Birthplace of Kung Fu

“Kalari is a martial art that goes back thousands of years,” said Gerhard Schmid, a German practitioner who is holding a seminar on the art in Dubai this weekend. “It is believed to be the root of all other martial arts in the world today.” According to legend, the Indian monk Boddhidharma taught the martial art known now as kalari to Buddhists in China. Those Buddhists later went on to found the Shaolin temple and the rest, they say, is history.

Schmid, who has been practising for 10 years, says he found kalari while browsing on the Internet for a cure for back pain.

“I was looking to strengthen my body, but all the other things I tried left me tired out and depleted my energy,” he said. “However when I practised kalari I felt strong and vitalised, even though I had just had a very vigorous workout.”

Schmid says that now he visits Kerala every year to train under his master for two to three months at a time. Afterwards he travels from country to country seeking to establish new practice sites for the art. “Oftentimes there are one or two students who are very enthusiastic and they go on to become the master in the country,” he said.

Schmid describes Kalari as being very similar to yoga in its sinuous movements. Many parts of kalari derive from the ayurvedic tradition and practitioners are often likely to find ways to heal their opponents after beating them. Because of its peaceful nature, it is unlikely that the next martial arts film with feature a practitioner of Kerali, he said. “It’s not about fighting, but about body conditioning,” added Schmid.

“Also it is non-religious. We have Muslims, Christians and Hindus practising it in south India.”

However, Schmid said the system is very beneficial for the mind. “It is like a meditation in motion,” he said, “albeit very fast motion.”

martin@khaleejtimes.com

Kalaripayattu

· Translated into English, kalari means: the battlefield, and payat implies training in the art of combat.

· The technique is based on the science of yoga for its forms and exercises, and its medical treatments are based on the science of Ayurveda. 


· The Indian state of Kerala is renowned for its varied martial arts.

· Kalaripayattu is one of the oldest martial arts in the world. The original martial art form evolved in north Kerala. In Malayalam, Kalaripayattu means ‘the fighting art of the kalari’.

· In ancient Kerala, Kalari was a place of learning subjects such as medicine, philosophy, architecture, astrology and geometry, besides, combat arts and yoga.

· The origins of kalaripayattu are obscured by time, since it has been nurtured from the oldest martial traditions of south India, with influences that came in with time from north Indian Aryan martial traditions, which have links with the science of the art of war in ancient India.

· Kalari in its present form has existed, for over 1,500 years, according to the traditions of the masters.

· Today the martial arts form is a fusion of north and south Indian fighting traditions, embodying the martial and spiritual practices of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islamic Sufism.