Legend traces the 3000-year-old martial art to the Sage Parashurama (credited to be the reclaimer of Kerala from the Arabian Sea). It is also said to be the forerunner of Kung-Fu, Karate and Taekwondo. This is not everybody’s cup of tea though! One wrong move could leave you bruised. But once you master this art, it will not only increase the quotient of your fitness level but also improve your breath control, flexibility, and the suppleness of your body! The exercise also unblocks the deep tissues and relaxes a lot of frayed muscles!
The word kalari is said to have been derived from the Sanskrit words “kala”, which means art, and “ari”, which means enemy. Literally, thus it means art of defeating an enemy. Legends have it that around 525 AD, an Indian Buddhist monk named Bodhidharama travelled to China and trained the monks in kung-fu at the Shaolin temple. Kalari practitioners claim that Bodhidharama taught them the eighteen hands of Buddha – a special set of exercises and from this evolved the Chinese art of Shaolin Boxing. These eighteen hands of Buddha are said to be derived from the eighteen ‘adavukals’ (adavu = technique), which form the substratum of the ‘Vadakkan’ or northern style of Kalarippayattu. Slowly this fighting style traced its route to Japan and blended with the fighting skills of those regions, resulting in today’s martial arts. There are many martial art schools in Kerala that train the person in this art.
Originally a traditional form of martial art that started in South India, Kalaripayattu is believed by many historians to be one of the oldest existing martial arts of the world. Emphasising skill over flashiness, Kalripayattu is a form of art which asks for fervid mental discipline, for the battles are fought as much in the mind as on the ground. And it does require a certain amount of intrepidity to swing heartless weapons with eyes wide shut, an archaic signature of Kalari fighters! Following a dearth in the patronages by the princely states after Indian independence – Kalaripayattu gradually lost its significance as a mortal combat code from the pages of history. However, in the recent years, like a phoenix-like renascence, Kalaripayattu emerged in a new avatar, as a source of inspiration for self-expression in dance forms – both traditional and contemporary – in fitness and lately, in movies. Come to learn the famous martial art of India, which is better known as Kalaripayattu art in Kerala.
The artistic discipline of ‘Kallaripayattu’ consists of a series of intricate and progressively more difficult movements that establish a synergistic analogy between the body and the mind. One can visit the small alcove (known as ‘kalari’), facing the east, where the art is practised. The south-east corner houses the guardian deity on a seven-tiered platform called the “poothara”, the seven steps representing the seven exigent abilities a warrior should possess – Vignesu (force), Channiga (patience), Vishnu (commanding power), Vadugashcha (animal posture), Tadaguru (training), Kali (the wild expressions of the Goddess) and Vakastapurushu (sound of animals). One might find these names bizarre and out-of-this-world, but so do the art, which demands not just tremendous physical fitness but also the swiftness and ferocity of wild animals. Indeed, Kalaripayattu’s movements draw inspiration from animals, and there are even poses named after the boar, the elephant, the lion, the fish and the serpent among others. The illumination of Kalaripayattu envelopes many arcane and darker secrets of human life, like the knowledge of human ‘marma’ – 108 highly sensitive, vulnerable and vital parts of the body). Interesting, isn’t it?
Perhaps what gives Kalripayattu an extra edge over other forms is the fact that it is an inch more than just martial art. Strongly blended with Ayurveda, the Kalari Chikitsa specialises in allaying ailments such as back pain, sprains, fractures, cuts and spondylitis, and revitalising the body with fresh breaths of consciousness using the knowledge about ‘vital spots’, otherwise meant to completely neutralise the vigour of an enemy. Kalari medication, with its own variety of potent oils, different types of bandages and unique way of application.
