KALARIPAYATTU

~-An Indian martial art form…

INTRODUCTION
The term Kalaripayattu is a blend of two Malayalam words - kalari (drill ground or
battlefield) and payattu (training of martial arts), which is coarsely decoded as “training in
the arts of the battlefield. The word Kalari is also bringing into being in Sangam writings.
The Akananuru and Purananuru designate the use of spikes, swords, armours, crossbows
plus silambam in the Sangam era. The word kalari also acts in the Puram (verses 225, 237,
245, 356) and Akam (verses 34, 231, 293) to pronounce both a battlefield and combat
dome.
Self-defense is the norm of kalaripayattu, rather than violence. If the kalari warrior can
dodge combat, this is the finest technique. In kalaripayattu, there are thousands of self-
defense methods such as grappling, kicks, jumps, locks and other actions. Kalaripayattu
training is given to students through whimsical vocal instructions called Vaithari. The
student is imparted principles and techniques of contemplation and eventually given the
admiration of offering kalari pooja.
Through it’s precise scientific corporal discipline, it unlocks the practitioner energy straits
and thrusts the limitations of the body to develop stronger, flexible and attentive –
physically, mentally and emotionally; the reason why theatre and dance artistes train it as a
daily discipline.
As a prehistoric martial art form, Kalaripayattu pulls on the expressions of nature and its
actions. Its techniques are a amalgamation of steps (chuvadu) and postures (vadivu). The
postures are termed after animals, and stimulated by observation of their stances.
Kalaripayattu remains diligently linked to yoga, dance and performing arts.

ORIGIN
Kalaripayattu, also signified as Kalarippayattu is an antediluvian martial art indigenous to
Kerala, a small state in the southern slope of India, but is recognized and accomplished
throughout the globe today.  The exact time of its origin nonetheless cannot be fixed with
any sense of confidence. Some claim that in its crudest form, Kalaripayattu was a resource
by which the earliest residents of this wooded and mountainous territory hunted wild
animals before it was polished into a methodical mode of fight that was effective enough to
subdue enemies and protect themselves.
Myth-lovers like to consider that Kalaripayattu has a hoary history, having been presented
by Lord Parasurama, the sixth embodiment of Lord Vishnu, after he domesticated the land
of Kerala from the Arabian Sea. While historian castoff such assertions, there is no
consensus amid them either, with their securing the time of its birth somewhere between
200 BCE and 600 CE, and it’s cresting admiration between the 14th and 16th centuries. But
what has never speckled, amidst all these titles and counter-claims, is the awe with which
storytellers and poets of diverse periods documented the complexity of the techniques, the
liquid exquisiteness of the moves, and the enviable pliability of the practitioners of
Kalaripayattu.
With very slight physical evidence to determine its point of origin, if one aspect elsewhere,
one finds specific allusions to Kalaripayattu in songs that for a extensive time had only an
verbal custom to speak of. It has to be concluded that some form of Kalaripayattu was
communicated virtually in every village in Kerala for the reason that there is frequent
mention of prodigious masters who supervised the accomplishments of a hundred and eight
kalaris or training centres/arenas, and there are abundant allusions to house names like
“Kalaripparambu” and “Kalariyullathil” that openly point to the association with this martial
art.  Kalaris were habitually situated near Devi temples, and the master used to be named
“Kuruppu” or “Gurukkal”. Traditionally, expertise in Kalarippayattu has been associated with
machismo, and in ancient times, those who could not exert the sword were considered
deficient in masculinity and hence were worthy to live only like slaves. However, there are
allusions to women warriors too who could contest their male counterparts in all facets of
the martial art.

SKILLS/TECHNIQUES INVOLVED IN THIS ART

There are four stages of training in Kalaripayattu which involves intensive training from the
basics to the master level. During this training different techniques are being taught.

