It is a martial art, but it is also a spiritual practice, which aims to bring balance to our being. Gatka was employed in historical Sikh wars and has been thoroughly battle-tested, when there was a need to defend the dharma.
The National UK Gatka Championship was held this year in Derby. Sangat TV broadcast-ed the entire event live throughout the day, while Sikh Channel recorded the highlights for a later broadcast.
Today, the International Sikh Martial Arts Academy organized the first Hola Mohala Virsa Sambhal Gatka tournament under the aegis of the Gatka Federation of India (GFI).
Twenty years after the murder of Mia Zapata inspired a self-defense movement in Seattle, Indians are responding to a widely-reported gang-rape case in Delhi by joining similar violence prevention courses. Only they’re doing so over the advice of religious opponents.
A two day seminar is being held at The Central Gurdwara (Khalsa Jatha), ... London on the 13th and 14th October 2012 between 10.00 am to 6.00 pm. It will be a unique opportunity for the novice to the experienced martial artist to train with Nidar Singh Nihang.
If anyone knows anything at all about Sikhs it is their martial antecedents. It is usually the first (and often the only) topic that Sikhs and non-Sikhs touch upon when the subject is Sikhs or Sikhi.
The Sikh community is holding its first martial arts competition in the Silicon Valley. The Sikh community is not unfamiliar to battle—both physical and political—in California and is ready to take on this competition with skill and strength.
A former factory worker from the British Midlands may be the last living master of the centuries-old Sikh battlefield art of shastar vidya. The father of four is now engaged in a full-time search for a successor.
A group of Milton High School students bring weapons to school, and no one is complaining. But don’t worry, it’s the school’s fencing team and the blades must be in locked containers and supervised when brought to school or tournaments.
About a month ago, I received a new Kirpan from Jot Singh Khalsa (KhalsaKirpans.com) and this particular one has made me think about the purpose of the Kirpan as more than a symbol but also as a practical tool.
A short drive away from Windsor Castle, a group of ferocious-looking, blue-turbanned men are trying to preserve a martial art that frightened the life out of the British when they ruled India.
