Shastarvidiya video

Sikh_soldier · 29th June 2009, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ariel

This is absolutely beautiful and, IMHO, quite useless in real war. I am not talking about technological differential ( machine gun vs. spear).
At the battle of Sobraon, British and Gurkha infantry penetrated heavily defended Sikh lines and engaged them in a close combat ( General Gough, as usual, trusted in bayonet only). Despite being outnumbered ( 15,000 vs. 40,000), the Brits prevailed quite easily. Obviously, martial arts expertise and choreography did not help the Khalsa force.
Martial arts of any kind are good only for movies, show-type competition and, occasionally, for one-on-one encounters. Wars require tactics, strategy, discipline, leadership and general fighting spirit of the troops.

Fair point, but that is assuming that the Khalsa force were all trained in and deployed this particular martial art.

Also here is another link to the martial art:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvYU0...rom=PL&index=8

fearn · 4th July 2009, 11:58 PM

Hi All,

Well, it's the Fourth of July (Happy 4th to all!) and I was cutting up some tomatoes for dinner. Ah hah, time to try cutting with a khukuri, and see how khukuris slice.

The answer: about as well as a table knife. Here were the factors that affected the test. 1. Neither khukuri was shaving sharp, as I'd been clearing brush with them and hadn't resharpened them yet. 2. The tomatoes were fairly firm romas, not squishy beefsteaks. After testing the khukuris and kitchen knives, I found that an ordinary table knife cut the roma tomato as well as the khukuris, at least in terms of the amount of force needed. Sharp kitchen knives of all sorts cut with much less force. The difference was gentle pressure from a single finger on the kitchen knives, vs. firm pressure from whole hand for the khukuris and the table knife.

Now, what can I generalize from this? Yes, it is possible to slice with a khukuri. On the other hand, it's not great, and it will work better if you have it really, really sharp (as with all slicing blades). So yes, it is more-or-less possible to slice someone's throat with a khukuri, as shown in the video. It's also possible to slice someone's throat with an axe, if it's sharp enough. I don't think that slicing is an ideal stroke for either khukuris or axes though, and I'm certainly not going to depend on it working, not that I ever intend to get into a khukuri fight with anyone. As we all know, there are better ways to use these blades.

Time to resharpen, I think.

Best,

F

KuKulzA28 · 24th August 2009, 12:24 AM

Thanks for doing the experiment fearn!

I wonder if there is a difference in kukri usage depending on the place and time? Perhaps the kukri was a utility blade for the Sikh/N.Indian soldier, but when a battle was to begin the next day, wouldn't he want his kukri sharpened up real good? After-all he wasn't going to be hacking at trees but a lot of unarmored men and a few armored ones? It may also be that he's doing this in the 'context' of being surrounded, and so a quick incapacitation may be better and quicker than a clean decapitiation.... after all, his own side's soldiers with their swords, maces, spears, axes, kurkis, guns, etc. can finish off a dying/crippled enemy, but a dying/crippled enemy is unlikely to kill him...

It may also be a stylistic matter. Some martial arts deem it unsafe to fully commit to a strike... and would rather win via manipulations/strategy and striking to weak targets. Perhaps it is a conservative approach?

Another thing that might affect why he is doing it that way is that he was showing manipulation techniques... and using you hand and kukri to manipulate the opponent up-close, it is very likely that in the time you take to raise your hand high to chop down, the opponent can escape and counter. Where-as transitioning right to a slice from a manipulation is quicker (but less fatal I think).

If you notice that's the same thing with the ax... there are a few chops, but when he is manipulating the opponent or the opponent's weapon, he uses a quick thrust or slice rather than rearing back and chopping. With the double axes he will entangle/disarm the opponent, then pin with one and chop with the other, or hack away with both...

Also, the video did not show the entire event, it's possible there was some more intuitive and conventional kukri use in there

caveman · 25th December 2009, 11:56 PM

please seee http://www.shastarvidiya.org/

regards

4th July 2009, 11:58 PM	#2
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Khukuri vs. tomato Hi All, Well, it's the Fourth of July (Happy 4th to all!) and I was cutting up some tomatoes for dinner. Ah hah, time to try cutting with a khukuri, and see how khukuris slice. The answer: about as well as a table knife. Here were the factors that affected the test. 1. Neither khukuri was shaving sharp, as I'd been clearing brush with them and hadn't resharpened them yet. 2. The tomatoes were fairly firm romas, not squishy beefsteaks. After testing the khukuris and kitchen knives, I found that an ordinary table knife cut the roma tomato as well as the khukuris, at least in terms of the amount of force needed. Sharp kitchen knives of all sorts cut with much less force. The difference was gentle pressure from a single finger on the kitchen knives, vs. firm pressure from whole hand for the khukuris and the table knife. Now, what can I generalize from this? Yes, it is possible to slice with a khukuri. On the other hand, it's not great, and it will work better if you have it really, really sharp (as with all slicing blades). So yes, it is more-or-less possible to slice someone's throat with a khukuri, as shown in the video. It's also possible to slice someone's throat with an axe, if it's sharp enough. I don't think that slicing is an ideal stroke for either khukuris or axes though, and I'm certainly not going to depend on it working, not that I ever intend to get into a khukuri fight with anyone. As we all know, there are better ways to use these blades. Time to resharpen, I think. Best, F

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24th August 2009, 12:24 AM	#3
KuKulzA28 Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: between work and sleep Posts: 731	Thanks for doing the experiment fearn! I wonder if there is a difference in kukri usage depending on the place and time? Perhaps the kukri was a utility blade for the Sikh/N.Indian soldier, but when a battle was to begin the next day, wouldn't he want his kukri sharpened up real good? After-all he wasn't going to be hacking at trees but a lot of unarmored men and a few armored ones? It may also be that he's doing this in the 'context' of being surrounded, and so a quick incapacitation may be better and quicker than a clean decapitiation.... after all, his own side's soldiers with their swords, maces, spears, axes, kurkis, guns, etc. can finish off a dying/crippled enemy, but a dying/crippled enemy is unlikely to kill him... It may also be a stylistic matter. Some martial arts deem it unsafe to fully commit to a strike... and would rather win via manipulations/strategy and striking to weak targets. Perhaps it is a conservative approach? Another thing that might affect why he is doing it that way is that he was showing manipulation techniques... and using you hand and kukri to manipulate the opponent up-close, it is very likely that in the time you take to raise your hand high to chop down, the opponent can escape and counter. Where-as transitioning right to a slice from a manipulation is quicker (but less fatal I think). If you notice that's the same thing with the ax... there are a few chops, but when he is manipulating the opponent or the opponent's weapon, he uses a quick thrust or slice rather than rearing back and chopping. With the double axes he will entangle/disarm the opponent, then pin with one and chop with the other, or hack away with both... Also, the video did not show the entire event, it's possible there was some more intuitive and conventional kukri use in there

25th December 2009, 11:56 PM	#4
caveman Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 14	please seee http://www.shastarvidiya.org/ regards