A Brief History of Vadha

"Vadha's history is as shrouded in mystery and legend as the cloud covered mountains it sprang from. But, as with nearly all legends, truth abides within." From Chapter 11 of VADHA: The Martial Art of the Himalayas, by Michael H. Wyka.
Vadha is from the Himalayan region of Tibet, Nepal, and Northern India, the martial discipline of a unique caste of monks - monotheists in the midst of polytheism. It's not clear how old Vadha is. One thing's for sure, it's very old. And it has survived many persecutions. Omah Kellie brought the art to the United States in the late 50's. As a young boy, just three, he was given by his mother, an Indian of high caste, to a monastery in the Himalayas. Even at that time, the monastery was in decline. Kellie did not see his mother again until adulthood, after he passed the ultimate test - passage through the "Cave of Demons". At that time, the communists had not yet taken over Tibet, but the monastic orders' days were numbered. In the 1950's Chinese forces poured into Tibet, and a major crackdown on all monastic orders ensued. The few masters that were left were either killed, or dispersed. Kellie found his way to Palm Beach, Florida. It was there, in 1957, that a young bricklayer on vacation, named Jack McCrave, met Kellie for the first time. Young McCrave was walking beside a fence on his way to the beach when a loud "crack" caught his attention. He glanced over the fence and saw a thin, dark skinned man in baggy shorts leaning over a broken piece of lumber. Kellie tossed the broken pieces aside, and grabbed another from a pile. He set the new, unbroken post into homemade brackets.  Jack McCrave watched as the wiry little man, standing back a few paces from the wood, launched himself towards it, his foot snapping out to strike at the long board. With another deafening "crack", the wood post  split in half.  And thus began Jack McCrave's lifelong love affair with this rare martial art.  Jack would spend six months out of every year in Palm Beach, in intensive training with Kellie, and the other six months in Staten Island earning his living and applying the principles he had learned.  Before Omah Kellie emigrated to England in 1965, Jack McCrave had attained the highest ranking possible in Vadha - that of the Maha Master.  It is from Maha Master McCrave that all North American Vadha Masters trace their lineage.

TRAINING TIPS

Practicing techniques & defenses.  When practicing your techniques or parries alone, utilize your mind.  Get into your highest level and hold it.  Visualize your opponent, as clearly as you are able.  Picture the point you are striking with each strike.  Picture your opponent's attack with each parry.  If you've been taught internal power flows, be sure to flow or burst (whichever is most appropriate to the technique) internal energy through each and every technique.  You have to train your mind, just as you trained your body.  You trained your body to the point where your techniques snap out effortlessly.  In the same way, you can train your mind so that internal power leads each and every technique & defense.

Remember your balance stance.  When a student is having trouble with a particular technique, or with parrying, or with sparring, or you name it, more times than not the root cause can be traced back to a deficient balance stance.  If your foundation is strong, what you build upon it will be strong.

Sparring. Sparring should not be a contest between two martial artists.  Rather, when you spar, contest with yourself.  When you are called into the sparring ring, enter with a goal. Perhaps it will be to work on your footwork, or your defenses, or a particular attack pattern, or mental attack. If you approach each sparring session in this manner, you will leave much of your ego behind. You can now judge yourself on how well you met your goal.

Attack/Defend Sparring is a very good tool to use.  In this type of sparring, one martial artist is a pure attacker, the other, a pure defender.  You shouldn't use it exclusively, but it is a great supplement, particularly if you find that you are stagnating in your abilities.  By utilizing attack/defend sparring, you can hone your defenses to the point where they too, become a weapon.

In VADHA, an old rule that has worked well over the years is that the junior student sets the tone of the sparring match.  For example, if you are a green belt sparring with a white belt, the white belt sets the tone.  If he wants to punch up the intensity a little to push himself, that's fine, because he will soon realize that he has also punched up your intensity as a result.  In this way, all senior belts are teachers, in a way, and all junior students have an opportunity to learn and progress without the fear of a heavy wheel kick to the side of their head.

The Vadha Grading System

When Omah Kellie brought the art to the United States in the 1950's, there were two ranks: Novice and Master. 

A Novice wore a simple white belt or sash to denote his humble rank. A Master wore a black sash or black belt. There were five ranks within the Master level, 1st rank through 5th rank. A 1st rank Master was called a "Master of Novices". The first three master ranks encompassed all of Vadha's combat knowledge.  Masters who had entered into the fifth level of mental mastery were permitted to wear the red sash to denote this.

When Maha Master Jack McCrave opened his Zen Combat Institute in Staten Island, in the 1960's, he changed the grading structure of Vadha.
The grading system was again modified in June of 2001 by the Vadha Federation, with the approval of the Maha master.

The Vadha grading system, in order of rank is:
White Belt - grade 0,
Yellow Belt - grades 1 - 3,
Green Belt - grades 4 - 6,
Brown Belt - grades 7 - 9,
Black Belt - 1st through 10th degree.

In Vadha, there is only one 10th degree black belt, the Maha Master (translated as "Great" or "Ultimate" Master).

A black belt of at least the 5th degree, who has attained entry and some level of mastery of 5th level Punap, as a sign of this distinction, is permitted to wear a red sash or red belt to denote this high rank.

A Vadha black belt of the first degree is known as a "Master of Novices".  A "Master of Masters" is a Vadha black belt of the 5th degree or above.  And of course, the tenth degree Vadha Master is the Maha Master.

In Vadha, practitioners generally do not denote their rank within their belt (ie. 2 stripes to indicate a 2nd degree black belt). This is a small sign of humility that is expected of all practitioners.

(It is still common in the Vadha master ranks to refer to a 1st or 2nd degree black belt as 1st rank, a 3rd or 4th degree black belt as 2nd rank, and a 5th or 6th degree master as 3rd rank).

Email Me!
mailto:redsash@rome.com

Map to My Inverness VADHA Class
Click here to find us....