When I was younger, I would inadvertently get into trouble for a many number of things, teasing my younger cousin, not coming home when my mom would call for me (picture an Indian aunty in suburban central Pennsylvania standing outside the front door of her house, screaming for me (in my embarrassing nickname) to come home like she was still in Ahmedabad), or for jacking that extra blow-pop. Like all kids, I knew I would get in trouble, but I did it anyway because it was fun. What wasn’t fun was the punishment. We called them “Ootbes“, which translates into stand (oot) sit (bes) and as an added incentive, we had to hold our ears while we did it, thereby looking like a robotic monkey, doing weird squats. Thanks to tipster, Nalina, I learned that I was not alone in having to do these. While some in the West have found yoga to be great excercise, others have discovered the Ootbes or Bethak, and renamed it the “Hindu squat.” It seems “Politically Incorrect Fitness & Fighting” instructor Matt Furey is using the Hindu Squat, and even the Hindu push-up (also known as downward facing dog in yoga circles) as conditioning exercises for weight loss and as a technique for building muscle. From Furey’s website..
Hindu squats (bethaks) are an exercise, like Hindu pushups (dands), that have been used by Indian wrestlers for centuries to build explosive lower body strength, power, speed and endurance. Can you get stronger doing this so-called “free hand” leg exercise while also staying away from barbell and dumbbell squats? Absolutely. Can you develop greater muscle mass with this bodyweight exercise? Again, absolutely. The Great Gama of India was 5’7″ and 260 pounds of streaming steal, with thighs so heavily muscled they resemble the proverbial “tree stumps.” Legend has it that Gama of India, who never lost once in 5000 matches, did 4,000 bethaks or Hindu squats each day. These numbers are grossly inflated – but the fact of the matter is that Gama did do this exercise daily and he was unstoppable.
Interesting to see the linkage to the indostan – Here’s an excerpt from Terry Laughlin’s book (those of you who do Triathlons might have heard of him) – according to Vern Gambetta, Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox –
‘you’ve got to be able to handle your own bodyweight before you work with external resistance. Exercises… done with the just the weifht of your own body, give you the muscle sense and joint stability –
anyway – I totally agree with all that – and for all the statements I’ve read here about the dreaded hindoo flat butt – do like 60 squats and lunges every day – and you’ll get a nice rounded derriere
The Great Gama of India was 5’7” and 260 pounds of streaming steal, with thighs so heavily muscled they resemble the proverbial “tree stumps.”
Manohar Aich won the 1952 Mr Universe championship (well before Arnold made it it fashionable). In his 90s now, Aich is still in extraordinary physical shape.
Testing my idear, I slapped the Blitzer around my neck and hooked myself into the stirrups. [Link]
we were made to do those in school except instead of standing in one place we had to walk around the assembly yard doing them….it was called duck walking, and by FAR was the worst punishment you could get, and we routinely got rulers across knuckles and backsides, kneeling for hours with hands up in the air etc…if you were assigned the duck walk you knew you had done bad
My instructor, a former Recon Marine, actually makes us do these as a part of our Saturday morning beach workouts among other excercises, including some Yoga, Tai Chi, and western physical fitness techniques.
interesting squat pictures
ok… I’m not sure I agree with Furey’s form – the heels off the ground – tho’ I’m sure he has a reason for this – The way I’ve always done it – and to good effect – is to have heels on the ground – of course – it helps to keep the body more stable and avoid wobbles – well I was validating online and thought I’d share the pictures – the hindoo squat is used to good effect in the bottom right picture.
Oh yeah. I have baaad memories of my dad making me and my brother do these when we were little kids, just for exercise! When we were actually being PUNISHED my Gujrati mother would make us stand in a corner and touch our toes. “No bending knees!” (No one else seems to have done this, and my desi friends regard me freakishly when I tell them this.)
Later on in high school PE, we had to do those squatty things if your team lost a game. The PE teacher called them by the hilarious name of “squat thrusts.” Everyone hated them except for me! Because, y’know, me and the squat thrust went way back.
