Talk:Shastar Vidya
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The article Shastar Vidya has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:
fluff article
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will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. Dosrox (talk) 23:26, 11 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Reason
I am struggling to find any sources for this, other than news articles written about the same individual. There seems to be limited to no academic record of what is being presented as an ancient martial art.
There is otherwise several red flags in this article to me. For example:
1. General Quality of Sources
The sources and references appear to be almost exclusively online magazines and tabloids.
2. Categorisation
It is listed as "Full-contact sport", "semi-contact", "light-contact". It cannot be all three. It must be one of these. I have been unable to find a record of full-content contests or tournaments.
3. Famous practitioners
I cannot find record of any third party record other teachers, other than Nidar Singh Nihang (real name Surjit Singh Bains), who is listed as the one-and-only famous practitioner.
4. Age
"The battle art has existed in the subcontinent for thousands of years". If the martial art -- as it is taught today -- has existed for **thousands** of years, it would be ancient.
There are ancient, generic and non-specific, forms of combat, such as wrestling.
However, for comparison Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, commonly considered to be Japanese, oldest extant martial art, is only traced back to the 15th century. It would also predate the semi-legendary Bodhidharma and the birth of Shaolin Kung Fu.
It is said that "Since the mid-16th century, the Sikh tribes of the Punjab became the chief custodians and masters of this fighting system". However, the reference for this is a news article, where the journalist attends a class and uses direct quotes from the teacher, rather than any historical, scholarly source.
This again would make this one of the oldest martial arts of record still being practiced.
5. Banned / Not to be confused with Gatka
It claims "After the Anglo-Sikh wars the art was banned by the new British administrators of India in the mid-19th century". However, [the reference for this is not academic](https://www.thebetterindia.com/81513/ancient-martial-arts-training-india/). Users can submit their own stories to this website.
As well, the source says the art in question is Gatka. However, this article says that the martial art should not be confused with Gatka. The difference is not made clear.
6. Principle of power
It says that "Shastar Vidya is a subtle art and does not rely on fitness, flexibility or strength like western fighting systems". In this case, "Western systems" is a broad and nebulous concept. What Western martial fighting systems are being referenced here? For example, Boxing? Fencing?
It then says "Instead, it uses tactical positioning and body mechanics". This again is very vague to me. Do boxers not use careful positioning and body mechanics? Dosrox (talk) 23:26, 11 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]