Although it has been completely overshadowed until now, the starting point of this long and arduous journey was when I first watched the rotating technique of the Indian stick arts on that TV programme and intuitively thought, “This is a stick art of the Turning Dharma Chakra!“
Afterward, my focus shifted entirely to “Chakra thought”, and the stick art became secondary even within the context of this book. Nevertheless, I continued to think about this rotating-stick technique from time to time during my travels.
The rotating technique of stick art is a distinctive feature of Indian martial arts, and previous research has shown that it is widespread throughout India. I have personally witnessed its presence in the states of Manipur, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Lathi Khera, West Bengal ↓
Silambam, Tamil Nadu ↓
Wadi Veeshal, the stick rotating technique of Kalaripayattu in Kerala ↓
Mardani Khel, Maharashtra ↓
It was particularly prominent in South India, where the Dravidian culture predominates, but in many states other than those mentioned above, many testimonies have been obtained that “it used to be played well in the past”. Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the stick rotating technique is the common language of pan-Indian martial arts, and India’s hidden national exercise performance.
Unfortunately, however, no clear testimony has yet been obtained that it is connected with the Chakra thought. When I tell them what I think, they respond with mild surprise and say “Well, that makes sense”, but I have not been able to confirm it as an explicit tradition of their own.
For them, this stick rotating technique was too much a part of their everyday life and culture, so much so that its meaning and origins had long ago been lost in a haze of oblivion.
This applies not only to the stick art but also to the Chakra thoughts. Most Indians enjoy the various Chakra designs as a normal part of their daily lives without any special awareness.
It is not widely recognised that they originated from the Suriya Chakra, that they originated from the wheel of the Ratha chariot, that they originated from the lotus flower wheel, that the axle or receptacle at its centre would have represented a God or Buddha, and that potentially all these have given rise to all Chakra designs and their ideologies.
For Indians, Chakras are as natural as air, like chopsticks and tatami mats for the Japanese, and they do not seem to even think about those anymore.
This is especially true of the rotating stick technique which merely symbolises the Chakras. Many Indians are not even aware that this stick art is universally practiced throughout the country, perhaps due to the high degree of independence of each state in India, which is divided by language.
However, according to an ancient tradition of Banati, a rope-turning technique that survives in Puri, a flame-turning technique with sticks and chains was performed at the forefront of the battlefield as a symbolic demonstration of the king’s martial prowess. It was an oral tradition derived from the Aryan Dhanur Veda (Science of Bow: a Veda covering various warfare techniques and tactics).
The Banati is demonstrated in the Jagannath temple’s annual Ratha Yatra parade and appears to symbolise the wheels of the Ratha chariot, as well as Vishnu Krishna’s Sudarshan Chakra. It is natural to understand its meaning in this context and its significance in the Ratha Yatra procession.
In Tamil, the ring-based fire-spinning technique is called “Chakra Churthru (wheel spinning)” and is a staple of festivals and events, along with the stick technique. In fact, a single rod is placed in the centre of the ring as a handle, and it can be seen that when the ring is turned, it is actually turned using the same technique as the stick. It is quite reasonable to assume that from a single stick technique at first, a ring was eventually created that embodied the chakras in a more realistic way.
The rotating ring of flames is the very motif of the Nataraja Shiva and Chakrat Alwar Vishnu statues, and from the overlap with the hexagram and other designs, it is definitely related also to the Yantras and the auspicious pattern Kolam.
The areas where this auspicious pattern is particularly prevalent overlap with Kerala, Tamil and other south Indian states where the art of stick-rotating is well developed, and the performance has probably been played at festivals as a dynamic, three-dimensional auspicious pattern to ward off misfortune, bring good fortune and invites the Gods and Goddess.
It has already been pointed out that the chakra-based auspicious pattern is India’s national design, transcending religious sectarianism.
On the other hand, in the traditional martial art of Gatka, handed down by the Sikhs in Punjab, a stick spinning technique called Marathi is widespread, along with a rope-ring spinning technique called Chakkar (Wheel), which is said to represent the Sudarshan Chakra (Sikhism is an emerging branch of Hinduism in the broad sense, which also embraces Hindu deities).
