KHUAI-TO

 

Khuai-to is a Vietnamese ninja

 

 

 

"Khuai-to" - so were called, in today's language, "invisible frontline fighters", spies, spies, representatives of the secret school of martial arts kingdom Thampa, existed once on the territory of ancient Vietnam. The kingdom was located in the central part of the country. It has long been lost to legend and its language has dissolved into the modern language of Vietnam. But the legends

 

The legends and remnants of the secret knowledge of the ancient art shrouded in a peculiar romance.

 

It is true that the training systems of spies and saboteurs were known, perhaps, to all nations. For example, everyone today has heard of the school of ninjutsu, the art of training secret ninja warriors, surrounded by legends and tales. According to legends, the semi-legendary Emperor Jimmu was the founder of this art, although the first official documents on the establishment of such schools date back to the time of Prince Setoku (574-622).

 

There were general conditions for the emergence of spy training systems. The most important of them was the emergence of a state for which the main thing was to maintain stability both within it and in its relations with its neighbors.

 

So, the creation of a coherent, comprehensive system of espionage was influenced by the tasks of maintaining and preserving the statehood. But voluntarily or involuntarily a role in perfecting and shaping these schools, their styles and orientations was played by... religion, or rather, the rivalry between different religions or between different currents within one religion. It was through this rivalry that the spy training systems gained access to the best-kept secrets--the systems of psychophysical training of monks, based on a wealth of experience, created and tested over a long period of time in the training of ministers of various cults.

 

All adepts of the spy training systems fanatically believed in the limitless abilities of man, it was believed that this system helped to see the way indicated by God to serve him and fulfill his every will.

 

The application of one's abilities to serve the Lord manifested itself in various spheres of life and could be expressed in a variety of forms. The story of the erection of the temple of Lord Ranganadhi, located on an island lying on the Kaveri River, is well known.

 

At the beginning of the eighth century A.D. there was a devotee in India named Tirumangai. He traveled constantly through the country visiting holy temples and was famous for creating poetic prayers.

 

During his travels he had disciples, great mystics, all of whom possessed uncommon abilities.

 

The first was called Tola Vazhakkan, who could defeat any opponent in a debate.

 

The second, Taladuvan, could open any chamok without a key.

 

The third, Nizhalai Mithippan, could make any man stop and shut up just by stepping on his shadow.

 

The fourth, Nirmal Nadappan, developed "laghima siddhi," giving the ability to walk on water.

 

Traveling through the holy places of India, Thirumangai and his disciples came to the temple of Lord Ranganadhi. The Deity of Ranganathi was originally established by Vibhishana, Ravanna's brother. By the time Thirumangai and his disciples came here, the temple was quite dilapidated, and only once a day did a priest come there to offer the deity a few flowers and some water, and hurried away for fear of the wild beasts.

 

Seeing all this, the travelers decided to rebuild the temple, though they had no money. Appealing to rich people to help in their endeavors, brought no results, none of them gave even a small coin, and often even berated the askers, calling robbers and thieves.

 

After many futile attempts to raise money to rebuild the temple honestly, Tirumangai called the disciples and addressed them with the following words: "We have spent enough time trying to convince these! scoundrels that they should serve the Lord. They will forever remain treacherous atheists. Which is better: to beg alms from these oafs while Lord Ranganatha I remains in such miserable condition, or to shame them by building for the Lord such a magnificent temple that will cause them to bow at His feet?"

 

The disciples replied, "Our duty is to serve God, not to be servants of these rogues."

 

"Then prepare yourselves," Tiramangai continued, "because from this day forward we will see to it that the wealth of these miserly men goes to build the temple. These rich landowners, cruel by birth, have lived their lives robbing the hard-working poor, not even feeding them enough. Now we will take care of these rascals and use their money to build the temple and feed the poor. The disciples agreed with the teacher's suggestion. Tola Vazhakkan said: "No one can defeat me in an argument. Thus, while I occupy a few rich men and their minions with debates, they will forget everything in the world, and you can easily carry off their treasures."

Tudulovan said: "I can open any lock without a key. That way, no chest will remain locked for us.

 

Nizhalai Mithippan said: "Anyone whose shadow my foot touches will lose its power and become immobile. In this way we can easily stop rich travelers on the road.

