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| Body language |
Mardi dernier était un jour férie en Inde, le jour des cerfs-volants, et je suis parti très tôt avant le lever du soleil sur les bords du Gange pour les voir voler.
Mon ami Durga qui est peintre m’accompagnait, en arrivant dans le centre de Benares il a fallu laisser nos motos dans une petite ruelle parce que la foule ne nous permettait plus d’avancer, trop de monde se pressait pour aller vers les bords du fleuve sacré ou le vent devait être idéal.
Nous avancions sur les ghats en essayant d’éviter les nombreux fils de ces objets volants et rapidement cette promenade est devenue un véritable parcours du combattant.
En arrivant sur Scindia ghat j’ai alors proposé à mon ami de passer vers la petite salle ou s’entrainent les lutteurs, je lui ai suggère d’y faire des croquis pendant que je prendrai des photos.
En fait cet endroit se trouve en haut des marches du ghat cet une salle ouverte, très simple qui se trouve face au Gange et la vue y est vraiment magnifique.
Les murs ont été fraîchement peints d’un bleu méditerranéen, chaque hiver une nouvelle couleur vient recouvrir les dégas dus a la montée des eaux de la saison de mousson.
Nous y avons rencontré deux jeunes lutteurs, Pritviraj qui est le champion local qui a remporté le Girkoraman Kushti et Vinod qui tient la petite échoppe qui se trouve en bas du ghat ou l’on peut trouver du thé, du pan et quelques sucreries.
Tous les deux sont entraînes par un coach russe.
Ils m’ont demandé de les prendre en photo lorsqu’ils ont vu mon appareil et Pritviraj a commencé a prendre des poses classiques de culturiste qui me faisaient rire, je leur ai alors demandé de rester le plus naturel possible et d’oublier si possible l’objectif.
J’ai alors pu entrer dans leur intimité, capturant une image différente, qui révèle une sensibilité et une émotion des corps grâce aussi a une lumière incroyable qui venait se perdre dans les eaux du fleuve avant de venir par effet de mirroir sur les murs bleus.
Ces photos montrent une “autre Inde”, mais elles ne sont pas éloignées de mon approche thématique, “La recherche du temps perdu” puisque la aussi je retrouve le passé sans cette fois-ci utiliser un travail de l’image avec Photoshop.
En effet, Pehlwani (Devanagari: पहलवानी, Urdu: پہلوانی), Kushti (Devanagari: कुश्ती, Urdu: کشتی), sont des mots d'origine Aryan et Hindi pour désigner les lutteurs indiens.
L'origine vient certainement du 5e ciecle avant JC et c'est une forme de lutte Perse qui a été introduite dans le sud de l'Asie par les Moghols (Mughals).
Le lutteur est appelé pehlwan (pahlwan en Perse qui veut dire champion et spartiate) sont entraineur est appelé un guru lorsqu'il est Hindu et ustad lorsqu'il est Musulman.
Les compétitions sont des Dangals qui se situent à un niveau inter-villageois, et les regles varient d'un endroit à un autre, cependant le vainqueur est désigné par un jury composé de plusieurs membres apres avoir constaté un "KO" (knockout), ou un abandon ou une soumission de l'un des adversaires.
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| Corps "accords" |
Wrestlers of Varanasi (in English)
Last Tuesday was the kite festival in India so I left early before sunrise in order to see them flying on the ghats of river Ganga.
My friend Durga who is a painter came with me, and when we reached the center of Varanasi we had to leave our motos in a little street because too many people were going towards the holy river and therefore they were not allowing us to drive anymore.
We started walking on the ghats trying to escape the many wires from the kites which were everywhere around us creating a kind of mess.
As we reached Scindia ghat I suggested to my friend to go and see that little room where wrestlers are practising, I thought that he could make a few sketches while I’ll take some snaps.
Actually this place is on the top of the ghat, it is an opened room which is very simple and facing river Ganga from where the view is beautiful.
Because of the floods during the monsoon seasons walls are painted each winter and this time there was a fresh greek colour covering the room.
We met two young wrestlers, Pritviraj who is a local champion of Girkoraman Kushti and Vinod who has a little "shop" down the ghat where the gym is standing where he is selling pan, thea, water and sweets.
Both are trained by a Russian coach.
When they saw my camera they asked me to take a few pictures and Pritviraj started to strick classical poses like body-builders do which made me laugh, I asked them to be as natural as they could and to try to forget the lens.
Then I managed to capture their intimate relashionship and to show a kind of sensitivity and sensuality, there was a real emotion coming from these bodies with the help of an amazing light provided by the sun which was reflecting from the waters of the river in order to come back as a mirror effect on the the blue walls.
Those pictures are showing a different image of India, however they are not far from my topic “Remembrance of Things Past” as, here as well, I am connected with the past but without using Photoshop on my images for once.
Pehlwani (Devanagari: पहलवानी, Urdu: پہلوانی), Kushti (Devanagari: कुश्ती, Urdu: کشتی), or modern Indian wrestling, is a synthesis of an indigenous Aryan / Hindu form of wrestling that dates back at least to the 5th century BC and a Persian form of wrestling brought into South Asia by the Mughals.
A practitioner of this sport is referred to as a pehlwan (also spelled pahlwan in Persian, champion, literally a Parthian).
