This page is a placeholder. It exists so that the structure does; the
text will follow, and will be checked by a teacher of the field before
it is called finished.
The challenger stands; the defender sits. The challenger states a thesis and its reason, claps the right palm down onto the left as the question lands, and the defender must answer with one of a small set of replies: I accept; the reason is not established; there is no pervasion; or, if the challenger’s own position has been caught out, a counter-consequence. The exchange continues until one side is forced to contradict something already conceded. It is fast, loud, physical and precise, and it is how a Tibetan scholar’s understanding is tested every day for twenty years.
The pages here will teach the form, the gestures, the replies, and the first exchanges a beginner can practise.