 

Nirmal Nadappan said: "The large houses of rich landowners, surrounded by ditches of water, are always open ! to me, because I am free to walk on water. Therefore all ; the treasures of the kings are yours." (Quoted from Naimisharanya Das, The Life of Ramanujacharya, Kurama ed.

 

Press. 1994 г). Thus a magnificent temple to Lord Ranganatha was built with the help of plunder.

 

Speaking of the cultures of the East, it must be stated that the greatest influence on the formation of customs, beliefs and technical achievements was exerted by the cultures of India and China.

 

Trying to understand how the art of warfare arose, or rather, how a simple fight based on physical superiority turned into an art of dueling both mental and physical energies, it is necessary to consider the influence of one of the main philosophical schools of India, "yoga".

 

Thanks to it, or rather, to the techniques developed in it for training the mind and body, many schools and systems of martial art have emerged.

 

The same legend about the construction of the temple said that the students possessed certain supernatural abilities, which they acquired with the help of certain yoga techniques, revealing man's reserve capabilities.

 

The founder of the yoga system, according to the Yajñavalkya smriti, was Hiranyagarbha. The meanings of the word "yoga" are various: it is both "method" and "connection," it is also a synonym for "samadhi" ("liberation"), "God.

 

The system of yoga embodied the age-old dream of India of man acquiring, through discipline, both physical and mental superpowers not common to ordinary people.

 

Yogis believed that curbing the senses and mental activity helped achieve liberation from suffering.

 

One of the most comprehensive treatises on yoga extant today is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which are the most ancient manuals of the "yogic" school. Patanjali was the first to link physical exercise with mental control. "The Yoga Sutras consist of four parts.

 

- The first treats of the nature and purpose of samadhi, or contemplative immersion in the self (samadhipada);

 

- The second defines the means of achieving that goal (sadhanapada);

 

- The third expounds the significance of the unusual powers attained through the practice of yoga (vibhutipada);

 

- The fourth lays down the nature of liberation (kaivalyapada).

 

Yoga, according to Patanjali, is a systematic' effort used to attain perfection by controlling the various elements of human nature--physical and mental. The physical body, the active will and the cognitive mind must. be subjected to control.

 

The main purpose of Patanjali is not metaphysical theorizing, but practical motivation--to point out how salvation can be achieved through orderly activity.

 

Patanjali's yoga is a crystallization of the ideas of asceticism and contemplation that existed in his day.

The yoga system had a great influence on the formation of Buddhism. Apparently (according to the Lalitavistara) this is due to the great popularity of innumerable forms of ascetic temptations at the time of the Buddha. For example, one of the Buddha's teachers, Alara, is known to have been versed in yoga. The Buddha himself used yoga as an ascetic temptation and practiced higher consciousness.

 

The Buddhist suttas were familiar with the methods of concentration practiced by yoga.

 

Buddhism's four states of dhyana (controlling the flow of thought, also called meditation) correspond roughly to the four stages of mental concentration in classical yoga.

 

According to Buddhism, having the five qualities of faith, energy, thought, concentration and wisdom enables one to achieve the goals of yoga. The Yogachara school of Buddhism openly combines Buddhist doctrine with elements of yoga. Subsequent Buddhist works adopt the system of concentration developed by yoga.

 

At first, along with itinerant Buddhist monks, the ideas and cultural heritage of India reached China, where it was transformed and adapted to local conditions. Then the knowledge spread to Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Vietnam was in the most favorable position, as pilgrims from China and other countries stopped here to study Sanskrit while waiting for ships of opportunity. On their return journey, they also stopped to share what they had learned on their voyages.

 

For an explanation of the spy-training systems, in particular the Khuai-to system, which originated in Vietnam and absorbed the traditions of India and China, we must refer to the Arthashastra. The Arthashastra or "Science of Politics" ("Science of Government") is a political and economic treatise of ancient India. It contains requirements for the state, political, and economic structure of ancient Indian states. The authorship of the Arthashastra, according to the Indian version, is attributed to the wise Brahman Kautilya. Of the fifteen sections of the Arthashastra, five are devoted to the use of spies. The sections include the following chapters: Appointment of secret agents; Use of secret agents; On the appointment of secret punishments; Identification of young men (criminals) under the guise of sages; Actions causing discord; Secret murder; Warfare by intrigue; On spies acting by arms, fire, poison; Destruction of provisions, supplies, forage; On the elimination (of the enemy) by secret measures; On the use of secret spies; Means for destroying the enemy; The use of means of deception; Countering the harm done to his army.

