is truly an original documentary. To my knowledge, material like this exists nowhere else. I have done years of research on wrestling only to find a handful of books written in English covering the subject of Kushti or Indian Wrestling. I have also been a practitioner of heavy club swinging for close to a decade. This grew out of my interest in the strong men of India and wrestlers of old. This DVD shows all methods of traditional club or Jori swinging with both small and gigantic clubs. Today there seems to be a revival of Indian club swinging. The DVD shows a few methods of the ancient practice in its original form. I believe the Gada (Mace) exercises on the DVD will soon be copied by many after viewing your DVD. I constructed a Gada many years ago out of a bowling ball with a four foot piece of pipe. What a workout for anyone wanting to improve grip and core strength. There are exercises demonstrated that are both old and new that make this DVD priceless. Those that are fans of Karl Gotch, the Catch Wrestler and his traditional forms of exercise will see where they originated from. There is so much information and many exhibitions of students performing exercises with Apparatus such as the Wrestler's pillar or Malla-kamb and rope Malla-kamb. The book that is best known for demonstrating these pieces of equipment is of course the Encyclopedia of Indian Physical Culture. This book only gives us photos and a brief explanation of how these exercises may have been practiced. The Physical Body DVD leaves nothing to the imagination on how these routines were actually carried out and performed. I loved the sections on Wrestling throws and takedowns being demonstrated in different Ashrams or Gymnasiums. Another section of interest to many may be how the earthen pits are dug and prepared for daily wrestling practice and exercise. There were many examples on how to perform exercises that I had never seen before. This DVD gives us historical commentary, examples of traditional exercise, and wrestling demonstrations. Thanks for sharing this excellent piece of work."

Richard "Army" Maguire, Author of the forthcoming ?Invincible Iron Palm?

----------------

edit:  The direct link to the webpage is now open::

http://www.thephysicalbody.com








edit2:  fixed bad link

[Stickgrappler]

A few more interesting links:

http://www.mysoresports.com/pages/Wrestling/Index.htm

http://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_singh_0600.htm

Another on iranian wrestling:

http://www.pahlavani.com/

http://tenets.zoroastrianism.com/kushti33.html
 

[Stickgrappler]

Indo-Pakistan Greco-Roman connection


i thought i had more Indian wrestling related threads archived on my site - for now, i've not found more.

some of my links are dead like Black Belt's article on Gama. will have to find it.

as i find more of the related threads (if there are any more) on my site, i will put up links

[Stickgrappler]

Another interesting article:

http://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_noble_0802.htm

A short piece on the late Guru Hanuman.His akhara is featured in the dvd:

http://deepblueink.com/writing/profiles/guruhanuman.htm

[Stickgrappler]

I just finished watching this and I enjoyed it very much.

The material itself was fascinating it felt like I was actually in the various gyms watching the training. I really appreciated the section tying the various wrestling exercises to the sun salutation. I had allways felt there was a strong yogic tie-in in martial arts influenced by the Indian arts and this really put it together for me.

This tape is a must have for wrestlers who want to see wrestling history, fans of Bodyweight conditioning who want to see the layout of a holistic sport specifec routine, and people that love Martial History.

On Production : I felt like I was watching a documentery on the discovery channel.I really like it that Vinny avoided the natural temptation to involve himself or personal views in the project. The material is allowed to speak for itself.

My only complaint is now I am desperate to see the rest of his projects.

To Vinny I am so glad someone with such a true passion is documenting the arts before they die or disappear. I loved your approach to this material and am so glad you are doing similar projects on the Bareknuckle systems.

fyi, for those that don't know who Phil is, he's the lineage holder of Kachin Bando. similar to Dr. Gyi's Bando in some ways but Phil only teaches the Kachin styles.

Phil teaches in Mahwah, NJ (northern NJ) and his site is:

http://www.thaing.net

i went to 3 of Phil's seminar and he is a good teacher showing how things are done in Kachin bando.


----------------------------

here's a link to the free online edition of Prof Alter's The Wrestler's Body  - a book on Indian Wrestling.

http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft6n39p104

[Stickgrappler]

Written by Vincent Giordano for Jake Shannon's Scientific Wrestling newsletter:

The Physical Body: Indian Wrestling and Physical Culture by Vincent Giordano

The genesis and creation of The Physical Body project is rather simple. While doing research for my forthcoming book The Vanishing Flame: The Bare Knuckle Fighting Arts of India, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and Laos, the workout regimens of the bare knuckle fighters overlapped those of the Indian wrestlers.

I was given a tremendous amount of access to the wrestlers and decided as I do with most of my work to begin detailing their physical regimens. It's vital to those who really want to understand many of these arts to actually see them conducted in their environment by current and active players.

Already familiar with the majority of the exercises from my own personal workouts with Indian wrestlers and from the massive library of books, ancient documents and articles I had amassed over the years, I learned there was still more to it than I had thought. There were subtle variations to each exercise as would be expected from the many Gurus who run their own Akharas or wrestling gymnasiums, teaching their own variations and unique contributions to their students.

