Today [Saturday 6th January] I travelled down from the West Midlands to Shepherds Bush London for the first Shastar Vidiya seminar of 2018. In this blog post I want to focus on the key idea I took away which is that of the ‘Tiger’s pounce’.
In combat a key concern is that of entry. Below is what many may deem an exhaustive list of possible stratagems:
a. Absorbing – tactically retreating and then responding to an attack.
b. Exchanging – getting to a distance where you can cross hands.
c. Sparring [in the sense of fencing] – going in and out of that distance where combat takes place.
All of the above are applicable under the following three scenarios:
1. Both parties are stationary.
2. Attacker approaches a stationary opponent.
3. Both parties are mobile.
Today Gurdev Nidar Singh Nihang introduced a different stratagem which sounds incredibly straightforward at first, and one which many would see as a ‘kamikaze’ method of an aggressive novice.
The Tiger’s pounce is exactly what it says on the tin. It is a pouncing movement the goal of which is to enter the combat distance without obstacle or counter attack, whilst landing at that place and time in order to fulfil one’s own attacking objective. This, as the name suggests, is inspired by observing wild. Though such animals may strut around and gesture when facing one another [typically in intra species combat], when it comes to combat, they almost certainly pounce at one another in the form of a seemingly direct head on fully committed attack.
The ancient forefathers of Shastar Vidiya, being avid hunters [as described in ancient texts from the Mahabharata to Sikh texts such as the Dasam Granth] have long observed this combat method in nature as well as then experiencing the raw ‘animalistic’ reality of the battlefield. Lines of men face to face essentially have one mode of engagement – a forward charge.
The question arises - is this method applicable in the battlefield and observed in nature simply because of circumstances of the environment in which they are found and lack of alternative. Or is it that some evolutionary process has resulted in this strategy. Moreover for our interests is this something which has a discernable science, i.e. a methodology and set of principles which underlie this ‘pounce’ which as martial artist we can hone and perfect as an alternative to the three methods above.
Shastar Vidiya answers this with a definitive yes. In fact, I would go as far to say it is probably the essence and key aspect of the art. Known variously by the term chatka (quick kill) and encapsulated by the phrase Turt, Furt, Shrapa (with quickness of mind and feet pounce) - the tiger’s pounce is the key skill we seek to develop.
The seminar’s main focus was defending against knife attacks – and the Gurdev went to considerable pains to point out that attacks of this kind are varied and extremely non-regular, further warning against complacency which could be borne of learning set techniques against contrived set attacks. It was in this context he again expounded upon the ‘Tiger’s pounce’ as a strategy of combating an aggressive frenzied knife attack.
It is beyond the scope of this blog to be instructional, or even to fully describe the full methods of training, in achieving this pounce. But I hope to whet your appetite and pique your interest by giving a terse description of the method below:
1. Understand the range at which your opponent could first strike.
2. Just before you walk over the threshold of the initial striking range observe the structure and position of your opponent. From this extrapolate and therefore anticipate what will be the most likely attack.
3. Cross this threshold using the pounce - i.e. rather than step instead spill forward to cross this threshold in a manner which is unpredictable to your opponent. This spilling step should both cover a distance and have a timing which are both alien and therefore indiscernible from your opponent’s perspective. Therefore catching them either on the hop, mid-strike or both.
4. Whilst mid-pounce, based on your extrapolation from step 2, enter at that place where the strike you anticipated passes through empty with minimal or no interference from yourself.
Sounds simple? Well I think those of you reading this with experience of martial arts will firstly understand the difficulty and the skill required to complete each of the steps above, as well as seriously questioning whether it can be achieved consistently and trained for.
To answer these questions as well as gain a real insight into the many component parts of this strategy is, as already stated, well beyond the scope of this blog. However, in future posts I intend to show various elements of Shastar Vidiya all of which feed into how one can progress to this skill set. To begin with see the video in my last blog post ‘5-a-day’.
As always if you are able to attend any of our classes or seminars please do so and hopefully you will be able to experience and gain an insight into this first hand.
I am based in the Birmingham area and have regular classes as well as having day workshop coming up on 20th January 2018. For further details get in touch via the social media contacts given below.
Big thanks to Kamal Dhiman for his vast martial arts experience and the makers of manglacharan.com for sharing their knowledge too. Check them both out.
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