Jyesthimalla

The Jyesthimalla (literally "the most excellent fighters") were a clan of martial artists in medieval India, mentioned in the Malla Purana. They practiced a specific style of wrestling called vajra-musti while wielding a knuckle-duster-like weapon of the same name. Unlike the South Indian Nair clan, they are thought to be Brahmin priests.

The Malla Purana categorizes and classifies types of wrestlers, defines necessary physical characteristics, describes types of exercises and techniques of wrestling as well as the preparation of the wrestling pit, and provides a fairly precise account of which foods wrestlers should eat in each season of the year.^[1]

Australian martial artist John Will trained with the Jyesthi clan in the Gujarat state of India. His account is one of the few first hand accounts of vajra-musti in western media.

Indian martial arts

Styles	Gatka Huyen langlon Kalaripayat Malla-yuddha Mardani khel Musti-yuddha Pehlwani Silambam Sqay Vajra-mushti

Notable practitioners	Dara Singh Deva Raya II Jatindra Charan Goho Guru Hargobind Jasmine Simhalan Shivaji Siddhartha Gautama The Great Gama Vidyut Jamwal

Weapons	Bagh naka Bichuwa Chakram Gada Katara Khanda Kukri Maru Pata Talwar Trishula Urumi Vajra

Related articles	Akhara Ankam Ankathattu Ayurveda Chakra Dharma-yuddha Gurukul Kalari Kshatriya Nihang Paika akhada Prana Siddha medicine Varma kalai Yoga

Martial arts portal

References

↑ Alter, Joseph S. (1992b). The Wrestler's Body: Identity and Ideology in North India. Berkeley: University of California Press.

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