Hello All,
While not specificly IndoChinese martial art I thought that this forum
would be the best place to talk about the Indian Martial Art of Kalarippayattu! Recently while visiting India, specificly the state of Kerela. I was not only
able to watch a Kalarippayattu Demonstation that I arranged but also able to
train with the Head Gurukal of this specific Kalarippayattu group. Kalarippayattu is a martial art native to the Indian state of Kerela and believe it or not it is very hard to find active practitioners any where else in the world! Kalarippayattu is purportedly a forerunner to the Shaolin Martial Systems and is believed to have been brought to the Shaolin Temple by the India Monk/Prince Bodhidharma! Having experienced this martial art first hand I have little doubt that this is true. There are alot of similarities between the Shaolin systems and Kalarippayattu. This martial system is both athletic and deadly with a very large variety of weapons practice. I was specifically impressed with similarities that I found not only with the Shaolin systems but also with Indonesian, Philipino martial arts and Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu. They practice empty hand techniques both against empty hand and weapon. They also practice weapon vs. weapon training. Kalarippayattu is dynamic and practitioners generally start fairly young around twelve years old or so. Their Training Hall is called a Kalari and is traditionally in a dedicated building just to their martial art and they dig it down and train on a clay floor. Some of the weapon training consists of : Knife, Stick, Sword, Sword & Shield, Sash/Sarong, Flexible Sword, Long Stick, Spear, Club, with and assortment or weapons in each area. I was impressed with their ability to move and also with the methods of training. Kalarippayattu is certainly a beautiful and deadly martial art that is thousands of years old!
Brian R. VanCise
While not specificly IndoChinese martial art I thought that this forum
would be the best place to talk about the Indian Martial Art of Kalarippayattu! Recently while visiting India, specificly the state of Kerela. I was not only
able to watch a Kalarippayattu Demonstation that I arranged but also able to
train with the Head Gurukal of this specific Kalarippayattu group. Kalarippayattu is a martial art native to the Indian state of Kerela and believe it or not it is very hard to find active practitioners any where else in the world! Kalarippayattu is purportedly a forerunner to the Shaolin Martial Systems and is believed to have been brought to the Shaolin Temple by the India Monk/Prince Bodhidharma! Having experienced this martial art first hand I have little doubt that this is true. There are alot of similarities between the Shaolin systems and Kalarippayattu. This martial system is both athletic and deadly with a very large variety of weapons practice. I was specifically impressed with similarities that I found not only with the Shaolin systems but also with Indonesian, Philipino martial arts and Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu. They practice empty hand techniques both against empty hand and weapon. They also practice weapon vs. weapon training. Kalarippayattu is dynamic and practitioners generally start fairly young around twelve years old or so. Their Training Hall is called a Kalari and is traditionally in a dedicated building just to their martial art and they dig it down and train on a clay floor. Some of the weapon training consists of : Knife, Stick, Sword, Sword & Shield, Sash/Sarong, Flexible Sword, Long Stick, Spear, Club, with and assortment or weapons in each area. I was impressed with their ability to move and also with the methods of training. Kalarippayattu is certainly a beautiful and deadly martial art that is thousands of years old!
Brian R. VanCise