One of the indications that the various styles and schools of Indian martial arts once formed a single system is the concept of sacred steps. This concept is found in virtually every historical martial-arts tradition, where it is regarded as a distinctive and absolutely unique feature of that particular tradition.
In North Indian martial arts, the term pentra is used to designate these steps. It carries such meanings as “manoeuvre,” “trick,” and “strategy” — that is, an action that must be performed in order to achieve a particular objective or overcome an obstacle or challenge. Clearly, the word was borrowed from ordinary language, but within the context of martial-arts practice it came to denote a change of position made in order to launch an attack or counterattack. The word itself derives from the Sanskrit pādāntara, meaning “step,” from pāda, “foot,” and antara, “interval.”
In Indian wrestling, pentra was used to refer to positions and transitions between them. In armed practices, the term came to denote particular steps or sequences of steps. A pentra-baz is a person whose footwork is characterized by agility — in other words, a “manoeuvrer.” Compare this with shamsher-baz, a swordsman. A pentra-baz is therefore one who has mastered the use of his feet and his steps.
At the same time, pentra does not necessarily refer to a strictly defined sequence of steps. It may simply designate a particular type of step. For example, jalladi-pentra (jalladi — “deadly blow” or “executioner’s blow”) denotes a long step forward, but not a low fencing lunge. Rather, it is a sharp forward step in which the rear foot is drawn forward, creating a kind of “one-and-a-half” step. The purpose of this movement is clearly reflected in its name. Pentra-kātna (kātna — “to cut”) denotes a sharp manoeuvre.
The concept of such steps is developed in considerably greater detail in South Indian martial arts, which may suggest a closer, or at least better-preserved, connection with the ancient system.
According to this conception, when such steps are projected onto a floor or the ground, they form sacred designs — yantras. These yantras may be simple, as in the case of a single step, a step with a turn, or a triangle, or they may be considerably more complex. In the latter case, the steps are performed over designs drawn on the floor or ground in a prescribed sequence. In earlier times, these patterns were made by sprinkling rice flour; today, they are usually drawn with chalk.
Although such sequences are more elaborately developed in South Indian martial arts, they are also practiced in North Indian traditions, albeit without particular regard for their complexity or correspondence to specific sacred imagery. For example, what in the North appears to be a simple sequence of three steps — a step backward with the left foot from a right-sided stance, followed by a step with the right foot to the left and in front of the left foot, and finally a step forward with the left foot — is interpreted in South India as walking around a square. The name given to this practice, Naal Veedu (Nalu Kettu Veedu), meaning “four houses,” is borrowed from architecture, where it refers to the traditional South Indian house built around a central open courtyard, with residential structures occupying its four sides.
Another variation forms a cross, with a fifth point added at the centre of the cross as an additional place for the foot. A more complex version consists of two oppositely oriented triangles, forming a six-pointed star, or a swastika.
Despite the apparently significant differences in the interpretation and execution of these steps in North and South India, exercises of this kind serve essentially the same original purpose in both traditions: to teach practitioners to move actively in any direction, to turn, and to place particular emphasis on footwork and the positioning of the feet.
More complex pentra steps enabled practitioners to develop the twisting of the hips, the synchronization of footwork with hand strikes, and the ability to put the weight and movement of the entire body into a strike. Crucially, all of this was trained dynamically, through active movement and manoeuvring. Such skills enabled a warrior to avoid remaining stationary or becoming rooted to the spot after executing a technique, to attack an opponent from different angles, to change direction easily, and to control the space around him.
Descriptions of the fighting methods of Indian warriors recorded by the British in accounts of the events of the nineteenth century occasionally mention Indian warriors “dancing their dance, moving rapidly from side to side and attacking from different directions”.