Lathi (Devanagari) is an ancient armed martial art of India. It also refers to the weapon used in this martial art. The word lathi, in Hindi, means bamboo stick. A lathi is basically a 6 to 8 foot long bamboo stick tipped with a metal blunt. It is used by swinging it back and forth like a sword. The metal blunt is an optional part for a lathi.

It is the Indian Police's most used crowd control device. When referring to the weapon itself, a lathi could be considered the world’s oldest weapon.

Spiritual practice

Lathi was designed by its ancient originators to move and manage kundalini. Kundalini is basic life energy. In many parts of India, the "breath of life" is known as Prana.

Eastern texts and art depict kundalini as a coiled serpent, usually a cobra, which sleeps at the base of the spine. Spiritual practices arouse the serpent and cause it to rise up through the chakras, which are energy centers in the spine. Chakra means wheel; people who can see chakras report that they look like spinning colored wheels. Each spinal chakra corresponds directly to a physical neural plexus.

The movement of this kundalini is said by those who have experienced it to be a spiritual enlightenment. It is described in the poetry of every religion as bliss, moksha, nirvana, rapture, Holy Spirit, the timeless moment, the deathless state.

There are many practices that cause kundalini to rise and fall through the chakras. Many times, a particular practice will have a whole religion dedicated to it, sometimes professing it as the one and only way to God.

In his book Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda, reveals the ancient spiritual practice of Kriya Yoga. One kriya is the cycle of raising the kundalini through the chakras from the root, located in the sacrum, to the crown at the top of the head, and then back down again. Yogananda writes that Kriya Yoga can “burn off” one’s karma at an accelerated rate for the purpose of accelerating spiritual advancement. Yogananda is reported to have said that one well-done kriya is worth twelve years of good clean living. In early printings of Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda said that Lathi was taught at his school in Ranchi. More recent copies do not mention it.

Lathi is such a spiritual practice. It is a moving, physical, whole-body meditation mantra that harmonizes body, mind and spirit by moving kundalini energy. Its central idea is continuous circles, which describe the figure-8 or infinity sign. Its movement is balanced, organized, symmetrical, stimulating, soothing, pulsing, wavelike, meditative, healing, therapeutic, dance, exercise and fun.

The movement of Lathi is continuous and repetitive, what the western world might call hypnotic. It moves kundalini (energy) through the body and evokes a deeply internal meditative state on a physical body level. This, on the other hand, is very active. It is a physical moving-mantra meditation.

Lathi as a martial art

Although Lathi shares many principles with other martial arts, it is totally unique in a way. Most armed martial arts of Asia have one thing in common – they use the dan-tien as their energy center. The dan-tien is two fingers below the navel and corresponds to the solar plexus. This relatively low center of gravity causes these martial arts to be mostly performed out of a knees-bent crouch, which is called horse stance.

The energy center of Lathi is the heart chakra. This higher center of gravity allows the Lathial (practitioner of Lathi) to practice from a higher, longer, more extended posture. This provides a natural alignment with gravity that balances, orders and aligns the body with the earth’s gravity field. This means that Lathi can be used as a powerful therapeutic tool to heal the human body of all kinds of chronic and acute structural troubles.

It is worth noting that in dan-tien-centered martial arts, belly breathing is the predominant pattern. In Lathi, the higher heart center allows for the breath to flow into the high chest. The high chest breath moves energy, nourishes the heart and lifts the body structure into a natural and therapeutic alignment with gravity.

Wielding the lathi involves giving quick lethal blows to the opponent and defending opponent attacks by using the lathi as a shield. A lathial needs to be quick and precise. Lathi blows are powerful and sometimes even fatal. A good lathial must be able to fight with lathis of different lengths and thicknesses.

History

Lathi became popular among villages of India, especially eastern and southern India. Other than fighting lathi was often used to control domestic animals. A common Hindi saying goes "Jiski lathi, uski bhains" meaning, "he who wields the lathi gets to keep the buffalo" ("bhains" in Hindi).

Local warlords and landlords often raised armies of lathials for settling disputes and for security purposes. Lathial armies were also used to oppress and punish common people. The size of the army was also an indication of the power of a warlord or landlord. At the same time lathi had also evolved as a sport. Tournaments involving lathi duels often took place in Indian villages.

The Zamindari System was introduced by the Mughals in India and continued during British rule of India. The Zamindar raised lathial armies to forcefully collect taxes from people. The British introduced lathi as a weapon for the Indian Police. This gave birth to lathi charge, a military-style rush (or charge) using lathis as the main weapons. Lathis were now often used by Indian Police to control riots and also as a secondary weapon. Lathi charges were a common way to suppress marches and protests for independence by freedom fighters and common people.

Lathi in present day India

After independence of India in 1947, the Zamindari system was abolished. This led to a decline in lathial armies and also lathi as a martial art. Urbanisation has also led to decline of this rural martial art. Rich farmers and other rich & eminent people in today's Indian villages still hire lathials for security and as a symbol their power. Disputes in villages, when settled illegally (not a common practice), still involve lathi battles if not shootouts although legal methods have now replaced them. Lathi remains a famous sport in rural India.

In modern India lathi is the primary weapon of Indian Riot Police along with helmets, shields, tear gas and other weapons and methods. Policemen are trained in lathi charge. They have highly co-ordinated drill movements, with which gravely injurious blows can be given to the rioters. Generally, it leaves many of them crippled. This drill has been quite controversial in the human rights context. So in many places the police does not follow the drill, but hit in such a way to disperse the crowds. Security guards and police guards often carry a lathi along with or in place of firearms. They prefer lathis and use firearms only in situations when lathis cannot be used efficiently.