#Yanra-Vaat

[getdestroyed-staydestroyed]

Alright, here's one: Since the Orsi and their Empire are heavily militaristic, is there any sort of traditional martial art associated with the race and their military? Or do the Orsi tend to just go a bit feral in close quarters combat?

There are several martial disciplines in the world of Kashmir but within the country of Kashmir itself and the Orsi as a race the most widely taught and practiced martial art is called “Yanra-Vaat” (or “Troubled Way” in Orsi tounge). 

Unique to Orsi due to the use of tails, biting, and other maneuvers difficult or impossible for humans, Yanra-Vaat consists of two sub-styles of engagement, with one predominantly serving as simply a precursor to the second:

The first sub-style is known as “Tevaa” (or “Motion”) and is the match state two fighters naturally begin in which is standing upright on their feet. This style is mainly focused on foot-work, strikes, and finding a favorable angle to engage your opponent. Two Orsi engaging in Tevaa would look very similar to the early openings of a human MMA match in our world, albeit much more kick/knee heavy and the use of tails in attempts to sweep an opponent or strike their legs to weaken them. Hand strikes exist but due to Orsi body proportions and longer necks, they are trickier to land. There are a few Tevaa-focused specialists who can win matches on points alone or knockout while staying on their feet completely and continuing to foil an opponent’s attempts to drag the fight into the Singat phase. 

The second sub-style is known as “Singat” (or “Grounded”) and is the match state in which the two fighters after weakening each other by exchanging blows in Tevaa, attempt to take down, throw, or submit their opponent. In this phase the fighters stop attempting to keep distance between each other and directly engage in grappling and holds, using their lower bodies and tails to leverage an favorable throw with them landing on top to hold the advantage. Some Singat specialists are skilled at spectacular mid-air throw reversals which are exiting to see, letting their foes think they have the upper hand only to completely surprise them. Once on the ground the referee usually moves in much closer (usually crouched on all 4′s and crawling around) to watch as they struggle for a dominant position. 

Amateur matches last for 10 minutes, while imperial-sanctioned matches last for 20 minutes. There are no rests or breaks and so even though Orsi naturally have high stamina, Yanra-Vaat demands peak conditioning and a keen sense of when to attack and when not to to conserve energy. 

A judge’s panel of 3 (for amateur) and 5 (for imperial-sanctioned) observes the fight from different seats at the edge of the fight floor and award points based on strikes, reversals, holds, and defensive elusiveness. If the fight goes the full length and no knockout or submission is achieved by either fighter they rule in favor of one to award a win based on points scored. Draws are extremely rare but possible.

Victory is achieved in the following ways: 

A fighter immobilizes an opponent in Singat for longer than 10 seconds.

A fighter secures a clean neck bite in Singat and holds it for 3 seconds.

A fighter knocks out an opponent via a strike.

The match time concludes and a fighter is rewarded a judge’s decision.

A fighter’s opponent is disqualified (hair pulling, eye gouging, or biting unapproved areas other than the neck).

A fighter’s opponent surrenders or quits at any point in the fight.

Currently Yanra-Vaat is an imperial government-sanctioned sport and considered to be the national sport of Kashmir (an irony not lost on most human Kashmir citizens). Some Orsi have lobbied for it to be opened up for for other privately-funded organizations to be able to sanction matches. The Kashmir Government however, has resisted these attempts fiercely, citing the “purity” of the sport, and the Kashmir Cultural Combat Commission (KCCC) remains the sole authoritative body on sanctioning professional matches and recognizing provincial and imperial Yanra-Vaat champions.