Martial Arts, Indian-Style

Anil Kumar studies the two crouching fighters as they circle each other in the small mud arena, the oil and sweat on their taut bodies darkening the waistbands of their bunched shorts. From his corner, Kumar barks a command and one of the men leaps at the other with his spear, its tip tracing the arc of his lunge through the air. The other man, squatting low, raises a pole above his head and crack! parries the blow. Kumar calls out a second time. Again the first fighter attacks, and the second man nimbly checks him. Then suddenly it's over: the...

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