Unfortunately, the association with the Sudarshan chakra is with the rope-ring only, and no testimony has been obtained regarding the stick rotation technique, but this is exactly the same as in the Tamil case, and it is reasonable to assume that this chakkar is a development of the stick rotation technique.
Marathi stick-rotating technique, Gatka martial arts ↓
In East India, the stick-rotating technique is very much associated with the festival of the Goddess Durga. The possibility that the technique symbolises the Shri Chakra, which embodies her Shakti, cannot be ruled out. It is also highly possible that it symbolises the Sudarshan Chakra, as Durga, who is commonly depicted, often has the same Sudarshan Chakra as Vishnu…
As previously mentioned, in the Garba Dance of Gujarat, the goddess Durga is positioned as the immovable axle of the cosmic world in place of the male principal deity, and the festival is held to represent symbolically the way the phenomenal world revolves and evolves around Her like a wheel.
It is also highly possible that the rotating techniques of the stick arts have been performed as a symbolic representation of such a “Samsaric” turning of the wheel world “Cosmic Chakra”.
I have searched for the truth of India’s long and complicated history, in which the dynamic fusion of invading Aryan culture and being invaded indigenous culture took place, even though they were in conflict with each other.
The question then arises here as to which of the two the stick-rotating techniques originate from. If the very origin of the Chakra thought itself was derived from the wheel of the Ratha chariot, the symbol of Aryan military power, then it seems most natural to assume that the stick-rotating technique, which symbolises the Ratha wheel, also has its roots in their tradition.
If this is the case, it is possible that the rotating technique of flames, such as the one inherited in the Banati tradition of Odisha, which symbolizes the Chakra-Wheel – a representation of the military might, and glory of great kings and gods – was already being performed when the warrior god Indra had established himself as the supreme deity in North India around 1300 BC. Acting as a visual war drum and a dynamic rising flag representing the vigour force of the Ratha Chakra, this technique must have boosted the morale of the entire army.
Or it could be even older, having been performed already on the battlefield and at festivals as a symbol of the great Aryan power over other peoples in the times of Sintashta and Arkaim.
The basics of the rotating-stick technique are extremely simple: keep turning while alternately passing the stick between the two hands. In a way, it is far simpler than making a spoked wheel. It is no surprise that this has been practised as far back as 2000 BC.
There is a reason for thinking of this. On YouTube, where I myself present Indian martial arts, there are videos of traditional martial arts from all over the world, and in the traditional martial arts of Georgia and Hungary, as well as in the traditional martial arts of the Cossacks, the origin of the fighting techniques used by the Russian special forces, there are techniques that are very similar to the Indian rotating-stick techniques.
Furthermore, their sword manoeuvres were strikingly similar to the sword techniques of Indian martial arts like Kalaripayattu in Kerala.
Rotating techniques of stick arts in the traditional Hungarian martial art Baranta ↓
Rotating techniques of stick arts in traditional Georgian martial arts ↓
To the north of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea lies the vast South Russian Plain. It was precisely in this Great Plain region that the Indo-Aryans developed and utilised the wooden spoked-wheel. And Hungary borders Ukraine at its western end, while Georgia lies to the south of the Caucasus Mountains, which rise at its southern end.
Why do the cultures of Eastern Europe, such as Hungary, the Cossacks, and Georgia, centred on the Great Plains of Southern Russia and the cultures of Kerala in far-flung South India share sword manipulation and stick rotating techniques? It is inconceivable to me that the two could intersect except in ‘The Common Origins of the Aryans’.
Recall that Kalaripayat in Kerala was a hybrid, combining Dravidian martial arts with the Dhanur Veda (science of the bow) of Aryan martial arts.
Sword manipulation of Cossack martial arts ↓
It may be a little too technical to understand, but both the single and double sword manipulation techniques used in the Cossack martial arts above overlap exactly with the sword manipulation techniques in India, which at the same time are actually the rotating techniques of the stick arts.
