FReeper Canteen ~ Part VII of War in Ancient India ~ August 24, 2004

ANCIENT WARFARE

Part VII: War in Ancient India

Martial Arts - Fighting without weapons

"Fighting without weapons was a specialty of the Ksatreya (caste of Ancient India)and foot soldier alike. For the Ksatreya it was simply part and parcel of their all around training, but for the lowly peasant it was essential. We read in the Vedas of men unable to afford armor who bound their heads with turbans called Usnisa to protect themselves from sword and axe blows.

"Fighting on foot for a Ksatreya was necessary in case he was unseated from his chariot or horse and found himself without weapons. Although the high ethical code of the Ksatreya forbid anyone but another Ksatreya from attacking him, doubtless such morals were not always observed, and when faced with an unscrupulous opponent, the Ksatreya needed to be able to defend himself, and developed, therefore, a very effective form of hand-to-hand combat that combined techniques of wrestling, throws, and hand strikes. Tactics and evasion were formulated that were later passed on to successive generations. This skill was called Vajramukhti, a name meaning "thunderbolt closed - or clasped - hands." The tile Vajramukti referred to the usage of the hands in a manner as powerful as the vajra maces of traditional warfare. Vajramukti was practiced in peacetime by means of regular physical training sessions and these utilized sequences of attack and defense technically termed in Sanskrit nata."

Kalaripayattu, literally “the way of the battlefield,” still survives in Kerala, where it is often dedicated to Mahakali. The Kalari grounds are usually situated near a temple, and the pupils, after having touched the feet of the master, salute the ancestors and bow down to the Goddess, begin the lesson. Kalari trainings have been codified for over 3000 years and nothing much has changed.

The warming up is essential and demands great suppleness. Each movement is repeated several times, facing north, east, south and west, till perfect loosening is achieved. The young pupils pass on to the handling of weapons, starting with the “Silambam”, a short stick made of extremely hard wood, which in the olden times could effectively deal with swords. The blows are hard and the parade must be fast and precise, to avoid being hit on the fingers! They continue with the swords, heavy, and dangerous, even though they are not sharpened any more, as they are used. Without guard or any kind of body protection; they whirl, jump and parry, in an impressive ballet. Young, fearless girls fight with enormous knives, bigger than their arms and the clash of irons is echoed in the ground. The session ends with the big canes, favorite weapons of the Buddhist traveler monks, which they used during their long journey towards China to scare away attackers.

The “Urimi” is the most extraordinary weapon of Kalari, unique in the world. This double-edged flexible sword which the old-time masters used to wrap around the waist to keep coiled in one hand, to suddenly whip at the opponent and inflict mortal blows, is hardly used today in trainings, for it is much too dangerous.

This indigenous martial arts, under the name of Kalari or Kalaripayit exists only in South India today. Kalarippayat is said to be the world's original martial art. Originating at least 1,300 years ago, India's Kalaripayit is the oldest martial art taught today. It is also the most potentially violent, because students advance from unarmed combat to the use of swords, sharpened flexible metal lashes, and peculiar three-bladed daggers. More than 2,000 years old, it was developed by warriors of the Cheras kingdom in Kerala. Training followed strict rituals and guidelines. The entrance to the 14 m-by-7 m arena, or kalari, faced east and had a bare earth floor. Fighters took Shiva and Shakti, the god and goddess of power, as their deities. From unarmed kicks and punches, kalarippayat warriors would graduate to sticks, swords, spears and daggers and study the marmas—the 107 vital spots on the human body where a blow can kill. Training was conducted in secret, the lethal warriors unleashed as a surprise weapon against the enemies of Cheras.

Father and founder of Zen Buddhism (called C’han in China), Boddidharma, a Brahmin born in Kacheepuram in Tamil Nadu, in 522 A.D. arrived at the courts of the Chinese Emperor Liang Nuti, of the 6th dynasty. He taught the Chinese monks Kalaripayattu, a very ancient Indian martial art, so that they could defend themselves against the frequent attacks of bandits. In time, the monks became famous all over China as experts in bare-handed fighting, later known as the Shaolin boxing art. The Shaolin temple which has been handed back a few years ago by the communist Government to the C’han Buddhist monks, inheritors of Boddhidharma’s spiritual and martial teachings, by the present Chinese Government, is now open to visitors. On one of the walls, a fresco can be seen, showing Indian dark-skinned monks, teaching their lighter-skinned Chinese brothers the art of bare-handed fighting. On this painting are inscribed: “Tenjiku Naranokaku” which means: “the fighting techniques to train the body (which come) from India…”

Kalari payatt was banned by the British in 1793. (Refer to chapter on European Imperialism).

