Karna

Karna the tragic hero of Mahabharata, is another character that delves further into various aspects of Indian Martial Arts. Karna was Kunti’s first son, born before her marriage to Pandu, thus was forever condemned to a life of suffering. He is said to have never got his due in life, yet Karna serves as an excellent example of a gifted, generous, righteous and brave individual. He remains a brave hero, a courageous spirit who braved impossible odds in his life, and died with terrific courage, valour and honour, to rise to immortality.’

Karna’s Skill in archery rivals that of Arjuna, which made their rivalry legendary. As he grew up, Karna became more interested in the art of warfare than in riding a chariot like his foster-father Adhirata. Karna met Drona Acharya, who at that moment of time was an established teacher in the art of warfare. Dronacharya used to teach the Kuru princes, but refused to take Karna as his student, since Karna was a son of a charioteer and Drona only taught Kshatriyas.

Karna eventually approached Parashurama, who was known to teach only Brahmins. Karna appeared before him as a Brahmin and requested that he be taken as his student. Parashurama accepted him and trained him to such a point, that he declared Karna to be equal to himself in the art of warfare and archery. Thus, Karna became a diligent student of Parashurama.  Other than archery, Karna was among the select few who had the knowledge of Shabdavedi Vidya- The ability to hit a target by just observing the sound. This is other one of important Martial Arts training seen in many Traditional Chinese Arts.

Other than Arjuna, Karna probably depicts the traits of the perfect martial arts student. When he was under the care of Parasurama, he learnt everything that had to be learnt with the right focus and concentration. (An important trait in any student of Martial Arts), Looking at his expectional skill, Parasurama imparted the many secret weapon and combat knowledge to him. (This as mentioned earlier, is similar to the Shaolin Method, where the teacher imparts special skill set and knowledge to his bright and diligent pupil).  He also had the true humility of a warrior, when he was in a duel with his arch-rival Arjuna, he even praised the latter’s skill in archery.