1) FIRST STAGE: KALARIPAYATTU TRAINING MEITHARI

2) SECOND STAGE KALARIPAYATTU TRAINING: KOLTHARI
3) THIRD STAGE TRAINING: ANKATHARI
4) FOURTH STAGE TRAINING: VERUMKAI

FIRST STAGE: KALARIPAYATTU TRAINING MEITHARI

Meythari is the introductory stage of rigorous body conditioning, intended to train the body
and mind of the apprentice for more radical levels of training. Meythari contains of
movement orders aimed at constructing strength, poise, and adroitness, as well as
attentiveness and capability to focus. Importance is placed on learning simple body
positions, stretching actions for the legs, simple kicks and obstructions, and total body
suppleness conditioning. After mastery of the fundamentals are achieved, more progressive
moves are imparted such as aerial kicks, twisting and extra jumps, rolls, and body
curvatures. These exercises upsurge rapidity of delivery, and the complete power of the
move. After progressive Meythari training, the student’s psychological and corporeal skills
are improved to the uppermost level and they are ready to learn weaponries.
SECOND STAGE KALARIPAYATTU TRAINING: KOLTHARI
Afterwards Meythari, the following level of kalaripayattu is Kolthari, the rehearsal of
wooden weapons. Wooden weapons are less deadly than metal weapons and so weapons
training is initiated with them. Weapon training is at the core of kalaripayattu, as the art
cultivated during the medieval times of ancient India, when battle was a unvarying part of
life and weapons was inevitable. Weapon training means performing against a different
student in the kalari, and obliges skill and self-confidence to master.

THIRD STAGE TRAINING: ANKATHARI

Ankathari is the exercise of metal weaponries, and is the third phase of kalaripayattu. Metal
weapons are extremely deadly and are intended to kill enemies quickly, sometimes several
at a time. Skills cultured in Kolthari must come to be very particular during Ankathari
training, and applied with a great expanse of focus and intent. In the beginning, students
learn to combat with co-ordinated weapons. As they develop their assistances, the Gurukkal
will escort them to see how they knob themselves when using lopsided combinations, such
as dagger against sword.

FOURTH STAGE TRAINING: VERUMKAI

The last phase of kalaripayattu teaching, Verumkai, is the exercise of barehanded combat.
This means that when the student has grasped the practice of traditional weapons, they
have to study how to do devoid of them. Techniques learned include numerous blocks,
tosses, joint locks plus grappling, amongst others.

ONE TECHNIQUE TO LOOK FORWARD TO PRACTICE

The "charma" is a fight that recapitulates all the opportunities that Kalaripayattu offers to
contest with a short stick or a knife. It tells the story of the relationship concerning the
master and the pupil, establishment with a greeting to each other, then a salutation to the
weapon and a acknowledgement to the gods. Then you go in the “learner’s way” or the
“teacher’s way”.
Practicing it as it would be practiced, this combat releases a lot of energy, it displays an
graceful speed, the outlines that the feet follow are very defined, the eyes are stuck to the
eyes of the adversary, the stick is swayed not from side to side but through the forte of the
muscle, but appreciations to one kind of female dynamism that’s much more influential and
controlled. It also expresses a story. This is one of the movements that I look forward to. It
would help us form an intimate relationship with each other.