(For more information on martial arts refer to chapter India and China and Kalarippayattu and Kalari Payatte - The martial art of Kerala

(source: The Boddhisattva Warriors: The Origin, Inner Philosophy, History and Symbolism of the Buddhist Martial Art Within India and China - By Terence Dukes/ Shifu Nagaboshi Tomio p. 3 - 158-174 and 242. A Western Journalist on India: a ferengi's columns - By Francois Gautier Har-Anand Publications January 2001 ISBN 8124107955 p. 155-158).

Silambam – Indian Stick Fighting

The art Nillaikalakki Silambam was brought to the royal court during the reign of the Cheran, Cholan and Pandian emperors, once powerful rulers of India.

The art Nillaikalakki Silambam, which exists for more than five thousand years, is an authentic art which starts with the stick called Silambamboo (1.68 meters long). It originates from the Krunji mountains of south India, and is as old as the Indian sub-continent itself.

The natives called Narikuravar were using a staff called Silambamboo as a weapon to defend themselves against wild animals, and also to display their skill during their religious festivals. The Hindu scholars and yogis who went to the Krunji mountains to meditate got attracted by the display of this highly skilled spinning Silambamboo. The art Nillaikalakki Silambam therefore became a part of the Hindu scholars and yogis training, as they were taught by the Narikuravar.

They brought the art to the royal court during the reign of the Cheran, Cholan and Pandian emperors, once powerful rulers of India.

(source: Silamban – Indian Stick Fighting).

Next Tuesday, Part VIII of War in Ancient India

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on August 24:
1113 Geoffrey Plantagenet France, conquered Normandy
1591 Robert Herrick England, poet (Gather ye rosebuds)
1759 Wilbur Wilberforce England, crusaded against slavery
1808 Benjamin Grubb Humphreys Brig General (Confederate Army)
1808 Thomas Fenwick Drayton Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1891
1816 Sir Daniel Gooch laid 1st successful transatlantic cables
1827 Walter Husted Stevens Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1867
1828 George Hume "Maryland" Steuart Brig General (Confederate Army)
1872 Sir Max Beerbohm England, caricaturist/writer/wit (Saturday Review)
1886 William Francis Gibbs naval architect, designed Liberty ships
1890 Duke Kahanamoku Hawaii, 100m swimmer (Olympic-gold-1912, 20)
1898 Albert Claude Belgium, physician (Nobel 1974)
1899 Jorge Luis Borges Argentina, writer of fiction, essays (Labyrinths)
1900 Preston Foster Ocean City NJ, actor (Waterfront, Gunslinger)
1902 Fernand Braudel French historian (Civililization & Capitalism)
1905 Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, blues singer, a major influence on Elvis Presley.
1912 Durward Kirby Indianapolis Ind, TV announcer (Garry Moore Show){inventer of the Kirward Derby}
1924 Louis Teicher pianist (Ferrante & Teicher-Exodus)
1929 Yasir Arafat,murderer/leader of the Palestinian Liberation Movement.
1938 Mason Williams (musician: guitar: Classical Gas; Emmy Award-winning writer: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour [1968-69], The Glenn Campbell Goodtime Hour)
1943 John Cipollina SF Cal, rock guitarist (Quicksilver Messenger Service)
1944 Gregory B Jarvis Detroit Mich, astronaut (STS 25)
1946 Richard "Dick" N Richards Key West Fl, USN/astr (STS-28, 41, sk:50)
1949 Anna L Fisher St Albans NY, MD/astronaut (STS 51-A)
1958 Steve Guttenberg Bkln NY, actor (Police Academy, Short Circuit)
1961 Cal Ripken Jr all-star shortstop (Balt Orioles)
1962 Mary E Weber Cleveland Ohio, PhD/astronaut
1965 Marlee Matlin Ill, deaf actress (Children of Lesser God-Acad Award)

