Editing History of martial arts (section)

====Antiquity====

Classical [[Sanskrit epics]] contain the earliest written accounts of combat in India.<ref>Shamya Dasgupta (June–September 2004). "An Inheritance from the British: The Indian Boxing Story", ''Routledge'' '''21''' (3), p. 433-451.</ref> Stories describing [[Krishna]] report that he sometimes engaged in wrestling matches where he used knee strikes to the chest, punches to the head, hair pulling, and strangleholds.<ref name=Svinth/> Another unarmed battle in the ''Mahabharata'' describes two fighters [[boxing]] with [[Punch (strike)|clenched fists]] and fighting with [[kick]]s, finger strikes, [[knee strike]]s and [[headbutt]]s.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m04/m04013.htm Section XIII: ''Samayapalana Parva''], Book 4: ''Virata Parva'', ''[[Mahabharata]]''.</ref> Krishna Maharaja, who single-handedly overcame an [[elephant]] according to the Mahabharata, is credited with developing the sixteen principles of armed combat.

[[Kalaripayattu]], the most ancient and important form of India, was practiced in Kerala.  Its origins date back to the 12th century.  [[Unniyarcha]], [[Aromal Chekavar]] and others were Thiyya warriors of [[Chekavar]] lineage.  It was during their period that kalaripayattu spread widely in southern [[Kerala]].<ref name="23ff">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=My8DEAAAQBAJ&q=Chekavan&pg=PT42|title = Jumbos and Jumping Devils: A Social History of Indian Circus|isbn = 9780190992071|last1 = Nisha|first1 = P. R.|date = 12 June 2020| publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref><ref name="mm2nn">{{Cite book|last=Menon|first=A. Sreedhara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnAjqjhc1VcC&q=Aromal+chekavar|title=Kerala History and its Makers|publisher=D C Books|date=4 March 2011|isbn=978-81-264-3782-5|pages=81|language=en|access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref>

Many of the popular sports mentioned in the [[Vedas]] and the epics have their origins in military training, such as boxing ([[musti-yuddha]]), wrestling (''malladwandwa''), chariot-racing (''rathachalan''), horse-riding (''aswarohana'') and archery (''dhanurvidya'').<ref>{{cite book |title=The Timechart History of India |year=2005 |publisher=Robert Frederick Ltd. |isbn=0-7554-5162-7}}</ref> Competitions were held not just as a contest of the players' prowess but also as a means of finding a bridegroom.

Ten fighting styles of northern India were said to have been created in different areas based on animals and gods, and designed for the particular geography of their origin. Tradition ascribes their convergence to the 6th-century in the Buddhist university of [[Takshashila]], located in today's Punjab region.