 

From the above chapters one can imagine how detailed were the objectives of the spies. These objectives also conditioned a very high degree of preparation of the perpetrators. Consequently, there were also certain schools that used the above system of yoga and other military techniques to train the performers of the tasks mentioned in the Arthashastra.

 

The Khuai-To system, is a spy training system based on various Hindu traditions that have taken root in the territory of Vietnam, particularly in the Viet Vo Dao "Thien Duong" school.

 

 

KHUAI-TO - the art of being invisible.

 

 

 

 

What is it? First of all, the possession of unconventional weapons: throwing plates, chain with a hook, small wooden throwing sticks, dart, bow, throwing knives, etc., masterly handling of sword, pole, spear, stick. In combat, any object could be used as a weapon: a string, a nail, a stick, a stone or any other object.

 

Studying KHUAI-TO began after 5-7 years of basic techniques of the school. Students with high level of psychological stability, as a rule 50-60% of schoolchildren were allowed to study it. The student learned about KHUAI-TO only after he started to learn the technique. As the basis of bare hand combat techniques were taken the basic techniques of the school.

 

This school of martial arts differed from other types of fighting that the attack here was designed for 2-3 blows, which I had to paralyze or kill the opponent. Particular attention was paid to blows to the points of energy meridians, as well as to bruises and grapples.

 

Virtually every action was designed to break the opponent's arm, rib, knee joint, neck, etc. KHUAI-TO is invisible warfare, so no one was supposed to see a person die. This system was used for covert assassinations, espionage, and was rarely resorted to. The stealthiness of the system was due to rivalry between different schools, (although it was quite common in the Middle Ages), reluctance to obey the order of the ruler of an area from a border (often they were unfair orders), espionage during war between countries (especially the KHUAI-TO showed itself well during the wars between China and Vietnam).

 

Espionage, organizing assassinations, everything was very similar to what you see now in movies about legendary ninjas. But the war between schools was not the way you see in movies, where students from one school, led by their teacher, gather and go and smash up another school. Although there were many such cases, but often it was just a decoration: the school seems to have suffered a national defeat, admitting its weakness, but in fact it was just a maneuver.

 

When the honor of the school was affected, the teacher would assemble the older students (including those who owned the KHUAI-TO). At the council, a decision was made about the method of revenge. If it was decided to wage a secret war, a council of senior students gathered and elected the most senior among them to lead the fighting and report everything to the teacher.

 

A detachment of warriors was formed whose task was to destroy the opposing school or its teacher. But during the war the teacher was guarded by a group of KHUAI-TO warriors.

 

In duels where the honor of the school was at stake, the warriors had to show their true face. Each warrior fought in a garment that spoke of belonging to a particular school. The mark of the school was necessarily put on these clothes. The fact is that each school had its own color of clothes. For example, in films about ninja we see a variety of clothing: black, white, red, green, orange.

 

Most people think this is a funny concoction of the director, who wanted to amuse us with bright costumes. In fact, the color of the clothes spoke of belonging to a certain school. The color of the garment was the color of who the school worshipped (in our school it was the direction the student was working in). A warrior could have an upper garment of black or navy blue, but the true uniform was always worn under the false 1 garment.

 

The XUai-TO of the Viet Vo Dao "Thien Duong" school does not differ much from similar systems of other schools. The difference here is in weapons and basic techniques. At School KHUAI-TO, work is carried out on the 5 main directions, and their total number is 30.

 

Each direction has its own color of clothing. The first direction is KHUAI-TO (orange uniform); the second direction is Yama (black uniform); the third direction is KHUAI-TO of Shiva (maroon uniform); the fourth direction is Brahma (white uniform) and the fifth direction is KHUAI-TO for women.

 

For all directions of KHUAI-TO, the school has the appropriate literature, as well as teaching weapons.

 

In the East, each school worships a specific god. The school Viet Vo Dao "Thien Duong" is patronized by 30 gods, so the technique of the school is based on 30 directions (styles): from the softest to the toughest.

 

Each student at the school learns the basic technique, after a few years he or she begins to specialize in one of the 30 styles of the school. A student is obliged to know the principles of execution of forms of all directions, but does not have to know all the forms.