BENEFITS
As with any other corporeal discipline, a person receipts up some commotion depending on
one’s temper, on favoured subtleties and intensity of training, as well as favoured goals.
Sometimes these objectives are to progress health in general, to improve plasticity or
stamina, or to precise bad body habits – and these can be objectives for people who do not
work professionally with their physiques.
On the further hand, there are performers, dancers and other entertainers, who can benefit
from the Kalaripayattu training structure and improve their coordination, steadiness,
indulgent of space and body, communication with a partner, flexibility and meticulousness
of body expression. Martial arts specialists can learn Kalaripayattu’s unique techniques of
self-defence and pugnacious, as well as many interesting exercises.
This all denotes to the physical aspect of practice, but there’s also the psychological and
spiritual sphere that can be swayed by regular practice and devotion. Kalaripayattu shapes
your mindset and assertiveness towards life, and it authorizes you with a particular energy
which is imitated in many – if not entirely – features of one’s life.
Here are some points on benefits of Kalaripayattu:
1. It lifts flexibility:
Just like martial art demonstrates several flexible moves to protect physically during a fight,
so ensures Kalaripayattu. This is what makes it better than the other practices of fighting.
2. It progresses the strength in an individual’s body:
As mentioned previously, the forte within your body is first focused upon. Kalaripayattu
trainers and practitioners rely on that you can never call yourself resilient, unless you are on
the inside healed, fit and in fine fettle.
3. It safeguards to make you fast:
There are a lot of rapid moves that you study while performing this art. You are required to
guard yourself for defence and attack, both within a abrasion of the second so that you are
saved from getting injured, but are able to injure the opponent.
4. It cuts down the ‘sluggishness” in the body:
If you have been idle all your life, this is the form of martial art that you have got to acquire
to get the pre-eminent out of your body. It takes you to a different precinct in life.
5. Attentiveness and control increases:
If you want to lift your focus on a particular thing, Kalaripayattu can aid you with the same.
You learn the true connotations of dedication and willpower when you are a Kalaripayattu
learner.
6. endurance is improved with the practice of this art:
This form of martial art obliges endurance because it is not something that you can learn
overnight. It imparts you to be composed at the same time.
7. If a person is strained, the hatha yoga Asanas taught in this art ensure to de-stress:
There are various Yoga asana communicated during the procedure of Kalaripayattu. Thus, if
there is any sort of hassle in your life, you can get rid of it by wisdom and practicing this art.
It assurances to bring a major optimistic change in your life and expand the way you think
about yourself. It also increases your self-confidence level.
8. presence of mind is enhanced as by learning new moves for the battleground:
There are innumerable moves that you are trained when you are being trained by a
Kalaripayattu professional. Also, you improve a few moves on your own after a definite
period of time and, that necessitates a strong presence of mind.

9. one can subsist a real attack as well:

If you are condemned for real, you can use your Kalaripayattu techniques to subsist the fight
and overthrow the threat.
10. one can train other individuals in Kalaripayattu, since it is quite in call these days:
Most of the health fitness curiosities and athletic personalities are drawn towards
Kalaripayattu because it has them fit, makes them tough to play the game, and enjoy a
healthier lifestyle, since they are into undertaking something far more diverse than the rest
in game. Instead of beating the gym and taking enhancements to grow larger, implement
hatha yoga Asanas, learning Kalaripayattu and becoming a sturdier and cleverer fighter in
life is an achievement.

THE IMPORTANCE OF KALARIPAYATTU IN THE MODERN WORLD

Kalripayattu was established in ancient times as a way of concocting for and fighting in
battle. Back then its teaching had a prodigious importance as the expertise one had in
Kalaripayattu can factually mean the alteration between life and death. Collectively, a
kingdom’s competence in Kalaripayattu could mean the variance amongst winning and
mislaying a war. All of the weapons that are accomplished in Kalaripayattu were once used
on the frontlines of ancient India when battle was fought as hand to hand combat.
In modern times the battleground has changed afar recognition from its ancient
correspondent – no longer exist the sword, spear and dagger used to combat wars.
Kalaripayattu ensures, however, still hold a very significant place in culture today. Although
it might not be the discrepancy flanked by life and death, practice in Kalaripayattu will
undoubtedly enhance one’s existence. 
Kalaripayattu exercise creates a solid link between a healthy mind and a healthy body. With
augmented stamina and strength originate growths, confidence and mental welfare.
Kalaripayattu delivers an active technique of meditation. When fighting with arms one must
clear the mind of all meddling thoughts and enter a contemplative state so as to evade
being injured by one’s foe. A enhanced immune system is another assistance that holds
great importance today.
Finally Kalaripayattu can help one to be a healthier person and teach community morals.
Providing the students with a loving, caring and a supportive community.