For everyone's information
Kalaripayatt is still practised and is not a dead art.
Kalari originates from Kerala India.
Since all sorts of martial arts were banned from India by the British during Colonial times, it had to be practised underground by only members of the family who taught the art.
Only when India got independance, about 50ish years ago, did kalari centers arise again.
If your looking to study Kalari, good luck. either you have to go to find a few handful of schools in europe, or go to india. You are probably never going to find any books or self-help videos, since everything is taught by spoken word (viatharia in malayalam, the langauge of keralites)
The best way to learn the art is to go to Kerala and look for a kalari school.
Also keep in mind there are two different types of kalari, northen and southern. Northern concentrates on weapons and footwork, while the southern style concentrates more on unarmed combat and pressure points, although both styles has elements in both fields.
I myself have went to study in one of these centers myself. In Cochin, Kerala, there are C.V.N Kalari (the kalari where Jackie chan visited when he was working on his fim, the Myth, which was in the 2005 cannes film festival), and there is E.N.S Kalari in Nettoor, Cochin, Kerala. I studied at E.N.S Kalari, and was supprised since they taught both northern and sothern styles of the art.
for more information you can go to my master's site:
http://www.enskalari.org.in/index.htm
or watch the demonstration for ENS Kalari videos at
http://video.webindia123.com/art/kalari/basics/index.htm
The videos show a good selection on staff fighting, dagger fighting, differnet types of sword fighting, spear and mace fighting, and several excersizes practiced as well.