The real question is – should non-Hindus be allowed to appropriate Hindu squats? 😉
agree with dhaavak — hindu squats are to be done with heels flat on the ground.
So Furey’s reasoning for doing such squats to train for fighting is very western in nature: build mass. bas. However, asian martial forms have been doing this same squate for a very long time for another reason: ankle flexibility. Flexible ankles in chinese martial arts (wu shu) gives one strong grounding when it comes punching, kicking and moving around an opponent.
Interestingly, my amazingly flexible kung-fu instructor (who’s been practicing the form for >30 yrs now i think) still admits to having some difficulty doing these hindu squats. For me, however, the hindu squat is the only damn stretching exercise i can do with no problems. Result of exposure to the desi oot-bes you ask? Nope. Rather, the result of early exposure to the desi toilet.
haha, I have one of his books at the gym. It also gives a brief on Indian wrestling.
Heres a question:
you know looking at these kind of topics which seem continuously make headlines for us,
(desis/abcds/mutineers .. whatever you’d like to call us) isnt it time we stopped looking for approval?
In essence, all these stories go along the lines of “White man says <fill in some traditional desi activity here> may be useful”
Thats it.
Doesnt matter how insignificant the man (or woman) is .. so long as s/he is white, its enought to please us ..
The ‘approval’ or ‘praise’ doesnt even have to be direct. It could be a some sort of a roundabout ‘hint’.
Do any of you think its time we stopped looking for approval from others & found enough confidence in ourselves so we dont dance about like a bunch of children at the slightest hint of something that might be contrued as praise?
I’m not attacking you/ your blog Sajit. (Really) You blog about whatever catches your fancy. Its just that these ‘kind’ of atricles are constantly in the news for us as well .. in newspapers .. TV .. everywhere.
Do any of you think its time we stopped looking for approval from others & found enough confidence in ourselves so we dont dance about like a bunch of children at the slightest hint of something that might be contrued as praise?
I am not offended, I just disagree with your sentiment. This post has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with approval or praise. I wouldn’t even label this as a story that would ever make the headlines. I, and I assume most others, had never heard of Matt Furey until we were tipped about his website. Simply put, I had never heard of Hindu pushups or Hindu squats and found his site amusing, mainly because many of us had to do these Hindu squats (by another name) as punishment growing up, and now people, or at least one person anyway, finds them to be good excercise.
In essence, all these stories go along the lines of “White man says may be useful”
Thats it.
Doesnt matter how insignificant the man (or woman) is .. so long as s/he is white, its enought to please us ..
The ‘approval’ or ‘praise’ doesnt even have to be direct. It could be a some sort of a roundabout ‘hint’.
This story to ME, has nothing to do with praise or that one person approves/praises something South Asian. Its funny. Thats it.
Do any of you think its time we stopped looking for approval from others & found enough confidence in ourselves so we dont dance about like a bunch of children at the slightest hint of something that might be contrued as praise?
I agree with you. You should stop looking for approval. But dancing is good. It helps blood circulation. So you should find every excuse to dance. I dance all the time. No reason. Here, I’ll get up and do a little bunny hop and a moonwalk and a balley balley.
I’m back. That felt good. How’re you doing?:0)
Dhaavak, I’ll see your bunny-hop, moonwalk and balle balle, and raise you 2 bharatanatyam bols (din-din-na-na-dindin), some Krumping, and a round of “2 Legit 2 Quit”
Approve that.
DesiDancer,
That’s all well and good, but can you Disco-Dandia ?!
That’s the big question 😉
Nope. Rather, the result of early exposure to the desi toilet.
Hahahaha. No shit!
The posture shown in the pic above is a variation used to make the exercise harder (and shift it’s focus). Exercises just like everything else evolves with more knowledge and different people trying it out.
