User:Mohd. Toukir Hamid/sandbox

Lathi Khela
(লাঠি খেলা)

Focus	stick-fighting
Hardness	semi-contact
Country of origin	Bangladesh
Parenthood	Historic
Olympic sport	No

Lathi Khela Bengali: লাঠি is a traditional Bangladeshi martial art. A lathi was a bludgeon, normally made of the male bamboo, and sometimes bound at short intervals with iron rings, forming a formidable weapon. Lathi is a Prakrt word with its Sanskrit form yasti (stick). There are proverbs in all South Asian languages including Bangla saying that right or power belongs to a person who has the lathi. One who specialised himself in wielding lathi and who lived on the martial art came to be known as lathial.

Lathi khela teaches self-defense with sticks. Until recently, the zamindars of Bangladesh employed a group of lathials (stalwarts wielding sticks) for security. In the char (shoal) lands, people still take possession of chars through stick fights. During muharram, lathials demonstrate their prowess and mettle in this game. The sticks used for this game are four and a half to five feet long, and are often smeared with oil. Players man oeuvre their respective sticks around their body with stunning agility. Only sturdy youth take part in the game. In north Bengal, there is a similar game called chamdi, played at the time of Eid.