Talk:Khridoli

Articles for Deletion debate
This article survived an Articles for Deletion debate. The discussion can be found here. -Splash - tk 15:07, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

I have removed this phrase: "Nowadays Khridoli is one and the only martial art that exists in Georgia." which sounds silly since, one one hand there is a complex system of georgian martial arts which encompases not only fighting with bare hands, but also with different arms used in real combats; also songs, dances etc which are sort of equivalents of Kata, meditations etc in other systems. On the other hand, there are lot of different schools in Georgia like Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Shito Riu etc.

Khridoli
With no disrespect to the original submitter, the article assumes that the Georgian nation was a concrete political unit throughout history. The territory of the present Republic of Georgia has always included many other ethnic groups, and martial art traditions. The Georgian peoples and their neighbors maintained a high level of martial readiness throughout history, but that was as much a result of the constant feuding within and between groups, and the necessity of those skills for survival in a honor driven male culture that responded with violence at any perceived slight, real or imagined. Outside wars, invasions and mercenary opportunities occurred, but these were intermittent. The honor code, however, was constant and required a constant state of readiness.

Khridoli, with its close association with nationalism and revivalism, may be the dominant martial art among ethnic Georgians in Georgia today, but is not the only martial tradition in the regions of Georgia, even excluding the recent imports. As a modern revived national art, it incorporates a range of techniques that probably belonged to separate regional styles, to create a comprehensive art in all areas. Nothing wrong with that, but don't confuse the modern myth with a far more complex history. Terodactyl (talk) 02:24, 9 September 2008 (UTC)teradactyl