Purists don’t like variations, but I don’t see anything wrong with it as long as the change isn’t bad. Getting up on the ball of your feet does increase the stress. My instructor does these once in awhile, but asks people with bad or weak knees not to attempt it.
desi 1: So .. um .. that guy with the question .. d’you think he’s right?
desi 2: I dunno … can’t we delete his comment?
desi 1: Hey I’ve got it. Lets not answer. Lets make a joke instead.
desi 2: Yeah that way we dont have to cerebrate.
desi 1: Um .. hey did you just fart? Huh! Huh! Huh!
desi 2: Haw haw haw ….
One thing that I notice all the time is that people in western countries (possibly other countries as well, only that I have not observed it) just call things of non-native origin whatever that catches their fancy. This nonchalant misappropiration extends to using imagery and other non-native cultural artifacts as well – remember the footwear with Hindu deities printed on them? Of course SM has brought many more to us here.
I just don’t understand how the collective western mind works such that it doesn’t occur to it to kind of run its idea by some representative non-natives. I mean, how does it not seem common sense to seek opinion about calling something a hindu pushup when you know you’re making it up? Or worse still the unfortunate case with the printed deities on toilet seat covers. I mean it seems pretty reasonable to me that when I try reusing something in its non-native context (which happens all the time) that I try to obtain the origin info for that object.
The same seems to go for situations where cultural sensitivity and knowledge would make a difference of life and death. Like Iraq for example. I’m not sure, but I’ve never heard or read anything about the soldiers being required to go through a basic language training for when they are over there. Or even the police – given that hispanics already are a large minority well on their way to being the largest minority if not the majority, why aren’t the police being required to obtain basic spanish (again I could be wrong, but last I checked they weren’t required to)? On rides with the police in the past we came across situations where they’d have to call for translators, and a relatively simple/quick situation would extend to a long-drawn and even more dangerous affair.
hindu push ups or dands when performed with one leg up in the air and the other down shows great self respect and promotes inner strength as well as spiritual consciousness. it opens the way to divinity and u r ready to recieve some great stuff. just give it a try……..
P.S : dont forget to close ur eyes while doing it, also make a sound similar to that of a loyal dog who awaits his masters return. you may get blessed!
omg my parents used to make me do the exact same thing…!!!
i thought it was just bengali parents being weird, but apparently its actually part of our culture…
Or even the police – given that hispanics already are a large minority well on their way to being the largest minority if not the majority, why aren’t the police being required to obtain basic spanish
I’m an ‘innocent passerby’ 🙂 and found this site while looking up hindu squats in Google (I do them for exercise). This comment strikes me as FUNNY… How does it make sense that the people living in their own country should be required to learn the language of people immigrating from other countries? Learning Spanish is certainly useful. But what about Mexicans learning English, for goodness sake? If I move to Italy, I’ll damn well take the time to learn Italian. To expect that the Italian police or government workers etc. should be required to learn English on my behalf… is arrogant and lazy. What’s worse than an English-speaking cop who doesn’t study Spanish is a Spanish-speaking Mexican who doesn’t take the time to learn the language of the country he’s moving to.
Allison I found this site much the same way you did, however I was not confused by the simple that fact that the US has no national language. People can speak whatever they like to. The fact that officers speak English at all is not coincidental, but not related to the fact the people their harassing don’t need to. The US: a country started by deviants, filled with deviants, and people only into their own kind of deviance.
i have been doing squats and then after the exercise i get the feeling that they are gonna turn huge like bodybuilders and then i say to myself “thanks Matt Furey, This exercise is really helping me and i should keep going to achieve my goal.”
Interesting to see the linkage to the indostan – Here’s an excerpt from Terry Laughlin’s book (those of you who do Triathlons might have heard of him) – according to Vern Gambetta, Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox –
anyway – I totally agree with all that – and for all the statements I’ve read here about the dreaded hindoo flat butt – do like 60 squats and lunges every day – and you’ll get a nice rounded derriere
Manohar Aich won the 1952 Mr Universe championship (well before Arnold made it it fashionable). In his 90s now, Aich is still in extraordinary physical shape.
