Blog

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.

Jul 24 2022

Meandros: Ancient Greek Key to Life

The meander, or meandros in Greek, is associated with the river Meander in Asia minor. This lead modern people to believe the pattern suggested the winding flow of life and aimless movement. This could not be further from the true meaning of the meandros, a powerful symbol of self-determination and resilience.

Also known as a Greek Key, this decorative pattern was used in Ancient Greek architecture and ceramic arts. It carries a deeper meaning beyond its simple aesthetics. The meander is derived from an ancient hand grip utilised in wrestling and pankration. The modern day equivalent to the meandros grip is the s-grip.

This powerful grip held the wrestler’s opponent securely, no matter how much they fought back. On a metaphysical level, the meander was a symbol of the heroic spirit. It signified resilience in the face of adversity and the hero’s ability to overcome all challenges laid before him, regardless the odds.

An Ancient Greek red-figure ceramic painting depicts the hero Peleus gripping the nymph Thetis with the meander grip as she goes through several metamorphoses. The hero continues to grip her throughout. In mythology, Peleus marries Thetis after this, siring Achilles. The ceramic depiction is the key to the meaning of the meandros, as the grip of Peleus is stylised and then the motif is continued throughout the painting.

The meander reminds the WarYogin that he is able to challenge the gods. He holds the power to control his destiny in his own hands. He is able to face external and internal foes through the unification of his Self. Through the medium of combat, he is able to transcend, to defeat the gods and snatch control of his fate. By fighting both the inner and outer the holy war, he can achieve the atidevic state beyond the gods. This is a key part of the Silent Revolution of the WarYogin.

Feb 10 2022

Grappling and WarYoga

Grappling has always been an intrinsic part of WarYoga. The vyayam exercises come from Indian wrestling culture and the the name WarYoga has its origins in Jiu Jitsu.

While the WarYogin need not be a grappler, he must understand the roots of the physical practice which lie in Indian kushti wrestling. While the rhythmic exercises of grappling were once a pan-Indo-European phenomenon, Indian vyayam is one of the last living vestiges.

The exercises are designed to make a grappler stronger, more powerful, faster, more explosive and have greater endurance. They simulate movements used by grapplers, allowing muscle memory to do the work when the time to fight arrives.

The WarYogin performs the exercises with a single-mindedness. The highly regimented and structured vyayam element of his practice has a foil in the free-form grappling practice: “jor” in kushti, “rolling” in Jiu Jitsu parlance. This is where the flow state enacts the movements that have been implanted into the body through the systematic work.

It is during competition that grappling and WarYoga align the most. The spiritual practices of WarYoga, along with the exercises prepare the WarYogin for the physical and psychological rigours of facing one or more opponents who are seeking to defeat him. In practice, his teammates prepare the him with some give and take, allowing the WarYogin to work his game and perfect his craft. In competition, the WarYogin meets is given no quarter from those he squares off against. He gives none too. He stands alone. He represents his tradition and lineage, as well as his own unique story up to this point.

The name WarYoga also has its origins in grappling. To learn more, read the roots of WarYoga.

To get more from your WarYoga practice, get your copy of WarYoga by Tom Billinge and dive deep into this ancient Indo-European meta-physical tradition.