Kalarippayatt

Kalarippayatt
Kalarippayatt is the ancient martial art of India, it is said to be the mother of all martial arts and dates back some thousands of years. Could it be true that the Buddhist monk, Bodhidarma studied this art and imparted these skills throughout South East Asia, then into China at the Soong Shan monastery? From further study, it is now clear that many traveling monks, merchants, and especially Ksatriyas (warrior class), were also responsible for imparting such knowledge, from its martial techniques in injury, medicine, and pressure point (marman) striking skills. One can easily see similarities between the arts such as silat, Chuan Fa (Gung Fu), not just in its techniques, but also in its training methods.

Traditional masters of Kalari attribute Parasurama who is an incarnation of the supreme Lord, and the creator of the land of Kerela, instituted 108 Kalaries all over the land. This legend on the origin of the institutions propagated by Keralolpathi, still lingers in the minds of the people. Some masters believe that the Kalari system originated out of the wrath of the lord Shiva while in his fury, to destroy Dakshayaga. Parasurama is surposed to have studied this art from him and and have handed it over to his 21 disciples in Kerela. Of the Kalarippayatt, the southern system offers the story that sage Agastya was the founder of the art.
Sometime later in the history of the Kalarippayatt, the famous Bhodidharma from Madras who was said to be the master of the art of Kalarippayatt traveled to Kerela. It is said that he had learnt the Northern as well as the Southern forms of Kalari. From there he went on to Indonesia, Malaysia then to southern China, and then to Soong Shan mountains to the Shaolin Temple, and it was there that he taught the martial art. He later became known as Da Mo, this was some 1500 hundred years ago.
Overall it is to be assumed the Kalarippayatt has emerged through a long process as the result of a synthesis of an indigenous physical culture with the martial systems, imparted through a Brahminical institution called Salais. The word Kalari derived from Sanskrit, the worlds oldest written language 5,000 years is also seen in repeatedly in early Tamil anthologies.

'The Structure'
The building of the Kalari, based on the measurement of the ground, inform us that the size of the structure ranges from twelve to sixty two feet, the most common among the above groups and the only type that exist at present in Kerala is the Nalpatheerati. All Kalaries except the Patinetteerati bare from a width of half its length.
There are two different types of Kalaries, the Kuzhikalari in the North and the Nilakalari in the south of Kerela. A Kuzhikalari is constructed by digging out the soil from the ground and forming a pit for an appropriate structure. The depth of the pit varied from region to region. The Nilakkalaries of Southern Kerela are made by constructing mud or stone walls around the appropriate area and roofing it with coconut leaves. In the case of Radha Krishnan Kalari it was three stone walls covering a sand pit which was about 32 feet to 42 feet in length.

Kalari Deities
There is a whole lot of metaphysical belief according to which, the structure of a Kalari symbolized the universe, Starting when one enters into the Kalari, the right foot enters first, then touching the ground of the kalari with the right hand to evoke the goodness of the earth. At Rada Krishanan Kalari, Hanuman the monkey god was at the center of worship, and a prayer are offered before training commences. The worship; touching the ground, deity obeiances and to the gurus feet is to be repeated every day. The bowing represents complete submission to the Karari Deities, Kalari master and it's rules.

Dress Code
The traditional dress used in the Kalari is known as Kachha and its wearing method is Kachha Kettal. Even though Kachha means only dress, it has a special connection. The Kachha is referred to the North ballads as a loin cloth with 64 Muzhams (one muzham is equal to 16 inches) It is to be wrapped in a particular method which give maximum tightness to the hip and support the navel region. The belief that the power is generated from the navel is the basis of the art of Kahhakettal. And this also is the same for the other martial art disciplines.
It is practice to apply gingerly oil (sesame oil) or medicated oil before training, this renders coolness and flexibility to the body and invigorates the veins and muscles. Usually students of Kalarippayatt undergo a course of uzhichal massage with special medicinal oil like Mukkoot or Arakuzhambu, which last for about a fortnight. There are also some restrictions regarding food and drink during the course. The massage is done with the hands for the young and the feet for the older. Such massage is considered to be an integral part of the Kalarei training which help the body to attain flexibility, nimbleness and suppleness.

Training
There are two systems of Kalarippayatt, the Northern and the Southern system. The Southern system heavily concentrates on the focus of striking the pressure points, known as marman. The Southern Kalarippayatt has strong emphasis on open hand skills, that cover marama strike locking techniques, kick and throws.
At the heart of the Southern system is the complex forms, there are 18 forms to study. The first is the salutation form called Surya Namaska which means Obedience to the Sun god Surya. Also some other starting Kalari forms vary the offering (namaste) to Agastya. Each form builds onto the next, starting with the left stationary form, where the body only pivots totally on the left leg, and cover the four directions. This is also a very interesting to note, because the left leg stationary forms are the predecessor of the Chinese kung fu forms known as the moi fa or plum blossom, a shape that is the same as the dots of the No. 5 on a dice.
There are two types of forms in the Southern system, non moving (Otta Chuvadu) as above and moving (Kootta Chuvadu). In the moving forms, all manner of shapes are taken into account, from square, triangle, circle, etc. Within the Southern Kalarippayatt, like its Northern counterpart are the animal postures within the forms. Though taught in a different manner, both practise the snake, cock, boar, fish and many more, each having a different purpose either in application of exercise. Locking skills in Kalarippayatt are called Verum Kai Prayogam or unarmed fighting techniques. Chumattadi is another name, and its the fourth stage of Kalari training. This is a unique method of offense and defense. In this technique various holds, grips and locks are combined with knuckle and elbow hits directed at the Marama or vital points of the opponents body. Locking techniques cover not only the applications, of which there are some 300 locks, but also an escape from the certain lock. By this method one must learn to evade, duck, grapple in precise positioning and timing. Through practice and understanding the bodies mechanics one can easily apply these locks that would disable an enemy completely. Usually, knowledge of this kind is not passed on indiscriminately to any one, but only those with a disciplined life who guarantees that the knowledge will not be misused.

Weapons
After achieving perfect body control through meippayatt, the Kalari student will be initiated into the training of weapon, starting with wooden weapons: shote and long stike, otta.