Blog

May 24 2023

Sang Technique

The Sang are wooden shields used in the Zurkhaneh (“House of Strength”) in Iran. The word literally means “stones,” as the original iteration were made of stone.

The purpose of the Sang is to build excellent pushing and pressing strength, while in a state of motion, rather than in a static position used in the modern bench press. The Sang are normally lifted in the go’d (pit) before the full Zurkhaneh ritual.

In the video, Mr Azim Rahemi, multiple time nation champion of Iran demonstrates the proper technique for the basic use of the Sang.

First, he prays facing the Sang, before turning his body to the right, lying prone in position to pick up the shields. Then he reaches up and grasps them by their handle bringing them into the top position of the Sanggereftan-e Jofti (double press). his feet are together, with the big toe of the right foot over the big toe of the left. In this top position, the back of his head and his spine touches the ground while his shoulders are off the ground. The flat edge of the Sang at the top are very close to each other, but not touching.

He lowers the Sang, allowing them to go horizontal. His head raises to look through the space between them and his elbows touch the ground with the arms at 90 degrees to the body. He then lifts them again, putting them back into the vertical alignment, lowering his head to the ground once more. This is normally done 17 times before moving on to the next phase: Sanggereftan-e Qaltān (turning lifts).

From the top position, Mr Azim then bends his legs into a tabletop position, keeping his knees together. He then turn to one side, lowering one Sang, while fully extending the other. His legs are extended at 90 degrees to his torso. He then bends his knees and turns his body, lifting the bottom sand and lowering the top one. This is done for as many repetitions as the athlete is able to perform.

Many thanks to Mr Azim Rahemi and Mr Mehsam Refahi for teaching this to me in the famous Zurkhaneh Mortazar Ali in Ardekan, Fars. They are both renowned national champions and gentlemen.

Apr 25 2023

Nāl Lifting Stones in the House of the Tiger

Nāl lifting stones are a common sight in the akharas of Varanasi, but none of them compare to the monsters at Sherwali Kothi, the House of the Tiger.

Sherwali Kothi is the multi-story, labyrinthine home of the Chaudhry clan and has housed several generations of the family on the banks of the Ganges for centuries. The Chaudhrys have been in charge of the funeral business in Varanasi as far back as anyone can remember. This makes them very powerful, despite their low caste status. The patriarch of the family is always considered the “king of the undertakers” and anyone who wants the all important funeral on the burning ghats of the Ganges has to go through him.

The point of interest for us is the lineage of nāl stone lifters that once made this family famous for more than cremations. The nāl is a large lifting stone that can be hoisted in several ways. It is a ring with a crossbar through the middle. They are fairly common all over Varanasi, but the ones at Sherwali Kothi are epic. So large and heavy, that they have not been lifted in a century.

The modern observer would immediately believe that they had never been lifted by a single man, but there is not only anecdotal, but also photographic evidence that these nāl were once used frequently by a father and his two sons who had the role of Chaudhry patriarch.

The small akhara at Sherwali Kothi has always been private. The first time I visited in 2019, it was open air and looked out onto the Ganges. The second time, it was being renovated and we feared it was being done away with entirely, but fortunately that was not the case and the nāl stones remain to this day.

The father in question is Devi Domb, or Devi Chaudhry Pahalwan. Born somewhere around 1857, he took up nāl lifting as a young man without any formal training, leading to his unusual style. There are a few images of Devi Domb, but the most impressive is the one below from 1903. This stereogram image shows Devi Domb lifting a 960 lb nāl. It is accompanied by the text below it.

“Dabee Chowdray Palwan at Benares, India, a vegetarian of 46 years, lifting a 960 lb weight.

“We are only a short distance from the bathing and burning ghats. Palwan is not a large man, – about five feet, seven-and-a-half inches, – and weighs, if I remember correctly, a little less than one hundred and seventy pounds. He is a vegetarian. He never read a book on physical culture; he was never within the walls of a gymnasium or of any place for physical training. As a young man he gradually fell into the business of giving exhibitions. He chiseled suitable stones into symmetrical forms with cross-pieces as a hold; as he grew in years and strength he increased the size of his lifting weights.

“The weight of this stone (960 lbs.) is well authenticated by English officials; three of us made an attempt to move from its place and failed. It was brought to this position by Palwan unaided. In a seated posture, he tilted the stone from its flat surface to its edge, between his knees; then, lying prostrate, he brought it upwards towards his chest, by efforts almost painful to witness. With his elbows thrust down by his sides he wedged himself beneath it until it was well over his chest, then the final effort was made; it was sublimity in muscular exertion. The muscles in chest and arms became more and more rigid; the veins stood out like whipcord. As the half ton of stone moved slowly upward inch by inch, a tremor shook his whole frame – his eyes were closed in agony of effort; the great stone was sustained till the camera had secured this record. Then, with a tremendous muscular effort, he tossed the the half ton weight to the earth beyond his knees.”

Devi Domb and his sons are all pictured in the iconic Encyclopaedia of Indian Physical Culture from 1950 edited by S. D. C. Mujumdar. Devi Domb was long dead by that point, but the old photo they published (top left) along with those of his two sons depicts the same man as in the stereogram, but a little older. The painting of Devi Domb which hangs in the akhara at Sherwali Kothi is testament to his strength even in his twilight years, showing him performing a “Turkish get up” with a large nāl.

I had a conversation on the Steel Mace Nation Podcast where I said that we are not as strong as people were in the past. I used the example of the stones lifted by Devi Domb and his sons to illustrate my point. The skeptical modern mind will not conceive of such a weight being lifted as that in the stereogram, but it is true. The stones exist to this day and nobody has been able to move them on their own, let alone lift them above their head or chest.