History of Bodybuilding in India
My favorite part of his website:
we were made to do those in school except instead of standing in one place we had to walk around the assembly yard doing them….it was called duck walking, and by FAR was the worst punishment you could get, and we routinely got rulers across knuckles and backsides, kneeling for hours with hands up in the air etc…if you were assigned the duck walk you knew you had done bad
My instructor, a former Recon Marine, actually makes us do these as a part of our Saturday morning beach workouts among other excercises, including some Yoga, Tai Chi, and western physical fitness techniques.
interesting squat pictures ok… I’m not sure I agree with Furey’s form – the heels off the ground – tho’ I’m sure he has a reason for this – The way I’ve always done it – and to good effect – is to have heels on the ground – of course – it helps to keep the body more stable and avoid wobbles – well I was validating online and thought I’d share the pictures – the hindoo squat is used to good effect in the bottom right picture.
Oh yeah. I have baaad memories of my dad making me and my brother do these when we were little kids, just for exercise! When we were actually being PUNISHED my Gujrati mother would make us stand in a corner and touch our toes. “No bending knees!” (No one else seems to have done this, and my desi friends regard me freakishly when I tell them this.)
Later on in high school PE, we had to do those squatty things if your team lost a game. The PE teacher called them by the hilarious name of “squat thrusts.” Everyone hated them except for me! Because, y’know, me and the squat thrust went way back.
The real question is – should non-Hindus be allowed to appropriate Hindu squats? 😉
agree with dhaavak — hindu squats are to be done with heels flat on the ground.
So Furey’s reasoning for doing such squats to train for fighting is very western in nature: build mass. bas. However, asian martial forms have been doing this same squate for a very long time for another reason: ankle flexibility. Flexible ankles in chinese martial arts (wu shu) gives one strong grounding when it comes punching, kicking and moving around an opponent.
Interestingly, my amazingly flexible kung-fu instructor (who’s been practicing the form for >30 yrs now i think) still admits to having some difficulty doing these hindu squats. For me, however, the hindu squat is the only damn stretching exercise i can do with no problems. Result of exposure to the desi oot-bes you ask? Nope. Rather, the result of early exposure to the desi toilet.
haha, I have one of his books at the gym. It also gives a brief on Indian wrestling.
Heres a question: you know looking at these kind of topics which seem continuously make headlines for us, (desis/abcds/mutineers .. whatever you’d like to call us) isnt it time we stopped looking for approval?
In essence, all these stories go along the lines of “White man says <fill in some traditional desi activity here> may be useful” Thats it. Doesnt matter how insignificant the man (or woman) is .. so long as s/he is white, its enought to please us .. The ‘approval’ or ‘praise’ doesnt even have to be direct. It could be a some sort of a roundabout ‘hint’.
Do any of you think its time we stopped looking for approval from others & found enough confidence in ourselves so we dont dance about like a bunch of children at the slightest hint of something that might be contrued as praise?
I’m not attacking you/ your blog Sajit. (Really) You blog about whatever catches your fancy. Its just that these ‘kind’ of atricles are constantly in the news for us as well .. in newspapers .. TV .. everywhere.
I am not offended, I just disagree with your sentiment. This post has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with approval or praise. I wouldn’t even label this as a story that would ever make the headlines. I, and I assume most others, had never heard of Matt Furey until we were tipped about his website. Simply put, I had never heard of Hindu pushups or Hindu squats and found his site amusing, mainly because many of us had to do these Hindu squats (by another name) as punishment growing up, and now people, or at least one person anyway, finds them to be good excercise.
This story to ME, has nothing to do with praise or that one person approves/praises something South Asian. Its funny. Thats it.
I agree with you. You should stop looking for approval. But dancing is good. It helps blood circulation. So you should find every excuse to dance. I dance all the time. No reason. Here, I’ll get up and do a little bunny hop and a moonwalk and a balley balley.
