Searching For a Successor
A former factory worker from the British Midlands may be the last living master of the centuries-old Sikh battlefield art of shastar vidya. The [44-year-old] father of four is now engaged in a full-time search for a successor.
The basis of shastar vidya, the “science of weapons” is a five-step movement: advance on the opponent, hit his flank, deflect incoming blows, take a commanding position and strike.
It was developed by Sikhs in the 17th Century [C.E.] as the young religion came under attack from hostile Muslim and Hindu neighbours, and has been known to a dwindling band since the British forced Sikhs to give up arms in the 19th Century….
On his first day of training [with his 80-plus-year-old master], the frail old man handed him a stick and instructed Mr. Singh to hit him. When he tried, the master threw him around like a rag doll.
“He was a frail old man chucking me about and I couldn’t touch him,” he says. “That definitely impressed me….”
But even his most advanced pupils have only recently reached the stage where they can fight him with weapons without getting hurt….
“It is not just martial technique, there is a lot of oral tradition and linguistic skills that has to be there as well,” he explains.
