Kushti has a great deal of yoga type exercises and other internal principles. One of the largest problems when talking about Indian Wrestling is the many forms. There are many influences including Older, Modern, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, British, Northern, Southern and personal "styles" of the coaches or gurus. So you may hear that Indian wrestling is this or that, good and bad. There are many "flavors" like the regional curry dishes of India!.
Iranian 'Kushti' too has similar things.. Not sure which influenced which.. I think both to be unique with some similarities..
Generally speaking sport bouts last for a predetermined amount of time. Generally 5-15 minutes. It is something quite flexible.
The wrestlers seldom wear more that a loincloth (a janghiya) so the wrestling style reflects this.
Matches begin from the standing posture. There is no particular distance that one must stand. There is usually a jockey here for position and subsequently an entry and clinch. From the clinch there is more jockeying for position and looking for the takedown. At any time the wrestler may move back out. Here it is like a chess game. They place such a high importance on the entry and clinch because if done properly you will have an advantage. Since all moves are tied together as a thread (Sutra) there is move and countermove. Everything is about posture, position, weight, etc. It is in the little things. It's a takedown game. There is a lot of 'pummeling', sweeps, throws, and lifts from here. The modern version does not go past the takedown. Although, the older (Mallayuddha) is replete with submissions, and it resembles Catch wrestling if anything at all.
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