I’m back. That felt good. How’re you doing?:0)
Dhaavak, I’ll see your bunny-hop, moonwalk and balle balle, and raise you 2 bharatanatyam bols (din-din-na-na-dindin), some Krumping, and a round of “2 Legit 2 Quit”
Approve that.
DesiDancer,
That’s all well and good, but can you Disco-Dandia ?!
That’s the big question 😉
Hahahaha. No shit!
The posture shown in the pic above is a variation used to make the exercise harder (and shift it’s focus). Exercises just like everything else evolves with more knowledge and different people trying it out.
Purists don’t like variations, but I don’t see anything wrong with it as long as the change isn’t bad. Getting up on the ball of your feet does increase the stress. My instructor does these once in awhile, but asks people with bad or weak knees not to attempt it.
desi 1: So .. um .. that guy with the question .. d’you think he’s right?
desi 2: I dunno … can’t we delete his comment?
desi 1: Hey I’ve got it. Lets not answer. Lets make a joke instead.
desi 2: Yeah that way we dont have to cerebrate.
desi 1: Um .. hey did you just fart? Huh! Huh! Huh!
desi 2: Haw haw haw ….
One thing that I notice all the time is that people in western countries (possibly other countries as well, only that I have not observed it) just call things of non-native origin whatever that catches their fancy. This nonchalant misappropiration extends to using imagery and other non-native cultural artifacts as well – remember the footwear with Hindu deities printed on them? Of course SM has brought many more to us here.
I just don’t understand how the collective western mind works such that it doesn’t occur to it to kind of run its idea by some representative non-natives. I mean, how does it not seem common sense to seek opinion about calling something a hindu pushup when you know you’re making it up? Or worse still the unfortunate case with the printed deities on toilet seat covers. I mean it seems pretty reasonable to me that when I try reusing something in its non-native context (which happens all the time) that I try to obtain the origin info for that object.
The same seems to go for situations where cultural sensitivity and knowledge would make a difference of life and death. Like Iraq for example. I’m not sure, but I’ve never heard or read anything about the soldiers being required to go through a basic language training for when they are over there. Or even the police – given that hispanics already are a large minority well on their way to being the largest minority if not the majority, why aren’t the police being required to obtain basic spanish (again I could be wrong, but last I checked they weren’t required to)? On rides with the police in the past we came across situations where they’d have to call for translators, and a relatively simple/quick situation would extend to a long-drawn and even more dangerous affair.
hindu push ups or dands when performed with one leg up in the air and the other down shows great self respect and promotes inner strength as well as spiritual consciousness. it opens the way to divinity and u r ready to recieve some great stuff. just give it a try……..
P.S : dont forget to close ur eyes while doing it, also make a sound similar to that of a loyal dog who awaits his masters return. you may get blessed!
omg my parents used to make me do the exact same thing…!!!
i thought it was just bengali parents being weird, but apparently its actually part of our culture…
I’m an ‘innocent passerby’ 🙂 and found this site while looking up hindu squats in Google (I do them for exercise). This comment strikes me as FUNNY… How does it make sense that the people living in their own country should be required to learn the language of people immigrating from other countries? Learning Spanish is certainly useful. But what about Mexicans learning English, for goodness sake? If I move to Italy, I’ll damn well take the time to learn Italian. To expect that the Italian police or government workers etc. should be required to learn English on my behalf… is arrogant and lazy. What’s worse than an English-speaking cop who doesn’t study Spanish is a Spanish-speaking Mexican who doesn’t take the time to learn the language of the country he’s moving to.
Allison I found this site much the same way you did, however I was not confused by the simple that fact that the US has no national language. People can speak whatever they like to. The fact that officers speak English at all is not coincidental, but not related to the fact the people their harassing don’t need to. The US: a country started by deviants, filled with deviants, and people only into their own kind of deviance.
i have been doing squats and then after the exercise i get the feeling that they are gonna turn huge like bodybuilders and then i say to myself “thanks Matt Furey, This exercise is really helping me and i should keep going to achieve my goal.”