Double stick rotating manoeuvres of Kalaripayattu ↓
Russian sword rotating technique ↓
I think it is the case throughout the world that stick art was originally practised as a safer way to learn the basics of deadly weapons such as swords and spears, based on the principle that ‘stick manipulation = sword and spear manipulation’.
One basic premise is that the rotating techniques of stick art were an essential sub-system of the basic training for mastering the sword and spear.
Just as the Japanese expression ‘Benkei the Spearman spun his spear like a water wheel’, the distinctive sword and stick rotating movements seen in Eastern Europe were most likely initiated by their common ancestors, the Aryans, who imitated the mighty turning “wheel” of their Ratha chariot.
Anyone who watched the technique in the Cossack video above, where the two swords are joined at the hilt and spun at high speed like a single stick (or a Naginata with blades at both ends), will agree with this.
Of course, this is only a hypothesis and difficult to prove, but from my research so far I think it is still most plausible that the rotating technique of stick art originated from the ‘Chakra Consciousness’ of the Aryans who first created the spoked wheel in human history.
However, if this reading line were correct, then the Indian stick-rotating arts would have been very old with its origins dating back at least 4,000 years. Of course, there is no clear evidence, but just for the sake of imagination, it was a grand historical tale.
It was brought to India by the Aryan expedition as an excellent military drill, and from the time of Indra, through the time of Buddha, to the Hindu thought of Vishnu Krishna and Shiva Shakti, it has continued to represent the divine authority of the chakras and has been loved by all Indians consistently. I think this is the most natural and probable scenario.
Why has this stick rotation technique, which has half faded into obscurity in Eastern Europe, been handed down to the present day in India, and why has it evolved to such an extent that it has become socially established as a core part of physical exercise and performance culture in its own right?
Under the colonial rule of the British Empire, traditional martial arts were harshly suppressed, but the art of stick-rotating managed to survive and continued to be practiced behind the scenes throughout the country. Even today, long after sword and spear combat became obsolete, it continues to be actively performed as a highlight of religious festivals and events. This is due to India’s long-standing association with the Holy Chakras, which has helped preserve and promote this unique form of physical art.”
It would be a stretch of the imagination, but I believe that at some point, when Buddha and Buddha Dharma came to be symbolised by the turning Wheel=Chakra, and it became popular under the reign of Emperor Ashoka, the stick-rotating technique also underwent a qualitative shift from a technique symbolising the great Indra-like Chakra-Varthin war king to a truly sacred art performance symbolising Buddha’s Dharma-Chakra Pravartana.
It is likely that it was during this period of Buddhist promulgation that this stick art separated itself from the symbols of military power and spread throughout the country, also as a purely religious performance symbolising holiness.
Because during a certain period in ancient India, after Emperor Ashoka, the influence of Buddha’s Dharma-Chakra spread like wildfire, and if the stick-rotating technique passed down through generations had existed among the people at that time, I can’t help but think that they would surely have overlaid it with the Buddha’s Dharma-Chakra.
One possible route for the transmission of the stick art is from the Mauryan dynasty of the Great Ashoka through the Satavahana dynasty of the Central Deccan to Tamil Nadu. It is likely that the rotating techniques of stick art also spread from north to south along the same route that holy Chakra symbols such as the Dharma Chakra and the Lotus Flower Chakra diffused with Buddhism.
The general spread of a new culture as a whole tends to occur (though it is very unfortunate) with military conquests and large movements of people during warfare. In such cases, the conquerors or migrant people must have moved with their legions, and it is highly likely that they would have brought the stick-rotating technique of martial tradition with them and passed it on.
After the unification of India by the Great Ashoka, highways were built throughout the empire which, along with the distribution of goods, activated a constant exchange of people and culture between north and south India.
The Sangam period, which is considered the cradle of Tamil martial arts and the origin of Silambam, flourished for several centuries after the AD. It overlaps with the extension of the period beginning with Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century BC and ending with the Satavahana dynasty around AD, when various cultures spread out from North India.
If the rotating stick technique is, at the same time, a symbolic performance of the composite chakra philosophy, it is natural to assume that it has always been propagated together as an inextricably linked cultural device, regardless of changes in the chakra philosophy.
