Editing Duel (section)

==Eastern traditions==

===India===
Duels or ''niyuddha'' were held in ancient India (including modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh) for various reasons. Many [[kshatriya]] considered it shameful to die in bed, and in their old age often arranged for a ''yuddha-dhan'', literally meaning "combat charity". According to this practice when a warrior felt he did not have much time to live, he would go along with a few attendants and ask another king for a duel or a small scale battle. In this way he chooses his own time and manner of death and is assured that he will die fighting. Duels to the death were legal in some periods, and punishable by execution in others.<ref name="Auboyer">{{cite book |title=Daily Life in Ancient India |first=Jeanine |last=Auboyer |year=1965 |pages=58 |publisher=Phoenix Press |location=France}}</ref>

Ancient epics and texts like the ''[[Dharmashastra]]'' tell that duels took place under strict rules of conduct, and to violate them was both shameful and sinful. According to these rules, it was forbidden to injure or kill an opponent who has lost their weapon, who surrenders, or who has been knocked unconscious. The ''[[Manusmṛti]]'' tells that if a warrior's topknot comes loose during a duel, the opponent must give him time to bind his hair before continuing. Both duelists are required to wield the same weapon, and specific rules may have existed for each weapon. For example, the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' records that hitting below the waist is forbidden in mace duels.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present |publisher=Cambridge University |first=Kaushik|last=Roy}}</ref> In one ancient form of dueling, two warriors wielded a knife in the right hand while their left hands were tied together.<ref name="Auboyer" />

The Portuguese traveler [[Duarte Barbosa]] tells that dueling was a common practice among the nobles of the [[Vijayanagara Empire]], and it was the only legal manner in which "murder" could be committed. After fixing a day for the duel and getting permission from the king or minister, the duellists would arrive at the appointed field "with great pleasure". Duelists would wear no armor and were bare from the waist up. From the waist down they wore cotton cloth tightly round with many folds. The weapons used for dueling were swords, shields and daggers which the king would appoint them of equal length. Judges decided what rewards would be given to duelists; the winner may even acquire the loser's estate.<ref>{{cite book |title=Travels of Duerte Barbosa |author=M.L. Dames |year=1918 |location=London}}</ref>

Duels in [[Manipur]] were first recorded in the ''Chainarol-Puya'' which details the ethics of dueling. When a fighter was challenged, the day for the bout would be fixed to allow for time to prepare the weapons. Allowing the opponent the first chance to fire an arrow or hurl a spear was considered particularly courageous. The duel itself was not necessarily to the death, and usually ended once first blood has been drawn. However, the victor was still expected to behead the loser. Either before the duel or before the beheading, the fighters would share the meals and wine prepared by their wives. If it had been so requested beforehand, the loser's body may be cremated. Heads were taken as trophies, as was custom among the headhunters of northeast India. Various taboos existed such as not killing an opponent who runs, begs or cries out of fear, or anyone who pleads for protection.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}

In medieval [[Kerala]], duels known as [[ankam]] were fought between the [[Chekavar]] or ''Ankachekavar'' warriors trained in [[Kalaripayattu]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNAI9F8IBOgC&q=Chekavar+Sevakan&pg=PA27 |title=Religion and Social Conflict in South Asia.Page 27 |editor=Bardwell L. Smith |publisher=BRILL publications ,1976 |isbn=978-90-04-04510-1 |access-date=2007-12-28 |year=1976}}</ref> These duels were conducted in order to settle disputes between nobles, chieftains or rulers. Each side used to engage warriors to fight for them in combat at a fixed location and time. Both nobles would be represented by a Chekavar. These duels were usually fought to death, and the ruler whose Chekavar survived was considered as the winner.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?lr=&q=Chekavan+ |title=Communal Road to a Secular Kerala.Page 30 |author=George Mathew |publisher=Concept Pub.Co, 1989 |isbn=978-81-7022-282-8 |access-date=2007-12-28 |year=1989}}</ref>

===Indonesia===
Weapons and rules for dueling in the Indonesian archipelago vary from one culture to another. In [[Madura Island|Madura]], dueling is known as ''carok'' and was typically practiced with the sickle or [[celurit]]. The [[Madurese people]] imbued their sickles with a {{transliteration|id|khodam}}, a type of mythical spirit, by a way of prayer before engaging in a duel.<ref>{{cite book |author=A. Latief Wiyata |title=Carok: Konflik Kekerasan Dan Harga Diri Orang Madura |year=2002 |publisher=PT LKiS Pelangi Aksara |isbn=978-979-949267-8}}</ref>