Generally speaking, Hindu teachers of wrestling are known as guru and Muslim teachers ustad.
The Indian wrestling form has undergone several changes in both the nomenclature and training methodologies through the ages.
The more prominent influences include the introduction of Persian nomenclature and western training methods.
Wrestling competitions, known as Dangals, held at village levels, have their own rules which vary from place to place.
Usually, a win is awarded by decision from the panel of judges, knockout, stoppage or submission.
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| Jeu de mains |
Training
In Indian wrestling, vyayam, or physical training, is meant to build strength and develop muscle bulk and flexibility.
Exercises that employ the wrestler's own bodyweight include the sun salutation, shirshasan, and the dand, which are also found in hatha yoga, as well as the bethak.
Sawari (the passenger) is the practice of using another person's bodyweight to add resistance to such exercises.
Exercise regimens may also employ the following weight training devices:
- The nal is a hollow stone cylinder with a handle inside.
- The gar nals (literally "neck weights") is a circular stone ring worn around the neck to add resistance to dands and bethaks.
- The gada is a mace, as associated with Hanuman. An exercise gada is a heavy round stone attached to the end of a meter-long bamboo stick. Pahalwani trophies take the form of gadas made of silver and gold.
Exercise regimens may also include dhakulis, which involve twisting rotations; rope climbing; log pulling; and running. Massage is regarded an integral part of a pahalwan's exercise regimen.
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| Pehlwani |
Diet
According to the Samkhya school of philosophy, everything in the universe—including people, activities, and foods—can be sorted into three gunas: sattva (calm/good), rajas (passionate/active), and tamas (dull/lethargic).
As a vigorous activity, wrestling has an inherently rajasic nature, which pahalwan counteract through the consumption of sattvic foods.
Milk and ghee are regarded as the most sattvic of foods and, along with almonds, comprise the holy trinity of the pahalwan's khurak, or diet.
A common snack of pahalwans is chickpeas that have been sprouted overnight in water and seasoned with salt, pepper, and lemon; the water in which the chickpeas were sprouted is also regarded as nutritious.
Various articles in the Indian wrestling monthly Bharatiya Kushti have recommended the consumption of the following fruits: apples, wood-apples, bananas, figs, pomegranates, gooseberries, lemons, and watermelons.
Orange juice and green vegetables are also recommended for their sattvic nature. Some pahalwans eat meat in spite of its rajasic nature.
Ideally, wrestlers are supposed to avoid sour and excessively spiced foods such as chutneys andachars, as well as chaats.
Mild seasoning with garlic, cumin, coriander, and turmeric is acceptable.
The consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and paan is strongly discouraged.
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| Pritviraj, pehlwan |
History
Wrestling has been very popular in India since Vedic times.
Malla-yuddha, the classical form of Indian wrestling, dates back before the Aryan invasion and was a precursor to modern Pehlwani.
There is a memorable wrestling contest between Bhima and Jarasandha narrated in theMahabharata, and there is a duel between Rustam and Sohrab mentioned in the PersianShahnameh (Book of Kings).
Balarama, the brother of Lord Krishna, was a wrestler described in these religious texts. In the Ramayana, there is mention of the vanara King Vali, having won against the mighty Ravana, the king of Lanka, in a wrestling contest.
These texts describe the ancient wrestling art of Mallayuddha.
In the 16th century India was conquered by the Mughals, who were Persians of Mongol descent. They brought the influence of Persian and Mongolian wrestling to the local Malla-yuddha.
This was the beginning of modern Pehlwani.
India in the recent past had great wrestlers of the class of Great Gama and Gobar Goho.
India reached its peak of glory in the IVAsian Games (later on called Jakarta Games) in 1962 when all the seven wrestlers were placed on the medal list and in between them they bagged 12 medals in Freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling.
A repetition of this performance was witnessed again when all the 8 wrestlers sent to the Commonwealth Games held at Kingston (Jamaica) had the distinction of getting medals for the country.
During the 60’s, India was ranked among the first eight or nine wrestling nations of the world and hosted the world wrestling championships in New Delhi in 1967.
The undefeated champions of India hold the title Rustum-i-Hind title.
Cross training was inevitable even in this ancient discipline.
Pehlwans who compete in wrestling nowadays are also known to cross train in the grappling aspects of Judo and Jujutsu.
Legendary wrestlers from the bygone era eg.
Karl Gotch have made tours to India to learn the art of Pehlwani and further hone their skills.
Karl Gotch was gifted a pair of "mudgals" (exercise equipment used by the Indian wrestlers) by the Indian wrestlers.
The conditioning exercises of Pehlwani are incorporated into many of the conditioning aspects of both catch wrestling and shoot wrestling, along with their derivative systems.
These systems also borrow several throws, submissions and takedowns from Pehlwani.
The popularity of this tradition seems to be withering away.
The "milked sand wrestling pits" (20X20 deep stone courtyards, filled with clay and water or milk), which served as the traditional arena for both training and competitions are now giving way to wrestling mats and rings.
The wrestlers are pursuing the sport as a hobby and not as a full time profession, and popular professional wrestlingpromotions have pushed Pehlwani to the brink of obscurity.
(Wikipedia)
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| Vinod, pehlwan |
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