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Gatka the traditional Sikh martial art of Sword Fighting, Meditation and Philosophy.
Gatka is the martial art of the Sikh warrior, and is famous for its efficiency with the shaster (sword) and lathi (staff).
Gatka has been proved for centuries, not just by the Sikhs but also the earlier practitioners of this art. However it is taught by the masters of this art that, Gatka, either when fighting in a battle or in simple self-defence is absolutely useless without `Gurbani'. As a higher level of spiritual consciousness is needed rather than just sheer knowledge.
Note :
The ninth Guru, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji was supposedly seen practising Gatka alone by the Mogul army, his speed and accuracy was both an alarming and surprising experience for them.Guru ji's Gatka was so powerful that he makes two slice of his enemy in the battle. From that very instance he was known as Teg Bahadur. However the real lift of Gatka began in his son's time Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji who is and was described as the most perfect person on earth, as he was very intelligent and could speak and write a number of different languages with equal comfort. He was spiritually blessed by his father and had great athletic abilities. He was known as the greatest master of weaponry of his time and it is assured that he was taught Gatka by his father and his followers from a very young age. His ability was much admired by his army of followers and to this day the fact that he and his army fought and won so many battles against countless numbers of Mogul soldiers with a very limited amount of men and weapons, to this day leaves historians all over the world surprised.
It has been learned that in 1984 when the Golden Temple was attacked by the Indian Army, it is said that four Singhs stood at each of the doors of the temple, swinging their Shasters (full length swords) in a basic movement from the Gatka and nobody could come within a ten-metre range of them.
Another incident in India, after the prime ministers' death, an eighty year old man was attacked whilst riding his scooter in Delhi by a mass of 3000 people. He was forced to defend himself and so took out his Kirpan (sword) and using his knowledge of Gatka, seriously injured and killed many of his attackers. When the police arrived at the scene the attackers fled, one of the officers present at the attack reported "all I could see was an old man standing sword in hand and numerous dead body's lying around him."
So clearly the effectiveness of Gatka has been proved for centuries, not just by the Sikhs but also the earlier practitioners of this art. However it is taught by the masters of this art that, Gatka, either when fighting in a battle or in simple self-defence is absolutely useless without `Gurbani'. As a higher level of spiritual consciousness is needed rather than just sheer knowledge.
Many Sikh warriors practiced Gatka & use it. |
