A short film on kushti, aka Indian Mud Wrestling

mattemate

mattemate

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This just came up in my feed so I thought I would share it here. Fascinating.

They mentioned the tournaments are called "dungals."

My original martial arts teacher is from Pakistan, and he started a grappling tournament called The Dungal as an homage to this tradition in the late 90s. I'm not sure if it's still running (it was a few years ago), but it was the longest continually running grappling tournament in Texas for a good while. I think it may have ended during the pandemic.

So what are you? Pro mud? Anti mud? Or just in favor of the American tradition of oil wrestling in a strip club?

 
All wrestling is good as long as your’re not allowed to give oil checks or touch anything under the hood, like I think they do in Turkey.
 
Kforcer said:
Kushti is awesome! Might just be the grand daddy of freestyle and folkstyle wrestling.
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It definitely LOOKS a lot like those styles. Same moves and objective.

It has me wondering if the mud helps to prevent injuries. It's a safe bet that none of these guys are iron deficient.

Coconutwater said:
All wrestling is good as long as your’re not allowed to give oil checks or touch anything under the hood, like I think they do in Turkey.
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Don't knock it til you've tried it!

Highway99 said:
Karl Gotch learned a lot about conditioning from these guys..resulting in his being able to do things like this in his late 40's:

6pxla7.gif
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That's some serious power right there. He basically just bicep curled a 200 pound man. I can't tell-- is that Funaki?

I noticed their conditioning seemed really good. Lots of bodyweight stuff. Chicken runs, wheelbarrow runs. The style of pushups they were doing really keep a lot of flexibility in the back. The main guy in the film looked like he was strong as an ox.
 
mattemate said:
That's some serious power right there. He basically just bicep curled a 200 pound man. I can't tell-- is that Funaki?

I noticed their conditioning seemed really good. Lots of bodyweight stuff. Chicken runs, wheelbarrow runs. The style of pushups they were doing really keep a lot of flexibility in the back. The main guy in the film looked like he was strong as an ox.
Click to expand...


Its Antonio Inoki who was 215-220lbs give or take.

It builds a unique strength from my experience.
 
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Highway99 said:
Its Antonio Inoki who was 215-220lbs give or take.

It builds a unique strength from my experience.
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Oh damn, that WAS Inoki. I just looked it up, he's listed at 6'3", 225. I love how this is becoming a Japanese Puroresu thread.
 
mattemate said:
Oh damn, that WAS Inoki. I just looked it up, he's listed at 6'3", 225. I love how this is becoming a Japanese Puroresu thread.
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Well, Karl Gotch and Antonio Inoki are a great place to start along with Rikidozan.
 
I have a little bit of experience with kushti. Calling it "mud wrestling" isn't completely accurate. It's a very fine sand that is taken care of. In fact, some kushti practitioners even place marigold petals within the sand.

Wrestling on a mat, I never panicked if I gave up a takedown. After all, if I scramble, I can work to get a reversal (or at least an escape). However, once you get taken down in a kusti match, your momentum evaporates. The sand simply stops your momentum. It's quiet tiring.
 
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Fluffernutter said:
I have a little bit of experience with kushti. Calling it "mud wrestling" isn't completely accurate. It's a very fine sand that is taken care of. In fact, some kushti practitioners even place marigold petals within the sand.

Wrestling on a mat, I never panicked if I gave up a takedown. After all, if a scramble, I can work to get a reversal (or at least an escape). However, once you get taken down in a kusti match, your momentum evaporates. The sand simply stops your momentum. It's quiet tiring.
Click to expand...

Did you live in India or Pakistan? What is your experience?

Interesting that it's more tiring to be on your back in the sand. Makes sense.
 
Fluffernutter said:
I have a little bit of experience with kushti. Calling it "mud wrestling" isn't completely accurate. It's a very fine sand that is taken care of. In fact, some kushti practitioners even place marigold petals within the sand.

Wrestling on a mat, I never panicked if I gave up a takedown. After all, if I scramble, I can work to get a reversal (or at least an escape). However, once you get taken down in a kusti match, your momentum evaporates. The sand simply stops your momentum. It's quiet tiring.
Click to expand...

I would imagine footwork is very conservative because slipping is a huge possibility. Great info BTW.
 
I would love to see more partnerships between USA Wrestling and India's wrestling administration.

Many traditional indigenous forms of wrestling is "too the takedown". However, Kushti and American folkstyle, have pins. In fact, in the olden days, Kushti had no time limits and the match went on until a pin.
 
Shit, I got dubs for some honestly pretty low key shit in the war room.

I'd better log out for a month LMAO. I need to stay over here in the safety of the grappling forum, where the posters and mods still have something in the way of brains.
 
A thread about mud wrestling and not one bimbo in a bikini? We need a dislike button exactly for occasions like this. <3>
 
Fatality said:
A thread about mud wrestling and not one bimbo in a bikini? We need a dislike button exactly for occasions like this. <3>
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Haha. Sorry man, I deleted all the pics of your mom. LOL j/k man. Good point... Someone help us out.
 
Didn't Gotch base his exercises on indian wrestling training? I guess if it's good enough for the Great Gama and Karl Gotch, it's safe to say it's great.
 
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