Deaths which occurred on August 24:
1103 Magnus III Berbein, king of Norway (1093-1103)
1217 Eustace "the Monk" French buccaneer, dies in battle
1313 Henry VII, Roman Catholic German king/emperor (1308/12-13)
1595 Thomas Digges English astronomer (Universe Infinite), dies
1888 Rudolph J E Clausius German physicist (thermodynamics), dies
1889 Jan E Matzeliger Suriname inventor (shoe lacing machine), dies
1943 Simone Weil French philosopher (Gravity and Grace) dies
1967 Henry J Kaiser industrialist (Boulder Dam, Liberty ship), dies at 85
1973 Billy Greene actor (Burton-One Man's Family), dies at 76
1975 Charles H Revson, US cosmetic magnate, dies at 69
1983 Jack Somack actor (Ball Four, Stockard Channing Show), dies at 64
1988 Max Shulman author (Dobie Gillis, Tender Trap), dies at 69
1991 Abel Kivlat US 1500m runner (Olympic-silver-1912), dies at 99
1991 Bernard Castro patented convertible couch, dies at 87
1998 E.G. Marshall actor, "The Defenders", "Nixon", "Absolute Power", dies at 88

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 BRUNHAVER RICHARD M. YAKIMA WA.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV,ALIVE IN 1998]
1965 DOREMUS ROBERT H. MONTCLAIR NJ.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1965 FRANKE FRED A. BROOKLYN NY.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98"]
1967 ALLARD RICHARD M. CHESANING MI.
1967 GOFF KENNETH B. JR. WARWICK RI.
1967 HESS JAY C. FARMINGTON UT.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 HOLTZMAN RONALD L. WHITEPOINT VA.
1967 SCHELL RICHARD J. MINNEISKA MN.
1968 HEEP WILLIAM ARTHUR SAN PEDRO CA.
1968 LADEWIG MELVIN E. ENGLEWOOD CO.
1968 READ CHARLES H. JR. MIAMI FL.
1969 HATCH PAUL G.
[08/25/69 ESCAPED]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0079 Mt Vesuvius erupts, buries Pompeii & Herculaneum
0410 Rome overrun by Visigoths, symbolized fall of Western Roman Empire
1215 Pope Innocent III declares Magna Carta invalid
1349 6,000 Jews are blamed for the plagued are killed in Mainz
1349 Jews of Cologne Germany set themselves on fire to avoid baptism
1542 In South America, Gonzalo Pizarro returns to the mouth of the Amazon River after having sailed the length of the great river as far as the Andes Mountains.
1572 King Charles IX orders massacre of thousands of French Protestants "St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre"
1608 1st English convoy lands at Surat India
1662 Act of Uniformity requires English to accept book of Common Prayer
1751 Thomas Colley executed in England for drowning supposed witch
1780 King Louis XVI abolishes torture as a means to get suspects to confess
1814 British sack Washington, DC, White House burned
1853 1st potato chips prepared by Chef George Crum (Saratoga Springs, NY)
1854 National emigration convention meets in Cleveland
1858 Richmond "Daily Dispatch" reports 90 blacks arrested for learning to read
1862 C.S.S. Alabama was commissioned at sea off Portugal's Azore Islands (beginning a career that would see over sixty Union merchant vessels sunk or destroyed by the Confederate raider.)
1869 Cornelius Swarthout patents waffle iron
1891 Thomas Edison patents motion picture camera
1894 Congress passes the first graduated income tax law, which is declared unconstitutional the next year.
1896 Thomas Brooks is shot and killed by an unknown assailant, begining a six year feud with the McFarland family.
1897 Newspaper editor Charles Dudley Warner published his often-quoted sentence, "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." The quotation is often mistakenly attributed to his friend Mark Twain.
1905 Chicago Cubs beat the Phillies 2-1 in 20 innings
1909 Workers start pouring concrete for Panama Canal
1912 NYC ticker tape parade for Jim Thorpe & victorious US olympians
1912 Territory of Alaska organized
1912 US passes Anti-gag law, federal employees right to petition the govt
1922 1st Phillie to hit for the cycle (Cy Williams)
1929 Palestinians attack orthodox Jews in Jerusalem
1932 1st transcontinental non-stop flight by a woman, Amelia Earhart
1936 Australian Antarctic Territory created
1936 FDR gives FBI authority to pursuit fascists & communists
1939 Germany & USSR sign 10-year non-aggression pact
1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established
1950 Operation Magic Carpet-45,000 Yemenite Jews move to Israel
1954 Communist Control Act passed, at height of McCarthyism
1954 International Amateur Athletic Federation recognizes Red China
1956 1st non-stop transcontinental helicopter flight arrived Wash DC
1959 Hiram L Fong sworn in as 1st Chinese-American senator while Daniel K Inouye sworn in as 1st Japanese-American Rep (Both from Hawaii)
1960 -127 F (-88ø C), Vostok, Antarctica (world record){More proof of global warming}
1961 Former nazi leader Johannes Vorster becomes South Africa's minister of justice
1963 1st 200 meter freestyle swum under 2 minutes (Don Schollander 1:58)
1963 John Pennel is 1st to pole-vault 17'
1967 Valin joins USAF (commies quake in fear)
1968 France became world's 5th thermonuclear power, explodes on Mururoa
1970 Bomb kills 1 at U of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center in Madison
1972 Gordie Howe & Jean Beliveau inducted in Hockey Hall of Fame
1976 Soyuz 21 returns to Earth
1979 NFL fans (60,916) choose old Patriots logo over new
1981 Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 yrs to life for Lennon's murder
1984 Pat Bradley set LPGA record for 9 holes with a 28 at Denver
1985 STS 51-I mission scrubbed at T -5m because of bad weather
1987 Announcement of possible Martian tornadoes
1989 Pete Rose is suspended from baseball for life for gambling
1989 Voyager 2 flies past Neptune
1990 Iraqi troops surround US & other embassies in Kuwait City
1991 Gorbachev resigns as head of USSR Communist Party
1991 Ukraine declares independence from the USSR
1992 Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida.
1994 Israel & PLO initialed accord giving autonomy to Palestinians in West Bank in education, health, taxation, social welfare & tourism
1995 Windows 95 debuts
1998 24 beads are donated to the Native American Museum of North America at the Crazy Horse Memorial, said to be the ones used in 1626 to buy Manhattan from Native Americans

