Gatka
ਗੱਤਕਾSikh martial art from Punjab, per the Indian Ministry of Sports a traditional style of Nihang warriors. Today also a sport with stick and leather shield.
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Training
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Organisation & Competition
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About Gatka
Gatka is a martial art of the Sikhs from Punjab. In December 2020 the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports described it as a traditional fighting style of the Nihang Sikh warriors, used for self-defence and as a sport. The Australian public broadcaster SBS (2017) states that its present form arose in the late nineteenth century. According to the same broadcaster, the British banned swords and the Sikh custom of carrying a sword during their nineteenth-century rule, and martial arts survived as folk games in which a stick replaced the sword. Since 1920, according to SBS, gatka has been divided into traditional rasmi and sporting khel. Kevin Menard, in Green's encyclopedia of martial arts, cautiously writes that the British singlestick, widespread across the empire, probably influenced gatka, and that its basic practice sword and its cuts closely resemble the singlestick.
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The rules of sporting gatka were, according to SBS, written down in 1936 by Major Kartar Singh Akali, and Punjab University in Lahore held inter-university tournaments before the partition of India. In sporting gatka, according to the daily The Tribune, wooden sticks three to three and a half feet long and shields of dried hide are used. According to SBS, the Gatka Federation of India and the Punjab Gatka Association introduced sportswear with a face guard at all competitions. According to SBS, gatka is also an integral part of the Hola Mohalla festival in Anandpur Sahib, where hundreds of Nihang Sikhs demonstrate their art. The Ministry of Sports included gatka in the Khelo India Youth Games 2021 and supports it in the Khelo India programme, and the Indian Olympic Association included it in 2023 as a demonstration sport at the National Games in Goa. Sources describe the relationship of gatka to the broader Sikh art of shastar vidya differently: SBS lists it as a part of it, while English Wikipedia distinguishes them by saying that shastar vidya is deadlier and gatka more of a display.
History
The Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports states in a press release of 20 December 2020 that gatka originates from the state of Punjab and, as the traditional fighting style of Nihang Sikh warriors, is used both for self-defence and as a sport.
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The Australian public broadcaster SBS (2017), based on the account of Harjit Singh Grewal, states that under British colonial rule in the nineteenth century the British banned the sword, the neja, gatka and the Sikh custom of carrying a sword, and that the martial arts survived as folk games in which a stick replaced the sword. According to SBS, gatka's present form arose in the late nineteenth century and since 1920 it is divided into the traditional rasmi and the sport khel. The rules of gatka were written in 1936 by Major Kartar Singh Akali, director of physical education at a college in Ferozepur, and before the partition of India Punjab University in Lahore held inter-college and inter-university tournaments. The English Wikipedia adds that gatka arose as a style of stick fighting within the branch of shastar vidya and that the British banned it after the Second Anglo-Sikh War. Kevin Menard writes in Green's encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World that the British singlestick, a stick exercise widespread across the empire, apparently influenced the Sikh art of gatka, in which the basic training sword and its cuts closely resemble those of singlestick.
How it differs
Sources describe the relationship of gatka to the Sikh art of shastar vidya differently. SBS (2017) calls it an integral part of the extensive Sikh art of shastar vidiya. The English Wikipedia distinguishes traditional shastar vidya and gatka by lethality and display: according to it, shastar vidya is deadlier and gatka more of a show. Since 1920, according to SBS, traditional gatka rasmi and sport gatka khel have been distinguished.
Technique
In sport gatka, according to the newspaper The Tribune (2023), wooden sticks three to three and a half feet long are used with shields of dried hide that protect the opponent. SBS says the stick and shield farri replace sword and shield in training. The English Wikipedia says the sticks are called soti and the shields farri.
Training
The English Wikipedia states that the training areas are called akhara, training begins with footwork and whole-body movement patterns called pentra, weapons come later, and it is customary to salute the weapons before a fight. The syllabus of the gatka diploma course at Khalsa College (2017 to 2018, two semesters) teaches the rules and equipment according to federation rules and includes pentra, fighting with single soti, soti with farri and freestyle.
Competition
On 20 December 2020 the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports approved the inclusion of gatka, kalaripayattu, thang-ta and mallakhamb in the Khelo India Youth Games 2021 in Haryana. In May 2023 the Indian Olympic Association included gatka as a demonstration sport in the National Games 2023 in Goa. According to SBS, the Gatka Federation of India and the Punjab Gatka Association made a sports kit or a T-shirt and shorts, trainers and a face guard compulsory clothing at all competitions. The English Wikipedia describes a sport bout as lasting roughly three minutes with alternating attack and defence, with one point for a hit to the lower body, two for the upper torso and three for the back and head, while hits to the face and ears are fouls. According to it, tournaments of the World Gatka Federation include the disciplines single soti and farri soti for individuals and teams, and demonstrations with weapons.
Today
According to SBS, gatka is an integral part of the Hola Mohalla festival in Anandpur Sahib, where hundreds of Nihang Sikhs display their art. According to a written answer in parliament of July 2022, the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports counts it among the domestic sports supported by the Khelo India programme, and gatka was part of the third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games. India has the Gatka Federation of India, according to whose rules it is taught at Khalsa College, and the National Gatka Association of India, whose president Harjeet Singh Grewal commented on the inclusion of gatka in the Khelo India games. We have not been able to clarify the relationship between the two organisations from the sources. The English Wikipedia states that Punjabi University in Patiala offers a one-year gatka diploma course and that all-India inter-university tournaments have been held since 2011.
Frequently asked questions
Where does gatka come from?
According to the Indian Ministry of Sports, from the state of Punjab, where it is a traditional fighting style of the Nihang Sikh warriors.
What do you fight with in gatka?
In sporting gatka with wooden sticks three to three and a half feet long and shields of dried hide, according to The Tribune.
Is gatka part of the Khelo India games?
Yes. The Indian Ministry of Sports included it in December 2020 in the Khelo India Youth Games 2021 in Haryana.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.