The traditional form of dueling among the [[Bugis people|Bugis]]-[[Makassar people|Makassar]] community was called ''sitobo lalang lipa'' in which the duellists fight in a [[sarong]]. The challenger stands with a loosened sarong around him and respectfully invites the other man to step into the sarong. The sarong itself is kept taut around both their waists. When both men are inside, an agreement to fight til death and thereafter shall be no hereditary grudge nor will any party be allowed to question the duel, shall be made. If both fighters agree, they then engage each other within the confined space of a single sarong.<ref name="Sitobo Lalang Lipa">{{cite web |url=http://mirror.unpad.ac.id/koran/mediaindonesia/2010-09-18/mediaindonesia_2010-09-18_021.pdf |title=Tomanurung Perang Sejati Orang Bugis |publisher=Media Indonesia |access-date=18 May 2014 |archive-date=2014-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606202038/http://mirror.unpad.ac.id/koran/mediaindonesia/2010-09-18/mediaindonesia_2010-09-18_021.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Unlike the more typical [[kris]] duel of Javanese and Malay culture, the Bugis-Makassar community instead wield [[badik]], the local single-edge knife. Because avoiding injury is near-impossible even for the victor, this type of duel was considered a sign of extraordinary bravery, masculinity and the warrior mentality. Although true ''sitobo lalang lipa'' are no longer practiced, enactments of these duels are still performed at cultural shows today.

===Japan===
[[File:Miyamoto-Musashi-Fights-Sasaki-Kojiro-at-Ganryujima-Ukiyo-e.png|thumb|Depiction of the duel of [[Miyamoto Musashi]] vs. [[Sasaki Kojirō]]]]

In [[Edo period]] Japan, there was a tradition of dueling ({{nihongo||決闘|kettō}}) among the [[samurai]] class.

On April 14, 1612, the famous Japanese swordsman [[Miyamoto Musashi]] dueled his rival [[Sasaki Kojiro]] on the island of Funajima. Miyamoto is said to have fought over 60 duels and was never defeated.

===Philippines===
Dueling was a common practice in the Philippines since ancient times, and continued to be recorded during Spanish and American colonialism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marcialtirada.net/filipino_weapons |title=Philippine Martial Arts Institute – Traditional Filipino Weapons |publisher=Marcialtirada.net |access-date=2012-10-22}}</ref> In the [[Visayas]], there is a tradition of dueling where the offended party would first ''hagit'' or challenge the offender. The offender would have the choice whether to accept or decline the challenge. In the past, choice of weapons was not limited. But most often, [[Bolo knife|bolos]], rattan canes, and knives were the preferred weapons. Duels were either first-blood, submission, or to the last man standing. Duels to death were known as ''huego-todo'' (without bounds).{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} Some of the older generation of [[Filipino martial art]]ists could still recall details of duels which occurred during their youth.

Duels with the bolo knife were prominent in North and Central Philippines, common in farmlands where the machete-like bolo is commonly used as a domestic tool. A duel reported internationally occurred on 14 April 1920 by Prescott Journal Miner which was known as "The First Bolo Duel in Manila since the American Occupation". It happened when Ángel Umali and Tranquilino Paglinawan met with friends in a vacant lot near the city centre before dusk to settle a feud; Paglinawan lost his left hand. With no law against bolo fights, Umali was charged for a petty crime.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=906&dat=19200416&id=HllIAAAAIBAJ&pg=3515,3703863 |title=Bolos Weapons in Filipino Duel: One Hand Cut Off |access-date=2012-10-22}}</ref>

Bolo fights are still seen today, albeit rarely, and have become part of Filipino rural culture. On 7 January 2012, two middle-aged farmers were wounded after a bolo duel over the harvest of rice in a village in [[Zamboanga City]]. Geronimo Álvarez and Jesús Guerrero were drinking and at the height of their arguing Álvarez allegedly pulled out his bolo and hacked Guerrero. Guerrero also pulled his bolo and repeatedly hacked Álvarez, and their relatives immediately intervened and rushed them to a hospital.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2012/01/07/argument-over-rice-harvest-leads-bolo-duel-199362 |title=Argument over rice harvest leads to bolo duel in Zamboanga City |newspaper=Sun.Star |date=2012-01-07 |access-date=2012-10-22 |archive-date=2016-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701222555/http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2012/01/07/argument-over-rice-harvest-leads-bolo-duel-199362 |url-status=dead }}</ref>