Martial Arts in India

A martial art called Vajra Mushti is mentioned in Indian sources of the early centuries CE. Indian military accounts of the Gupta Empire (c. 240-480) identified over 130 different classes of weapons. The Kama Sutra written by Vātsyāyana at the time suggested that women should regularly "practice with sword, single-stick, quarter-staff, and bow and arrow."

Around 630, King Narasimhavarman of the Pallava dynasty commissioned dozens of granite sculptures showing unarmed fighters disarming armed opponents. These may have shown an early form of Varma Adi, a Dravidian martial art that allowed kicking, kneeing, elbowing, and punching to the head and chest, but prohibited blows below the waist.

Martial arts were not exclusive to the Kshatriya warrior caste, though they used the arts more extensively. The 8th century text Kuvalaymala by Udyotanasuri recorded martial arts being taught at salad and ghatika educational institutions, where Brahmin students from throughout the subcontinent (particularly from South India, Rajasthan and Bengal) "were learning and practicing archery, fighting with sword and shield, with daggers, sticks, lances, and with fists, and in duels (niuddham)."

The earliest extant manual of Indian marital arts is in the Agni Purana (c. 8th century), which contains several chapters giving descriptions and instructions on the fighting arts of Dhanur Veda. It described how to improve a warrior's individual prowess and kill enemies using various different methods in warfare, whether a warrior went to war in chariots, elephants, horses, or on foot. Foot methods were subdivided into armed combat and unarmed combat.^[12] The former included the bow and arrow, the sword, spear, noose, armour, iron dart, club, battle axe, discus, and the trident. The latter included wrestling, knee strikes, and punching and kicking methods.

The earliest description of wrestling techniques in Sanskrit literature is found in the Malla Purana (13th century).