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Liberia : Flag Day (1847)
Sierra Leone : President's Birthday
Windows 95 Birthday
Volcano Eruption Awareness Day
National Catfish Month

Religious Observances
RC, Ang, Luth : Feast of St Bartholomew, apostle

Religious History
0410 The Visigoths sacked Rome, disillusioning Christians who were trusting in God's protection of this ecclesiastical center of early Christianity. St. Augustine (354©430) later tacked this religious problem in his monumental work, "City of God" (ca.413ª27).
1456 In Mainz, Germany, volume two of the famed Gutenberg Bible was bound, completing a two-year publishing project, and making it the first full-length book to be printed using movable type.
1572 The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre took place all across France, where thousands of French Protestants (Huguenots) were slaughtered. depleted the intellectual, educational and financial reserves of the French nation.
1854 The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa was organized by German Lutherans. In 1930 this synod merged with the synods of Ohio and Buffalo to form the American Lutheran Church.
1906 Five Baptist congregations met at Jellico Creek, Whitley County, Kentucky, and formed the Church of God of the Mountain Assembly. The CGMA both pentecostal and holiness in doctrine reports a world membership today of 7,000.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Nothing beats reading a good book when there is work to do."

Translating Southern United States Slang to English
HEIDI - noun. Greeting

Top 10 Difference Between Cats & Dogs...
5. Dogs will sit on the car seat next to you. Cats have to have their own private box or they will not go at all.

Politically Correct Terms for Females...
She does not get PMS,
she becomes hormonally homicidal.

Feel Smarter -- Instantly!...
"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that but not with all those flies and death and stuff."

