Kung Fu Tbilisi
Monica Okane
Surrounded by twenty warriors clad in medieval uniforms, I felt as if I'd stumbled into a kung-fu movie. Only this isn't China, it's Georgia (the other one). I'm about to get a hands-on lesson in Europe's only martial art, providing I can keep my arms from being wrenched out of their sockets, and my hands from being twisted off their wrists.
I am wearing a heavy, scratchy two-hundred-year-old warrior outfit, resurfaced along with other aspects of Georgian culture long repressed under decades of Soviet rule. The warriors move closer. To learn how to punch a man, I am told I must learn how to take a punch. I crouch low, breathe deep, and steady myself for the blow.
Tough men in the mountains of medieval Georgia practiced a fighting technique as effective and powerful as any Asian counterpart. As a result, Georgian warriors developed a reputation for being among the fiercest fighters in all Christendom. This is not surprising considering practice sessions often results in broken bones. Known as khridoli, training schools have popped up around the country, and the kids are signing up.
I've been invited to an old Soviet-era gymnasium outside of the capital of Tbilisi to learn some moves. The modern form of khridoli incorporates aspects of boxing, wrestling, judo and sambo, as well as weapons used in archery and swordplay. The warm-up involved acrobatic leaps and punching each other hard enough in the face to hear an echo reverberate around the gym. The instructor tells me it's all about focus, strength, and positioning. Following the punches, one arm is tied behind my back, and I participate in a fight not unlike thumb wrestling, only the object is to rip the thumb off of the hand of your opponent, and break several vertebrae in the process.
One of the students gets a little enthusiastic, slamming me to the floor, earning the disapproval of his trainer and fellow training partners. His punishment is to be placed in the middle of the group and have the crap kicked out of him. Pity the Turk, Persian or Arab invader of yesteryear. I can imagine their bones cracking like firewood throughout the forested mountains of Eurasia.
The class relocates to the striking fourth-century Narikala Fortress that overlooks Tbilisi. It's an impressive setting to bring out the deadly weapons that truly gave Georgian warriors their edge: jagged knives, rusty spikes, hooks, iron balls, axes, chains, arrows, and a terrifying sort of spiked knuckleduster. All were designed to mortally wound the enemy, and cause a maximum amount of carnage. I am handed a small shield and a short sword, the edges rusted and sharp. Carefully ducking and thrusting with my sparring partner, I'm aware that each sword is basically tetanus on a stick.
Two fighters step up to a ledge as the late afternoon sun battles to break through the thick clouds. Demonstrating their fighting prowess at full speed, the clanging swords and shields are just as impressive as any fight scene I've seen in Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones.
I demonstrate complete ineptitude with the traditional bow and arrow, so I focus my efforts on a tabari, the largest weapon in the trunk. It's a heavy axe that can decapitate anyone who comes within five feet of its holder. Instructed in the art of wielding it with the finesse of a drum majorette, one misstep might slice my neck off too. The headline, Travel Writer Decapitated in Freak Medieval Weapons Accident, does have a nice ring to it though.
Khridoli is largely unknown outside Georgia, but with its brutal effectiveness, I keep expecting it will make more of an impact in the world of mixed martial arts. Lately, Georgian fighters have made their mark in the UFC. Merab Dvalishvili, one of the world's top male UFC bantamweights, lists khridoli among his many fighting influences.
Back in Tbilisi, ancient uniforms are being unearthed in the mountains, and old weapons are being polished and sharpened. There's a famous Georgian legend about a famed local warrior defeating champion samurais on a journey to medieval Japan. Watching the punches, kicks, choke-holds, weapons and wrist twists used during a modern weekday practice session, it's easy to understand why.
