Have you heard about the martial art practicing in Kerala which has been around for the past 3000 years?

Kalarippayatu, also known as Kalari which means the war or battlefield, is very popular in Kerala and all over the world. It is one of the martial arts in which a person can use their hand as a weapon because it is practiced on the principle of "Marmas" which focuses on pressure points in the body. Although practicing Kalari can give you both physical and mental strength, it is possible to achieve only for those who follow and complete the form fully. Let us discuss a bit more about this martial form…

Benefits of Kalari – Kalari has a lot of meditative elements to awaken our mind and enable us to withstand difficult situations in our daily life. The best time to learn Kalari is from the age of 5 and above. Kalari needs lot of dedication and discipline to complete the 5 levels to become a master of it. However, once you finish the process you can have great flexibility. It even increases the concentration and improves the presence of our mind.

Levels and weapons used– There are 5 different levels for Kalarippayatu:basic, intermediate, advanced senior and instructor level. Let us elaborate a bit more on that…

In the basic level you will learn how to control your body through various kinds of practices without weapons. Charade, Adithada, Pootu is the training needed to finish this level.

In the intermediate level the training will be done with some light weapons like Neduvady (long wooden stick), and also students will gain body flexibility by practicing the important training during this level which is called Meypayattu.

Kuruvady, Cheruvady and Neduvady are the weapons mainly used to defend attacks in this level. Kathy and Kadara are also the two sharp weapons taught in Kalari which is used mainly for attacking.

In the level 4 of practice students should have flexible body to handle the weapons. Churika and Valum are the weapons used for it which can be highly dangerous due to the sharpness and design of it.

The final level of the training is to become a master of the Kalari. The instructor level contains heavy weapons like Velum Parichayum which is the traditional weapon in Kalaripayattu. Other weapons used for the final level are Urumi, Axe and Spear.