-- Mariah Carey

BRUNHAVER, RICHARD MARVIN

Name: Richard Marvin Brunhaver
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy Reserves, pilot
Unit: Attack Squadron 22, USS MIDWAY (CVA 41)
Date of Birth: 16 February 1940 (Wapto WA)
Home City of Record: Yakima WA
Date of Loss: 24 August 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 191500N 1054300E (WG753284)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C
Missions: 100+
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 May 1990 from one or more of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence
with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W.
NETWORK 03/97.

REMARKS: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The USS MIDWAY was one of three "large" aircraft carriers built
just after World War II. She was in Vietnam waters in February 1961,
patrolling the beat in the South China Sea while turbulence ashore continued
in Vietnam from French involvement, and in Laos. Back to Vietnam by 1965, F4
aircraft from Fighter Squadron 21 onboard the MIDWAY scored the first MiG
kills of the war. As it happens, fighters from the MIDWAY also shot down the
last MiGs of the Vietnam war in January 1973. The MIDWAY was recalled to
Vietnam to cover Operation Eagle Pull -- the evacuation of Saigon in 1975.

One of the aircraft that launched from the decks of the USS MIDWAY was the
A4 Skyhawk. Douglas Aircraft had created the A4 Skyhawk with the intent of
providing the Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack
and ground support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and
stability during take-off and landing as well as strength enough for
catapult launch and carrier landings. The plane was so compact that it did
not need folding wings for aboardship storage and handling. In spite of its
diminutive size, the A4 packed a devastating punch and performed well where
speed and maneuverability were essential.

LTJG Richard M. Brunhaver was an A4C Skyhawk pilot assigned to Attack
Squadron 22 onboard the USS MIDWAY. At 4:30 p.m. on August 24, 1965, he
launched in his Skyhawk as a member of a three-plane formation for an armed
road reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. (In Vietnam, "armed
reconnaissance" meant look for targets of opportunity and destroy them.)

At 5:45 p.m. the flight began a normal low-level bombing attack against a
bridge. Upon recovery from their bombing run, LTJG Brunhaver's aircraft was
observed to be on fire and he was advised to eject. The flight leader
observed a parachute fully deployed as the aircraft commenced to break up.
The parachute landed in an area of heavy brush and shortly afterward an
emergency radio beeper was heard. Due to low fuel states, the two planes in
his formation had to return to the carrier, but not before plotting the
location of the crash site and calling for helicopter search and rescue. The
search was called off because of darkness and started up again the next
morning with negative results.

LTJG Brunhaver was placed in a Missing in Action status. In July 1966,
information was acquired from a source which established the Brunhaver was a
prisoner in a North Vietnamese POW camp. His status was changed to Captured.

On February 12, 1973, Brunhaver was released from Hanoi along with 590 other
Americans. He had been a POW for 6 1/2 years. During his years of captivity,
Brunhaver was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing,
prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S.
Government. Many authorities who have examined this largely classified
information are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive
today. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return
unless all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the
honor of our country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly
held. It's time we brought our men home.

SOURCE: WE CAME HOME copyright 1977
Captain and Mrs. Frederic A Wyatt (USNR Ret), Barbara Powers Wyatt, Editor
P.O.W. Publications, 10250 Moorpark St., Toluca Lake, CA 91602
Text is reproduced as found in the original publication (including date and
spelling errors).
UPDATE - 09/95 by the P.O.W. NETWORK, Skidmore, MO

RICHARD M. BRUNHAVER
Lieutenant Commander - United States Navy
Shot Down: August 24, 1965
Released: February 12, 1973

(PICTURE) LCDR Richard M "Skip" Brunhaver the first Navy POW from
Washington State to be processed at Bremerton Naval Hospital, cuts his
birthday cake a day late as his mother Mrs. Walter C. Brulotte looks on. The
belated birthday party was held in LCDR Brunhaver's room at the Bremerton
Naval Hospital following his arrival there Saturday. LCDR Brunhaver's
father, George Brunhaver of Everson, Washington, older brother Lew, 34, and
two sisters, Mrs.Tessa Butler, 27, and Mrs. Dora Dahl, 26, were also on hand
for the Party.

LCDR Brunhaver was only 25 when his A-4 Skyhawk was shot down over North
Vietnam August 24, 1965. With the celebration of this birthday he turned 33
(and one day ).

November 1996
Richard Brunhaver and his wife Jan reside in Washington State.

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