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Kalaripayattu Mortal Combat Training Art

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Brief History Of Kalaripayattu

Kalaripayattu has often been referred to as the mother of all martial art forms, often surpassing the legendary powers of other Oriental combat arts as history traces it back over 3000 years to the time of wise, old Sage and epic warrior, Parasurama. The sage was regarded as someone with the strength, muscular and mental both, to have complete mastery over all existing martial art forms and someone who restored Kerala’s glory and reinstated its people as the mightiest, fearless and agile warriors on this side of the Arabian Sea.

Kalaripayattu Down The Ages: Growth & Reinvention

As mentioned earlier, Kalaripayattu was very intense, raw and animal-like in movements followed for combat training and practised since ancient times by young boys in total secrecy by masters who typically made these lads practise in forests and jungles to retain a certain element of mystery and confidentiality. Certain inspirations from animal movements are very apparent in Kalaripayattu, such as the sinuous grace and strength of the big 5 i.e. Elephant, Tiger, Lion besides Wild Boar, Crocodile and Snake.

Lithe movement and raw power of Kalaripayattu was the battle code for many South Indian dynasties like the Pandyas, Cheras and Cholas in ancient India.

Decline And Rebirth Of Kalaripayattu in India

Pre-independence India too, experienced some freedom fighters from these erstwhile princely states leading revolts against British occupied India as carrying of weapons, even sticks, were banned around 1930-1942. However, after India gained independence in 1947, Kalaripayattu lost much of its significance as a mortal combat form and it is only in the past 2 decades (after a gap of 40 odd years) that it has ignited an interest in younger generations of Indians and some foreign students who like to study and train this ancient art form more as a method of self-expression in dance forms. This new avatar of Kalaripayattu thus, has contemporary and traditional techniques and variations to the ancient martial art form today and is extensively being shown in theatre, music videos, as an alternate mode of fitness exercise besides being depicted in films.

There are many performing arts schools and institutes in Karnataka state (e.g. Bangalore’s Kalari Academy) where residential training classes are held for students keen on acquiring the present power of Kalaripayattu with regular workshops held on marma therapy (Kalari massage practises) besides the actual exercises.

Comments

Anonymous

|2009-04-03 17:53:00

Nice to see such an informative article... some old art forms are dyng out and
we should make efforts to keep them alive... you site is very informative

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