Kalarippayattu (The Complete Guide To Kerala’s Ancient Martial Art)

For the first time this manual opens up the closed world of this marital discipline to anyone interested in physical and mental fitness. In clear easy to understand language this book will tell you how to learn and practice payattu with or without weapons. Action photographs make poses and techniques easy to follow and traditional oral commands in Malayalam have been newcomer into English. For the newcomer to martial arts as well as the seasoned enthusiast this manual offers an authentic and practical guide that will help you find a new challenging and enjoyable route to health.

The author Chirakkal T. Sreedharan Nair (1909-1984) was a legendary exponent of Payattu who proved its practical value as a magnificent self defense art. He taught researched demonstrated and wrote about the discipline that became a lifetime’s obsession for him and set up the Sree Bharat Kalarin in 1948. His book on Kalrippayattu written in Malayalam and published in 1963 was the first of its kind and is regarded as the most authentic reference work on this ancient art. This manual has been adapted by his two sons payattu adepts SRA Das and SRD Prasad for the contemporary health and martial arts enthusiast.

Chirakkal T. Sreedharan Nair (1909-1984) our father and the author of this book was the third son his highness C.K. Rama Varna Valiya Raja of Chirakkal Kovilakam and Thayil Kalyanikutty Kerrilamma.

While in his teens Sreedharan Nair took a keen interest in several fitness activities including weight training body building and wrestling.

He started learning Kalarippayattu Kerala’s martial art when he was twenty one. Contrary to the usual custom he did not enroll himself as a student in a kalari. Instead he was privileged to have several masters of payattu to teach him at home.

It was believed that one needed many years to learn the various stages of payattu. But Sreedharan Nair propelled by a single pursuit of perfection learnt and mastered all the fourteen series in maippayattu within a month the nine advanced series in otta payattu in a fortnight and all the five series in mare pitichu Kuntha payattu in a matter of one week.

According to him the mental alertness and physical agility of a student and the expertise of a guru who is willing to teach unreservedly are to prime importance in a payattu training programme. From his personal experience as a student of payattu and as well known payattu master Sreedharan Nair claimed and proved that any abel bodied and keen student could learn all the stages of payattu within a matter of months.

He was a non conformist. He believed that there was nothing mystical or esoteric in payattu. It was an excellent self defense martial art and it ought to be made available to anyone interested in learning it. With this in view Sreedharan Nair founded Rajkumar Kalari in 1935 at Chirakkal of youngsters. Then in 1948 he established where hundreds of boys and girls were taught payattu and many are undergoing training now.

He wrote and published a series of articles on kalarippayattu and allied subjects form 1930 onwards. He gave radio talks. He and his disciples represented payattu demonstrations at various literary and cultural meeting in Kerala Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. He taught anyone interested in learning this marital art.

For attempting thus to demystify payattu he was regularly attacked ridiculed and branded by some of the gurus of that time as one who had committed a sacrilege.

According to them the techniques of this marital art were to be kept a closely guarded secret to be personally handed down only to a chosen few. That was the centuries old practice. And that was why many of the techniques had either gone into oblivion or died with the gurus.

Sreedharan Nair made it his mission to popularize payattu as an ideal martial art form and to prove its relevance as an excellent self defense technique and a fitness activity that would outlive the guru.

In 1963 when his exhaustive book Kalaruppayattu in Malayalam was published. Father had the satisfaction of having achieved his life’s mission. In fact no now had documented payattu so successfully ever before or after.

In 1980 Pervez Merwanji a Bombay based award winning movie maker held a series of discussions with father about making a documentary film of kalarippayattu. Apparently mervanji was son charmed by father’s attitude to life his candid views and erudition that the movie eventually shaped up as a half hour documentary on him! Mervanji’s film entitled way of the Malabar warrior was released in France in 1981.

Sreedharan Nair was a unique amalgam of practitioner master research scholar and author. He was an undisputed authority on every aspect of this marital discipline and became a legend in his lifetime.