City students take a fancy to Kalaripayattu

COIMBATORE: He can deliver lethal karate kicks and kung fu punches, but Sanat Kumar Sinha wants to add another bow to his martial art skills. A student from Tripura, Sanat is in Coimbatore to learn Kerala's traditional martial art of Kalaripayattu.
Sanat is among the first batch of students who will step out of the Maruti college of physical education of Ramakrishna Mission with Kalaripayattu skills.The college has made the 2000 year martial arts compulsory for all its physical education students.
"Though we have been learning and playing various sports as part of our curriculum, Kalaripayattu is exceptionally interesting and refreshing for us," says Sanat. When he returns to his native Tripura, he plans to teach Kalaripayattu to martial arts enthusiasts, he says.
As the Kalari guru, K P Krishna Das shouts his command, the students step into the Kuzhi Kalari, the martial arts arena. And Sanat takes the posture of a pouncing tiger, jumps high in the air and touches his legs with one hand. As he lands, he curls up his body like a snake positioning himself for another step.
"The exercises and steps taught here not only bring in discipline, but also help in perfect control of body and mind. When it works in tandem, the movements becomes more swift and fast," says M Prabhu, another student, who is pursuing a Masters in Physical Education.
Though it takes many years to master the art, the training given by the master as per the requirement of each trainee has helped them to strengthen their body and muscles, says Sunil Kumar, a student from Kerala undergoing his Bachelors in Physical education.
The Kalari guru Krishna Das, who is the son of famous Kalaripayattu exponent, Shankaranaryanan Menon of Vallabhatta Kalari and vice-president of Kerala State Kalaripayattu Association, said that it takes almost 12 years rigorous training to learn the martial art. However, the curriculum has been designed in a way that it will teach the fundamentals of martial art to the students.
Most of the students are from Tamil Nadu and they are keen on learning the martial art. Apart from the college students, several youth have also enrolled for the Kalari course.
Swami Anuraganada, secretary of Ramakrishna Mission, said that the martial art course was introduced to promote traditional art of the country. "We are planning a degree course and a PG diploma programme on Kalari from the next academic year. The students will be taught Ayurveda, yogasana and fundamentals of Kalari in this programme."