About Mudgar Fitness

Strength that doesn't cost you your body

Mudgar Fitness helps adults become strong, mobile and pain-free using Mudgar, the traditional Indian warrior training tool, and not machines or gym culture.

I'm Haresh. I found Mudgar when I badly needed it, and I now teach it to students in India and around the world.

Haresh, founder of Mudgar Fitness, holding a wooden Mudgar
My story

I was 26 but looked 40

In 2014, I was overweight, tired and felt old before my time.

I'd look in the mirror and feel disgusted with what I'd become. I was unhappy at work and at home, and I was in escape mode 😞

I then started long-distance running, cycling and Yoga for 6 years. Got in good shape but yet felt something was missing.

In 2020, I began training under Guru Pashupati (Ashwin Mohan) who introduced me to Meipadam and Karlakattai(Mudgar).

I realised this is my true calling


I started Mudgar without knowing what I was getting into. For the first few months it made no sense to me. Every other practice I'd tried had one goal: gym for muscle, running for endurance, yoga for flexibility. Mudgar did all of it at once.

6 months in, I could pick up my wife with one hand, drop into a full squat without stiffness, and I had more energy after every session than before it.

4 years later, people said I looked younger than my old school friends.

By March 2024, I had seen the value of this practice, and I felt a deep urge to help people get strong and functional.

I finally started teaching.

Haresh before he found Mudgar
Before Mudgar, 2014
Haresh today
Today
  1. 2014Started Mudgar at 26, looking 40.
  2. 2018Four years in: stronger, more energetic, looking younger than my school friends.
  3. 2020 – 2022Trained under Guru Pashupati (Ashwin Mohan).
  4. 2022 – 2024Practised on my own, deepening what I'd learned.
  5. March 2024Began teaching.
  6. Today1,000+ students across 6+ countries
The practice

What is Mudgar?

Mudgar is a traditional Indian training tool: a wooden club shaped like a bowling pin, swung in big circular movements. In the south it's called Karlakattai.

Wrestlers, farmers, martial artists and soldiers trained with it for centuries. It appears in the Arthashastra, which is over 2,000 years old, and in texts from the 12th and 13th centuries.

It is not bodybuilding, and it isn't about six-pack abs. It trains your shoulders, grip, core and coordination together, and many students find it gentle on their joints.

A traditional wooden Mudgar, shaped like a bottle
In their words

What students tell us

1,000+ students across 6+ countries

WhatsApp message from a student who had never lifted weights before and is now noticing inch loss WhatsApp message from a student practising from the recordings, with plenty of energy and no soreness WhatsApp message from a student who can now do an inner drop and overhead together, with reduced neck pain, headaches and elbow pain WhatsApp message from a student whose shoulders have opened up in two weeks WhatsApp message from a student with improved strength and posture who feels energized after practice WhatsApp message from a student three months in, with more strength and energy and a meditative practice WhatsApp message from a student with no stiffness or pain after classes, unlike a conventional gym workout
A handcrafted Sheesham wood Mudgar
The tool

The Mudgar you swing

We make our Mudgars from natural Sheesham wood, with no varnish and no synthetic coating, because natural wood breathes and stays grippy when your hands sweat. They're handmade in India and delivered across India in 7–10 days.

Get Strong like your Ancestors

Start with a free class, or ask us anything. There's no pressure.

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Pune, Maharashtra, India · haresh@mudgarfit.com · +91 95272 48844
Mudgar Fitness is operated by HARESH SHYAM PUNJABI HUF.