Learning Kalaripayattu

Debamitro Chakraborti

My first encounter with Kalaripayattu was when I saw a documentary on the martial art.
Incidentally this was the first ever documentary on Kalaripayattu, produced by the BBC in the early
1980's. Since then this art, which is thousands of years old, has gained popularity all over the world.
Even the mythical founding saint of shaolin kung-fu 'Bodhidhamma' might have been a Kalari master
from India, according to some researchers. I had searched a lot on the Internet about various
martial arts, including this, and wanted to learn it when possible. I had shown all I had seen to my
wife as well and she was more interested than me about this. But in the city where I used to live
earlier, there was scarce chance of finding a Kalari master. Since last year, shifting to Bangalore
has given us that opportunity.

Even before coming to Bangalore, my wife had searched out possible places to learn Kalaripayattu
from. So upon landing in the city, we lost no time in trying out the nearest place where it is taught,
the Indian Heritage Academy. The teacher, Krishna Prathap, was (and still is) a very positive and
cheerful man who asked us to join right away. And so our classes started.

I am extremely lazy down to my very bones – so initially I was not very enthusiastic in the classes
because the classes were e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y tiring. Before anything we have to do a set of warm-up
exercises which take about 15 minutes, and that is the most strenuous activity I have ever done in
my entire life. What we do after that is even more up-hill. It involves walking from one end of the
hall to the opposite end, kicking with the leg while taking every step. While this doesn't sound
difficult at all, I can assure anyone that it will seem so if you see it.

A student in the class was actually a black-belt holder in 5 different martial arts, and he told us
that Kalaripayattu is tougher than anything he ever learnt. He explained to us that this art needs
three aspects in high amounts and equal measure – strength, stamina and flexibility/grace. He
admitted that his background in other martial arts gave him an advantage in flexibility and
strength, but he badly needed to improve his stamina. He suggested we learn Kalari for two years
after which any performing art (martial art or dance form) will become easy.

A description of the class is incomplete without a description of our teacher. Sir is a well-built man
with a medium-sized paunch. Yet he can jump, run, kick and somersault better than all of us. He
splits his legs, i.e., keeping them 180 degrees apart, perfectly well. And he never seems to get
tired, something which even the best of students do!

The first few months were really tough. Being a totally undisciplined person, I bunked a lot of
classes in those months because, every day of going to class caused exhaustion which took 2 days to
heal. However after about 3 months, I started enjoying the class. Yes, I got tired and exhausted.
But I started recovering from that much faster. And I started to get less tired in the classes. There
was a 10km marathon in the city in which I confidently took part. I have never played much of
outdoor games as a kid, and was never physically active. But Kalari had made me different. It had
stretched my body to an extent which I didn't know possible. I know my body can take a lot more
than it ever could. And so I went to the marathon, and completed it without any pain or major
tiredness afterwards.

Recently I have again become very irregular in my classes. I plan to become more regular pretty
soon. Kalari has not made me an athlete or a movie superhero. Even today if some goons beat me
up I probably won't be able to teach them a lesson. However, I know that I won't be hurt easily. And
that is a very valuable feeling about oneself, and a big confidence in one’s body. Also remember
that proficiency in this art form was what harassed the Britishers a lot when they were trying to
defeat the king of the Malabar people. The Nair warriors trained in Kalaripayattu were so strong
that the British had to outlaw this art in 1793 in order to colonise that part of the country!