[9] The Mahabharata tells of fighters armed only with daggers besting lions, and describes a prolonged battle between Arjuna and Karna using bows, swords, trees, rocks and fists.

The Chinese monk Xuanzang writes that the emperor Harsha was light on his feet despite his advancing age and managed to dodge and seize an assailant during an assassination attempt.

[13] Many of the popular sports mentioned in the Vedas and the epics have their origins in military training, such as boxing (musti-yuddha), wrestling (maladwandwa), chariot-racing (rathachalan), horse-riding (aswa-rohana) and archery (dhanurvidya).

They specialized in one or more of the important weapons of the period including the spear (vel), sword (val), shield (kedaham), and bow and arrow (vil ambu).

Another Buddhist sutra called Hongyo-kyo (佛本行集經) describes a "strength contest" between Gautama Buddha's half-brother Prince Nanda and his cousin Devadatta.

[3] Hindu priests of the traditional gurukula still teach unarmed fighting techniques to their students as a way of increasing stamina and training the physical body[citation needed].

[11][15] The earliest treatise discussing the techniques of malla-yuddha is the Malla Purana (c. 13th century), unlike the earlier Manasollasa which gives the names of movements but no descriptions.

[29] Royal palaces and market places had special arenas where royalty and common people alike amused themselves by watching matches such as cockfights, ram fights, and wrestling.

One account describes an akhara in Chandragiri where noblemen practiced jumping exercises, boxing, fencing and wrestling almost every day before dinner to maintain their health, and observed that "men as old as seventy years look only thirty".

In the 16th century, Madhusudana Saraswati of Bengal organised a section of the Naga tradition of armed sannyasi in order to protect Hindus from the intolerant Mughal rulers.

[38][39] Coming from a hilly region characterized by valleys and caves, the Marathas became expert horsemen who favoured light armour and highly mobile cavalry units during war.

[21] Utilizing speed, focused surprise attacks (typically at night and in rocky terrain), and the geography of Maharashtra, Karnataka, & South India; the Maratha rulers were successfully able to defend their territory from the more numerous and heavily armed Mughals.

[24] More European modes of organizing kings, armies and governmental institutions, and the increasing use of firearms, gradually eroded the need for traditional combat training associated with caste-specific duties.

Sikhs – already known among Indians for their martial practices – were particularly valued by the colonists as soldiers and guards, and were posted throughout not only India but Southeast Asia and other parts of the British Empire[citation needed].

The resurgence of public interest in kalaripayat began in the 1920s in Tellicherry as part of a wave of rediscovery of the traditional arts throughout south India which characterised the growing reaction against British colonial rule.

[48] The Arthashastra, c. 4th century BCE, typically attributed to Chanakya chief advisor of Chandragupta Maurya is one of the earliest treatises on statecraft, including diverse topics such as economics, politics, diplomacy and military strategy.

The flexible nature and lightweight of Indian swords allows for speed but provides little defensive ability, so that the swordsman must instead rely on body maneuvers to dodge attacks.

Stances and forms traditionally made up the early training before students progress to free sparring with sticks to simulate swords in an exercise called gatka, although this term is more often used in English when referring to the Panjabi-Sikh fighting style.

[citation needed] In the Kama Sutra the sage Vātsyāyana enjoins all women to practice fighting with single-stick, quarterstaff, sword and bow and arrow in addition to the art of love-making.

On the other hand, the longer cavalry spear was made of wood, with red cloth attached near the blade to prevent the opponent's blood from dripping to the shaft.

From this was eventually developed the uniquely Indian vita which has a 5 feet (1.5 m) length of cord attached to the butt end of the weapon and tied around the spearman's wrist.

The Cretan chronicler Nearchus who accompanied Alexander the Great into India, had noted that the warriors would use a bamboo bow, which had to rest on the ground and steady with the feet to draw to its full length.

Traditional malla-yuddha is virtually extinct in the north where it has been supplanted by kusti, but another form called malakhra still exists in parts of India and Sindh, Pakistan[citation needed].

While the entire Naga population of northeast India and northwest Myanmar was traditionally known for their skill with broadswords (dao) and other weapons, disputes among tribesmen and between tribes were settled with a solely kick-based form of unarmed fighting.

[53] 64 different types of skills and arts existed in ancient India which lead to well-developed individuals boosting their mind, body, and intellect making them capable of performing their responsibilities efficiently and effectively on personal, social and national level.

In such a scenario, one of the ancient Indian arts referred to as "Bal Vidya" can help not only to improve the physical health but also upscale the mental and intellectual well-being of a person.

Shree Aniruddha Upasana Foundation (Mumbai, India) attempts to review these ancient Indian martial arts form and provides "Bal Vidya" training to both men and women free of charge.

In addition to the major division between north and south, martial systems in the Indian subcontinent tend to be associated with certain states, cities, villages or ethnic groups.

[citation needed] Lathi khela is a traditional Bengali martial art[68][69] – a kind of stick fighting practised mainly in Bengal[68][69] and Northeast India.

[72] Martial arts in northwest India and adjacent Pakistan were traditionally referred to by several terms but the most common today is shastar-vidiya or "science of edged weapons"[citation needed].