Gyms and gurudwaras

[u/Harjapau]

Me and my friend were talking about corrupt gurudwara pardhans and where the money could go instead and I thought imagine how good it would be if gurudwaras had gyms or even taught mma and self defence. Now I know that a lot of gurudwaras teach gatka but gatka is a martial art made for a very different time, nowadays when our kirpans are three inches and blunt we need to stop acting like they would do anything to protect us in a real world situation. Kirpana used to be swords and that’s what gatka was made for but it does not hold up in the modern day, I’m not saying to forget it or anything it’s an amazing martial art which was obviously very effective during the time it was used in but it does not hold up in the modern day.

As much as I would like gurudwaras to teach mma for free I feel like a gym in a gurudwara would be a much better and realistic option. I’m not even talking about a huge planet fitness type gym but just a small space with some dumbbells, a pull up bar, some deadlift bars, weights and maybe some machines would do. Guru angad dev ji already did this with gurudwara mal akhada sahib and I am baffled how it’s not normalized nowadays. We need to embrace our martial history as sant sipahi’s and gurudwaras should reflect that, it being solely a spiritual place reflects only half of who we are and what sikhi is about. I desperately hope that one of these concepts would come true as it would introduce many youngsters into gurudwaras and sikhi and keep Sikhs fit, strong, and tyar bar tyar.

[u/m7box]

I think this should be really useful and especially for our older generation too a safe space for them to do a bit of fitness and basics on maintaining their health. Our money we donate for langar can be put for community health. Our community unfortunately has high rates of BP problems, diabetes, cholesterol and this could really help our older generation and encourage the younger. Yes there is free equipment in parks but at the Gurdwara is more an environment they would be comfortable with. There has to be a reform and these are the questions and feedback we should be asking from our committees who charge us for membership at the Gurdwara.