18 Jul
Angampora Martial Art Combat
The above picture of an Angampora Martial Art Combat pose demonstrates “A traditional Angampora seated meditation pose.”
Picture credit is by Reza Akram 2013. More of his Angampora Martial Art Combat pictures are found at the website link below. Reza Akram’s internet bio states that he, “has covered most of the globe for National Geographic magazine.”
Angampora Martial Art Combat, according to legend and oral history, is a style of combat passed down through the generations for at least 30,000 years in Sri Lanka. Follow this link to see more pictures and learn more about this unique cultural style of combat. You may need to copy (Control C) and paste (Control V) the link into your browser in order to access it.
This particular article, which includes the Angampora Martial Art Combat pictures, is authored by Amanda Golden. She points out that the ancient movements pictured are staged, but some of the staged movements look similar, and appear (in some ways) to be models of what today’s Yoga practitioners are teaching.
After viewing these pictures of martial art poses, which are said to be 30,000 years old, I wondered about the history of Yoga, and when it may have begun as a practice. Detailed knowledge of the four periods of Yoga development are not discussed in this short comparison of Angampora movements and Yoga, but archaeological evidence for early Yoga practice points to around 3,000 BC. However, a quote from History of Yoga–A Complete Overview of the Yoga History, written by Shayne Bance from an internet website, states:
“Scholars, however, have a reason to believe that Yoga existed long before that and traced its beginnings in Stone Age Shamanism. Both Shamanism and Yoga have similar characteristics particularly in their efforts to improve the human condition at that time. Also, they aim to heal community members and the practitioners act as religious mediators. Though we know yoga as focusing more on the self, it started out as community-oriented before it turned inward.”
We might also surmise, as shown in the Angampora staged pictures, that before Yoga turned inward, it may have turned outward. Outward being for other reasons besides healing or religious purposes, such as conditioning the human body for activities like fighting or waging war.
For more on Yoga history, refer to the following website; then return here to Explore More!
https://www.abc-of-yoga.com/beginnersguide/yogahistory.asp,
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