Later, when Kerala separated from the Tamil world, the Aryan martial art of Dhanur Veda was introduced to Kerala by Brahmins who came south from north-west India. There, the stick-rotating techniques were reinstalled in a more Hindu form and firmly rooted in the Dravidian world.
As we have seen in the Paika martial art tradition of Odisha, in ancient India not only the Kshatriyas, who were full-time warriors, but also many peasants and other commoners were recruited and sent to the front in times of war.
Therefore, it is highly likely that basic military drill was widespread at the mass level, where the rotating techniques of the stick, adopted as basic training to soldiers for mastering the sword and spear, were shared and may have played a role in the spread of the stick-rotating art at the grassroots level.
Then, in times of peace, the stick art would have been performed and danced by the ex-servicemen in a spectacular way, as a symbolic Chakra icon to praise the greatness of the Gods or Buddha at village festivals.
Eventually, when Buddhism almost died out in South India, perhaps the stick-rotating art was also completely separated from the Buddha’s Dharma Chakra and blended into people’s daily lives as an art symbolising the various Chakra thoughts of Hinduism. And the memory of the Buddha was completely lost from the hearts of the people…
The above is a recently posted video of Silambam stick art, where if you look at it all with an open mind – a rotating stick, with the ribbons tied at the ends of it, with the fire lit on the ends of it, and the spinning ring of flames – you will be convinced that these are nothing other than the rotating sacred wheel or the unfolding auspicious Chakra patterns.
The people of India have been the people of the Holy Chakra for over 4000 years. It is precisely because of their love and devotion to the Chakras, to the extent that it could be called a Sacred Chakra Empire, that the art of stick-rotating has continued to develop and be passed on to the next generation.
With great respect to “India, the Land of Holy Chakra”, I ultimately conclude that.
But this stick-rotating art actually does not have a common name throughout India. Each state calls it by various names in their local languages, and even there is little awareness among people that it is a national exercise.
So, I decided to give a new name (for people outside of India, such as in Japan) to the national sport exercise of the “Sacred Chakra Empire” that would be appropriate to its origin.
Its name is “Bharatia Stick Art” in English. In Japan, it is called “Bharatia” for short.
It is not well known to foreigners, but just as our country has two names, Nippon (self-named) and Japan (named by foreigners), India has two official names for its country.
One is the English name India, called by foreigners, and the other, named by the Indians themselves, is “Bharat”, derived from the national epic Mahabharata.
The story of the Aryan warrior Arjuna and the indigenous Krishna working together to fight against Adharma in the great war of the Bharata clan symbolizes the history of the Aryan and Native people merging to create India, the country of Dharma. In a spiritual and cultural identity, the people of India are calling their country Bharat with high pride.
“Bharatia” is a word I coined by combining “Bharat” with “ia”, which means “of the land or region,” and is also an overlay on the Hindi word “Bharatiya”, which means “of India”. It is the same sense as the English word “china” for ceramics of Chinese origin.
There is no better name, I believe, to dedicate to the exercise that would have witnessed and embodied the history of Indian Chakra thoughts always as its companion for thousands of years.
Then, the sub-title is “Dharma Chakra Drive”, and for the regions of Chinese character usage, “転法輪棒術”.
This literally means the turning of the Dharma Chakra, the symbol of the Republic of India. At the same time, it symbolizes the never-ending movement of Dharma Chakra (Wheel of truth and justice) that has been consistently driven (rotated) throughout the long history of India by all the predecessors who have been advancing toward the righteousness of the world, whether by Buddha, Ashoka the great, Vishnu Krishna, Mahatma Gandhi, or Goddess Durga, all who defeated the Adharma.
In Indian languages, the word “dharma” has carried many meanings. Derived from the original meaning of “that which supports and sustains the world”, it has come to mean God’s providence, the law of the world, justice in the world, and the duties that a human being must work for the good of the world. When “Dharma,” which encompasses all of these, declines, the order of the world collapses and people’s hearts fall into immeasurable suffering.
