Indian Wrestling Exercises

Hindu Squats

The hindu squat or Uthak-bethak (Hindi: Standing and sitting) is an Indian calisthenic bodyweight exercise used by Indian wrestlers and other athletes to build leg endurance and strength.

Unlike a normal squat, the heels are elevated, shifting the knees far forward. This places more stress than usual upon the knee ligaments, which some trainers feel may be harmful to them especially with the explosive nature of the exercise. Others believe that squats done this way actually strengthen the knee joint. Due to the elevated heels, the calf muscles are much more heavily recruited. Heavy weight should not be added in this exercise due to the lack of stability and non-linear path of motion for most weights, as well as the fact that it further exacerbates the knee stresses. To compensate for this lack of resistance, Hindu squats are normally done in very high repetitions. Some experts recommend one-legged Hindus as a more advanced version of the exercise (Ross Enamait), although other advocates of Hindu squats will only perform flat-footed squats.

Sirsasana

Sirsasana (Shirsasana or Sirshasana) is a yoga asana (or posture) in which the body is completely inverted, and held upright supported by the crown of the head and the forearms. It is known as the king of yoga asanas.

Like all inverted positions, the practice of sirsasana increases the flow of blood to the brain, improving memory and other intellect functions. It rejuvenates the body and mind and regulates the flow of energy (prana) in the body.

Dands (Hindu press ups)

Hindu press ups are a form of exercise prevalent in Indian physical culture and Indian martial arts, particularly Pehlwani. Hindu squats are called Uthak-bethak and the exercise regimen in Indian wrestling often consists of doing the Indian jack knifing push-ups, Indian club swinging and Hindu squats.[3] The Hindu jacknifing push ups are part of the core exercises for building up of strength, stamina, and flexibility of joints.[4] The dand was also a part of the exercise regimen of Bruce Lee.[5]

The simple set of exercises of dand-baithak (press up and squats) practiced in the villages of India has a beneficial effect on the spine. It takes off the strain from the spine and makes it fit to fight the other strains on the spine caused by the adoption of an erect posture.

Salute to the Sun

Surya Namaskara (IAST: Sūrya namaskāra) (lit. "salute to the sun"), is a common sequence of Hatha yoga asanas. Its origins lie in a worship of Surya, the Hindu solar deity. This sequence of movements and poses can be practised on varying levels of awareness, ranging from that of physical exercise in various styles, to a complete sadhana which incorporates asana, pranayama, mantra and chakra meditation.

The physical base of the practice links together twelve asanas in a dynamically performed series. These asanas are ordered so that they alternately stretch the spine backwards and forwards. When performed in the usual way, each asana is moved into with alternate inhalation and exhalation (except for the sixth asana where the breath is held in external suspension). A full round of Surya namaskara is considered to be two sets of the twelve poses with a change in the second set to moving the opposite leg first through the series.

Proponents of the use of Surya namaskara as part of the modern yoga tradition prefer to perform it at sunrise, which the orthodox consider to be the most 'spiritually favourable' time of the day.