What I found most enjoyable was watching the different speeds the wrestlers worked at. One variation of the Hindu squat might be fast and explosive, another steady almost meditative. I grew fond of the intermediary exercise I called the Hindu squat thrust which combines the Hindu squat and Hindu push up into one action which mirrors a brother action in Surya Namaskar or sun salutation.

Many people have claimed the wrestlers damaged their bodies and were in poor health later in life. From my own research, and one part of my own personal interest and that of my research, is health maintenance and restoration. One can see clearly that all exercises are built from the ground up. When asked to learn the Jori, I was given very lightweights to begin practicing the action. In time, as my strength grew, the weight and size of the Jori would grow in accordance with my development. The circular actions were beneficial I found on the joints and the use of massage, an integral ingredient to almost all Indian martial arts, indispensable for maintaining overall health.

We see similar claims in Thailand, but again the body is built slowly over time to acclimate to the task at hand. Many foreigners to these exercises just assume they should do hundreds and hundreds of reps blind. Skill is developed in increments and over time. Many of the old masters I trained with lived well into their eighties and beyond and were active to the very last days of their lives. From my own research, there were those who suffered debilitating injuries from their training and fighting careers as too in Burmese Boxing, Thai Boxing and the rest but a lot of the injuries I saw too were preventable with proper medical care.

I saw several men with cataracts which went untreated, broken bones which were not set or healed properly, improper dental care, high blood pressure to name a few. The factors went beyond the normal wear and tear of a fight career. There were those also who just didn't take care of themselves as well or continued to fight well beyond the point of their own well-being.

I decided to show many of these exercises and link them to the larger physical culture arena in India to show the greater picture. True it is only a small fragment, one at least gets an inside glimpse into the true world without any hype or hyperbole. The majority of the footage was shot as a sketchbook with interviews and training sessions looped together like a crazy quilt. I usually keep written notebooks and what I call visual notebooks for everything I do. Sometimes the visual is essential for remembering or recreating what has gone on especially as time erodes the memory of it.

Upon seeing the footage, I was asked by a prominent writer/researcher, wrestler and referee if I could record more of the exercises especially those of the Jori and Gada swinging. His help was immeasurable to me so I agreed to continue filming as a token of gratitude to him and all he had done for my research projects.

The work on this particular project focuses on the physical training, mostly on the overall regimens isolated out by akharas and a single wrestlers routine. There is a greater story to tell that clearly stretches beyond the physical. I have found that there is just a fathomless fountain of knowledge still waiting to be discovered within India.

My training and research continues to go on and in future writing and DVDs I will hope to explore and share it with everyone.

[Stickgrappler]

reviews are coming back and i reposted one by someone the FMA community recognizes. there is a Robert W. Smith review forthcoming, although not know for FMA, within the MA circles, Smith is well-known.

Review of THE PHYSICAL BODY ( DVD) by Tom Bisio

The Physical Body: Indian Wrestling & Physical Culture is a DVD that presents a unique look at the training methods of traditional Indian wrestling. Exquisitely filmed and produced by veteran film maker Vincent Giordano, this DVD is not only packed with information, but also brings the viewer the actual sights and sounds of Indian wrestling. The excellent camerawork and lighting, coupled with the traditional music that forms a backdrop to Mr. Giordano's informative narration, makes you feel as though you are warming up with the other wrestlers.

I found the comparisons between the more traditional wrestling schools and the hybrid schools that blend modern and ancient training methods fascinating. As the DVD followed wrestlers through their warmups and training exercises, I was impressed by their dedication, strength and endurance. The training exercises are presented clearly and demonstrated in such a way that the viewer could easily follow them. The relationship between some of the traditional strength training exercises and yoga's salute to the sun, was enlightening both from a cultural and practical standpoint.

I highly recommend this DVD to martial arts practitioners, as well as those interested in physical culture and yoga. Watching The Physical Body, made me wish i could transport myself back to the days when India and Gama the Great dominated the world in wrestling.

[metis]

i picked it up as well. excellent.

also grabbed the book "The Wrestler's Body". a comprehensive book on the physical/social/spiritual aspects of indian wrestling. not much in the way of technique, but everything else: workout, diet, mindset. worth checking out.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0520076974/qid=1068325311/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_2/002-8553818-3742428?v=glance&n=507846

the diet was interesting, the staples of a wrestlers diet in India are almonds, whole milk and ghee (clarified butter). a close fourth was chana: sprouted chickpeas with salt, pepper and lemon.

[Stickgrappler]

cool metis!

as for the book, reposting a link to free online edition from above - nothing beats like having a real book in your hands, but if yuo want to check it out before buying, check the link

---------------

here's a link to the free online edition of Prof Alter's The Wrestler's Body - a book on Indian Wrestling.

http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft6n39p104

[sting]

I also have Vincent Giordano's DVD.   He is doing an excellent job of documenting martial arts from far away places.  The video quality, story and material are excellent.   This video presents the training methods used to produce generations of Indian wrestlers, all without a large budget for equipment.    Fantastic.  This is DVD is unique and a real value.