Thread: FMA students opinions on Indian Martial arts style

Being that I'm Indian myself, I do like the styles - especially Gatka. I think that more than any style though it's the individual martial artist that makes the difference. That said it would be good to see master's from these arts against some fma masters go at it full contact.

As long as it works I'm fine with it.

Peopleschamp,
have you trained in gatka?

I'm ashamed to say that even though I'm a Sikh I haven't. When I go back to India I'm definately going to try to find a good gurdwara and take some lessons. The thing I like about that is that it has constant movement to make yourself a hard target and this circulating footwork which makes you better able to fight groups.

Originally Posted by GonzoStyles

I just found this sight and wanted to know what FMA students think of it.
as I consider FMA to be the most realistic weapons art currently around, I thought I would ask what you think of it. Although I can only find limited info,
this site seems to be the best representative of SILAMBAM.

http://www.silambam.com/index.html

make sure to check out the video clip section

with all the angles and emphasis on footwork I wonder how one of these guys ( or girls) would match up against a FMA practitioner in a sparring session.

would be interesting I think.

Bodidharma came from India...theres no doubt in my mind that Indian M.A. can be as effective as FMA...but I couldn't answer the part on who would fair better...alot of times it's the individual and not just the art that determines the outcome...

I find the indian ma quite fascinating, theres very little detailed work on it at the moment. I did see a tremendous dvd which I will fully review later on the indian wrestling routines called The Physical Body, it will available in about a week but you can go to the website and check it out, if interested.

http://www.customflix.com/207195

I hope to go to India within the next year to do some research as well.

SE Asia is fascinating. For some reason they get distilled Chinese and Indian arts and cut through the BS. CMA are great, but kuntao and silat are much more open that most Chinese arts and most kung fu guys can't use their stuff. I see it as a kind of repository of the Ancient world. I believe that most of Indian martial arts now reside in SE Asia as Silat. Kilari sucks, its joint locks are crude and they use isolated body movements. I don't believe it was always this way. I think, the effect of the British in India was much like the Chinese cultural revolution, that is what happens when an art is suppressed for a long period of time and was rare to begin with. India is one of the oldest civilizations on Earth, and has had China and SE Asia as neighbors and trade partners, they must have had equal or better martial arts. Now, like modern Wushu, the two person weapon forms survive along with large throws and are great for theatrics. Thank your teachers, it seems most Indian arts are dead, most Chinese arts are dead and the place they have likely survived is with your teachers.