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The Persians had been conquered. The conquerors, wishing to be
sure that there would be no rebellion in the land, seized all forms of
armament and forbid the study of any martial art by the Persians.
Strangely enough, it was at this time that a certain form of dance
arose in Persia.
It was danced by men and a goodly number of local groups quickly
took the dance form and taught it.
In this dance form, then men at times carried heavy weights and
leapt and turned in all sorts of manner.
It also took the form of two lines of men facing each other from
a distance.
One by one a man from each line (each man with something like a
willow rod in his hand) would dance to the center of the area and then
pass the fellow dancing from the other direction.
While they danced, however,
They would attempt to whip and to trip the other fellow in passing.
This dance tradition, a gift of the ancestors, a heritage of secret
hope, passed from generation to generation, was carried on for more
than a century. Then the tides of time turned, opportunity arose, and the
Persians rose up and threw off their oppressors.
And what of the dancers?
It was they, the dancers, who led the rebellion.
You see, for all those generations they had been passing down the
skill and the stamina of the martial arts in the dance.
In the New Era ìNaw Ruzî, the gift of the Dance will not be, as
it was in the past, the capacity for war.
It will be the capacity for Peace, the gift of the ancient wise
ones to our children.
Their heritage.
.
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