Kushti or Pehlwani wrestling evolved out of Persian and South East Asian fighting styles in the sixteenth century. Though more and more influenced by western styles like Freestyle and Greco-Roman, Kushti is still practiced in its original form in many Akhara's (dojo's) throughout India and Pakistan. Kushti is performed in a sand pit, the sand is softened with milk, ghee or mustard oil. Training methods that originated in Kushti are still found in conditioning excercises of other grappling arts. Most wrestlers live on a strictly vegetarian diet where milk, ghee and almonds are the most important ingredients.

The young Buddhist monks of the Dhakpo Shedrup Ling monastery at Kais, H.P. India practice twice every day in a special form of debating. The purpose of these playful discussions is to train the mind in logical thinking and reasoning and prepare for the more complex Bhuddist philosophies that will be a great part of the monk’s life in the years to come.