And come to think of it, there may never be a time when “Dharma” is more in crisis than the present age in which we live.
According to myth, when Dharma declines and Adharma infects the world, Lord Vishnu comes in the form of Avataras to destroy evil with the Sudarshan Chakra and restore Dharma. But is Dharma really something given to us by God? Is it, not something that can be restored and maintained through one’s own efforts and devotion?
This was the true meaning of the Dharma Chakra, raised as a symbol of the new India, which had won its independence by uniting the hearts of the people in a resistance movement that upheld Dharma against the overwhelming Adharma of British colonial rule, wasn’t it?
Baratia stick art is an excellent form of workout that has its origins in Indian martial arts. At the same time, however, it also holds infinite value and potential as a spiritual movement that goes beyond the realm of mere exercise.
When you grasp a single Danda stick and draw the trajectory of the rotating Chakra in the air, it embodies the depth of Indian thought that has endured for thousands of years.
It is the wheel unfolding from the central axle, the great power of God, Surya illuminating the world, Buddha’s enlightenment, the Bodhisattva’s compassion, Vishnu Krishna’s overcome of evil, Ashoka’s repentance, Mahatma Gandhi’s soul, the Goddess’ Shakti, the Nataraja’s dance, the auspicious Kolam pattern inviting Lakshmi, the Stupa, Mt. Meru, the unfolding Prakriti, the whole universe revolving and evolving from the centre, all of these.
I strongly hope that this stick art will be officially re-evaluated as the National Exercise of the Republic of India.
On a scale unimaginable to those who have inherited it in its native land, this stick art represents the very soul of India. This should be so obvious to readers who have read this far that it needs no explanation.
And it is not limited to India. I personaly would like to see this stick art spread to people all over the world, especially to Buddhists as a symbolic exercise of Buddha’s Dharma Wheel.
If my reading line is correct, it is highly likely that it was once widespread throughout India as an art symbolising Buddha’s Dharma Chakra. However, it could be said that there are no Buddhists today who consciously practice the stick-rotating based on its origin (other than myself…). This is a great pity.
In Asian Theravada Buddhist countries such as Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia, Buddha’s Dharma Wheel has become a centripetal symbol of national unity. In India, as I have already mentioned previously, Ambedkar Buddhism, which cooperated with these Theravada countries, is emerging as a new force. I strongly hope that the Dharma Chakra stick art will spread among these Buddhist people.
The art of stick-rotating that should have once symbolized Buddha’s Dharma wheel. If it were to be revived by the old-fashioned Theravada Buddhists, who are said to be the closest to the time of the Buddha, or by the new Buddhists in mainland India, nothing would be more wonderful.
Of course, I have great expectations for Mahayana Buddhists in East Asia, including Japan. Although the presence of Buddha’s Dharma Wheel in various Mahayana sects has declined relatively, it is still a universal symbol of entire Buddhism. In fact, it would be a good opportunity for them to recall the origin of Buddhism by returning to the Buddha’s Dharma Chakra Pravartana 2,500 years ago.
The distinctive feature of this stick art is that it specialises in holding a long stick in the middle and simply rotating it around and around one’s own body. There is completely no intention to strike anyone else.
If you hold one end of a long stick with both hands and strike your opponent with the opposite end, it becomes a weapon of great destructive power. However, if you just grip the middle of the stick with one hand and simply turn it around, even if someone were to enter the turning radius of the stick and be struck, it would not cause much damage.
Thus, this technique, which specialises in rotating a stick, is completely abandoning the intention of “attacking anyone”, and is dedicated to “Ahimsa, non-violence and non-killing”. In addition, this characteristic of “grasping the middle of the stick” overlaps with the Buddha’s teaching of “the middle pass”, and both together are a perfect representation of Buddhist ideals.
Of course, it cannot be a mere ideological practice. It is a workout that has been used for thousands of years to develop the physical capabilities of warriors, and its effectiveness as an exercise is well guaranteed.
It has great potential as a modern hybrid movement combining both the spiritual context and the value of superior physical exercise.
~to be continued~
INDIA~The Land of Holy Chakra 