Mar 15 2023

Old English Bareknuckle Boxing

Bareknuckle boxing is one of the weapons utilised by the WarYogin.

The mid-18th, to the early 19th century was the golden era of bareknuckle pugilism in England.

For a brief time the “manly virtue” of the classical world was uplifted once again. The art of manual defence differentiated the Englishman from his continental neighbours, who preferred to settle disputes with pistol and stiletto.

Famous battles drew thousands of spectators who tramped across the English countryside for days to see the spectacle of two men fighting to see who was the better.

Songs were sung about the victors, like the odes of the Ancient Greeks for their heroic athletes. They looked back to the ancient heavy sport of pygmachia (boxing) and remade it in the image of their time.

Men settled their arguments with their fists and crowds gathered to ensure fair play. Virility and physical prowess were celebrated. Utter honesty and straight talk were seen as truly English traits. Nothing was more abhorrent to an Englishman than hypocrisy. Actions had to match words. The relentless English Bulldog Spirit was vigorously on display, characterising the Englishman. His continental neighbours saw him as a barbarian on the edge of the world, sustained on a diet of beer, beef and bareknuckle.

The Victorians changed everything. Politeness, decency and prudishness replaced freedom, directness and bravery. Law courts and the newly established police force cracked down on the traditional English way of life. No more bathing naked in the rivers, no more bareknuckle boxing matches, no more defending honour with one’s own fists. English freedom was slowly eroded.

Freedoms continue to be eroded. Bareknuckle boxing is a pillar of freedom in a wasteland of constraint. The WarYogin uses it not only for manual defence, but also as a rebellion against the limitations that society attempts to thrust upon him.

Aug 04 2022

The WarYogin

The WarYogin carries the weight of his ancestry on his shoulders, bearing the burden joyfully. This yoke connects him with the generations who have trodden the path he continues to walk. He is unconcerned with the modern fashions and trends of the world. Being grounded in his ancestry, the WarYogin walks through the world, but is not part of it. He operates within it, but does not succumb to it.

While he has his roots in the past, he is not afflicted with nostalgia. He lives in the present. He ruthlessly burns away all dross that would would mire him and bog him down in the past. He lives now, but is not of now. He is timeless, outside of the wheel of time and change. He remains steadfastly on his course. His upward trajectory is unstoppable.

The WarYogin remains true to his sacred cause. He is a holy warrior fighting a holy war in the hallowed terrain of his inner bodily landscape. His crusade is against his lower self. He strives to combine thought and action, fusing them together into a potent force capable of violent transformation. He is relentless. Ceaseless in his mission.

Every thought, every action, every interaction is geared towards his transcendent undertaking. He wastes no time on impotent deeds that do not aid him on his path. The WarYogin’s martial Way requires strength of body and mind. It requires purity of heart and Spirit. The WarYogin manifests his violent potential externally, but remains tranquil internally. In the blur of action, he is steady. He trusts his Self and allows it to take control during the flow state.

Active body. Calm mind. Pure Spirit. At peace in a state of constant battle. The WarYogin is a blazing torch, a dazzling, blinding light that banishes the darkness and illuminates the world around him while conducting his silent revolution.

Jul 28 2022

The Lost Art of Vajramuśti

In 2021, I went to the town of Vadodara in the Gujarat searching for an ancient from of Indian wrestling called Vajramuśti (pronounced Vajramushti).

Vajramuśti is a style of wrestling that was laid out in the medieval Mallapurana wrestling treatise. Performed by a high caste Brahmin clan known as the Jyesthimallas, the art utilises a vajra: a buffalo horn spiked knuckleduster that is strapped to one hand of each wrestler. The tool is used for striking as well as joint manipulation.

It is the most brutal grappling style in Indian history.

Vadodara is a major town in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat. I planned a trip there based around visiting three living akharas as well as trying to pick up a trail that went cold back in the 1980s.

Back in the mid-1980s, an Australian martial artist named John Will went to the city armed with a few photos and a copy of the Mallapurana in Sanskrit. Through some great logical detective work he found himself on the doorstep of the last living true Jyesthimalla Vajramuśti practitioners in the world. He then spent a few weeks learning from Śri Sitaram and his brother. His experience can be found here.

Before visiting Vadodara, I contacted John to see if I could glean any further information from him. He gave me a few memories that helped me try to pick up the trail. I found the old temple he described in the ancient narrow streets of Vadodara. Opposite, the buildings that once stood there had been torn down in the 1990s.

After wandering the neighbourhood for a few hours, I asked a local man who was sitting on his doorstep if he knew the Jyethimalla family. He remembered them. The younger generation had moved away from the town. I stayed a little longer, hoping to find an abandoned akhara, but alas, “progress” had done what it always seems to do for the traditions it deems valueless.

I told John who, while not surprised, was saddened to know his predictions were true. We talked a little of the annual Vajramuśti matches in Mysore Palace in Karnataka. John told me how the performance was a shadow of the brutal art he gained an insight into in the 1980s. From what I have seen, I would have to agree with him.

The ancient sport of Vajramuśti seems to have been reduced to a performance spectacle played out annually during the Mysore Dasara Festival. The combatants work a choreographed version of the sport and the referees ensure that nobody is seriously attacked.

I have been informed by a contact in India that there is still a garadi in Mysore that teaches the style to a limited number of students, but whether they are taught the full Jyesthimalla version of Vajramuśti remains to be discovered. My travels will one day lead me to Mysore where I will once again pick up the trail for Vajramuśti.

Thanks to Harjit Singh for the image used in this article. It depicts two Vajramuśti wrestlers in 1792.