When you think of yoga, you likely imagine a room full of spandex-clad people in unnatural positions. WarYoga seeks out the original martial roots of the ancient yogic tradition, a far cry from heated yoga studios and warrior poses.
When, in 1908, the Raja of Aundh codified the Surya Namaskar (sun salutation) for the first time, he introduced the downward dog and upward dog into the sequence so familiar to yogis across the world. But he didn’t create these two positions. Neither did an ancient yogi. These were taken directly from the exercises used by Indian Kushti wrestlers for centuries.
Vyayam is a system of strength and conditioning that has been utilised by wrestlers on the Indian subcontinent since time immemorial. Utilising simple, but effective bodyweight training, as well as some tools of strength, vyayam has created some of the most powerful wrestlers in history, including the famous Great Gama, who defeated all comers in Asia and Europe in the early 20th century.
At the heart of the practice is the bethak (sometimes called the “Hindu squat”) and the dand (“Hindu push up”). These are also combined into a burpee like exercise called a sapate. Add to this tools that specifically train grappling needs such as shoulder mobility, hip drive, and grip strength, and you have a system developed over centuries specifically for grapplers.
WarYoga takes these vyayam exercises and makes them accessible for modern grapplers looking for an edge in their strength and conditioning, while maintaining healthy joints.
But that’s not where it ends. Complementary to the Indian system, is a related system in Iran called Varzesh-e Pahlavani(“Sport of Champions”) that also was designed for wrestlers. These two systems both come from a common Indo-European root, but also cross-pollinated over time, influencing each other.
Combining parts of both vyayam and varzesh, WarYoga is a complete system for grapplers which is continually expanding to encompass more of the Indo-European grappling traditions from Pakistan, to Ancient Greece, to the folk wrestling styles of the British Isles.
To learn more about these ancient grappling systems, you can read the first two WarYoga books by Tom Billinge, check out the WarYoga website, as well as the Instagram and YouTube channels.
