Keeping kalaripayattu kicking

BANGALORE: As sleepy Bangalore wakes up to a chilly winter morning, young dhoti-clad men are warming up with a regimen of brisk exercises in a small enclosure in the bylanes of Yeshwanthpur. Student Shinoj responds to Naanu Gurukkal’s crisp commands — he’s beginning a kalaripayattu journey his guru has been on for the past 32 years.
Martial art kalaripayattu, Kerala’s most famous export to Bangalore, is a lifetime commitment.Naanu Gurukkal, who learnt it from Karnara Gurukkal at Kadathanad, the heartland of the art, believes the effects are permanent if performed for five years. And the benefits are worth the effort — a flexible, strong body, unblocking various nerve centres and making the body pliant and supple. Followers of the traditional method advocate digging out a six-foot deep kalari (ground) in the earth. This helps you connect closely to the elements and the earth’s vapours, rich with minerals, are beneficial for breathing. Kalaripayattu involves squatting and brisk leaping, and the raw earth makes it easier to bounce back on your feet.
Kalaripayattu is often called “the mother of all martial arts�, having given rise to karate, judo and kung-fu. Like tai-chi, kalaripayattu also involves fluid animal movements, drawing inspiration from the raw power and sinuous strength of majestic animal forms.
It can be dangerous too; some weapons like urumi can sever a man’s head. Naanu Gurukkal recalls how he fell unconscious for an hour when at a performance his head barely touched the cement floor. His guru revived him using kalari techniques.
The paramount emphasis is on discipline and purity and the ultimate goal the body becoming all eyes. Sukumar, who’s been training for three months, says, “I’m supposed to aspire for this, transcending lethargy and attaining mastery, so much that the body becomes acutely alert, alert in a relaxed way.�
Another vital component is the massage which detoxifies the body. The masseur uses his feet, not hands.
A few years ago, Gurukkal was offered a masseur’s job at a leading Mumbai spa. But he quit, “Five to nine in the morning is the best time for a massage and it has to be done for only one hour a day. They made me do it from 5 am to 9 pm.�
“After gym sessions, my body used to become rigid. Here, it has become so flexible. It is so similar to the modern pyramid therapy. I understood how it works when I saw my nerves getting activated,� marvels Shinoj.Ranjan Mullarat’s modernised version of kalari workshops are popular. He says, “As Bangalore’s climate is quite stable, the pit is not necessary.
The traditional method is very difficult. If a diluted version helps keep it alive, maybe that is better.� But Gurukkal sticks to the traditional way, keeping the martial art alive and kicking.
Smitha Rao