I'd been steadying myself all week discovering the history, culture and food of a fascinating country that sits at the junction of Asia and Europe. Georgian script, called Mkhedruli, somehow invokes memories of Thai script. It flows off the tongue and sounds unlike any language I've come across. Gamarjoba means "hello", gmalobt means "thanks", and vxvdebi rasac gulisxmob means "I know what you mean", which of course, I don't. There are some 3.7 million people living in the country, surrounded by Russia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Black Sea. The nation's history stretches back thousands of years across snow-capped mountains and lush green plains.
The capital Tbilisi is spiked with gold church domes sparkling in the sun, while frenetic traffic hauls along streets with high quality public art. The Kura River meanders through the city alongside old churches and tree-lined boulevards. Exhaust smog can parch the throat, but there's plenty of historical juice to quench it. Tbilisi had been sacked by everyone from the Mongols to the Persians, the Turks, Byzantines, Arabs and Russians too. I walk across the landmark Metekhi Bridge and learn how hundreds of thousands of Georgians were beheaded by the Persians, right here on the bridge, for refusing to walk over their Christian icons.
Georgians are a ferociously brave lot, boldly outspoken, steeped in nationalist pride. They couldn't wait to declare independence from the USSR (called the Rose Revolution), but also found themselves in a civil war shortly afterwards, mired in an ongoing battle with separatists in regions like South Ossetia and Abkhazia. These and other newly acquired facts were helping me to focus on anything other than the fact that I was sprawled out naked on a marble slab with a man walking on my back.
Georgia far exceeded my expectations in every shape and form. From Tbilisi's cafes, restaurants, and bathhouses to the medieval fortresses and training gyms, encounters with locals were wonderfully authentic and I found myself being treated like a guest, not a tourist. Another Georgia, located on a different continent, tends to hog public attention, not always for good reasons. This one rewards its visitors with surprises to the upside instead.
Having reported from over 100 countries on 7 continents, Vancouver-based Robin Esrock is the bestselling author of The Great Global Bucket List, The Great Australian Bucket List and The Great Canadian Bucket List. You can find him at the wheel of a mini-van at www.robinesrock.com
Related Features:
Kicking Back (and Kicking) Like a Monk in Korea - Michael Buckley
A Gun for Bears and Russians on Georgia's Ossetian Military Road - Stephen M. Bland
Street Walking Demons in Sumatra - Marco Ferrarese
Abkhazia: Party Amidst the Ruins - Stephen M. Bland
See other travel stories from Europe from the archives
Hi all, I spent one month in tbilisi for business. I would like to share the safety tips I experienced. Night life: Two locations: under bridge (Rustaveli Avenue) and shardni street. Both are places for scammers girls and boys. Start in street: they will approach you to pay girls and their friends. Bodyguards will ask money or you will not pass easy. Inside, bar tenders will keep change or give your drinks to the girls working in club. Some girls and boys will take your drinks if you go dancing. Under bridge: group of organized scammers and workers. They will study you and try to get your personal info and play girls things or drink on your bill. Also, they will get your number to plan something next day. Bottom line, donot go ever there because its bad music, quality really dangers. Photo for scammer I met during one nigh.
maq, i do nto know where your report comes from on Shardeni street. I have been living in Tbilisi for 1.5 years and go to Sharden on a weekly bases and never had any issue. it is relaxing place where lot of professionals go during lunch dinner and of course you have more youngster during night but its all cool. Perhaps your act was too inviting for summers which you will find anywhere if you are looking for. My experience and experience of my friends are super. just enjoy staying.
Thanks for the info! Really useful! Im thinking about moving to Tbilisi in the next february! And I have lof ot questions! Could you tell me, please, how much is one room in one more or less good apartment?
Ang Tbilisi (Heorhiyano: თბილისი), na dating kilala sa pangalang Tiflis, ay ang kabisera at pinakamalaking lungsod ng bansang Heorhiya. Matatagpuan ang lungsod sa pampang ng Ilog Kura (Mtkvari), kung saan may mahigit-kumulang 1.5 milyong katao ang naninirahan dito.
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