Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
Battle tips for health and vigour
|
ANJANA RAJAN meets Murugan P. who runs a martial arts school in Delhi, and learns a thing or two about how to fight for peace of mind... .
|
POWER WITH POISE: Some Kalari action in Delhi. Photos: Anu Pushkarna.
MURUGAN P. is a soft-spoken and non-violent too. But this Ayurvedic healer and massage specialist knows how to knock down an adversary and where to go for the lethal punch to render a person unconscious. These seemingly contradictory traits come together in the art he practices and teaches in Delhi: Kalaripayattu - or Kalari for short - the ancient martial art form of Kerala. After training under Gurus Thangappan and Raghuvaran, Murugan has also studied Taekwondo under B. Rajendran who is associated with the International Taekwondo Federation, but he is convinced that there is no essential difference between the martial arts worldwide. And having set up the Nithya Chaithanya Kalari at Mayur Vihar Phase III, which he describes as the first and only Kalari training centre in North India, he explains: "My main aim is to show that Kalaripayattu is the mother of all marital arts."
With senior students including Suresh Kumar, Sudershan K.C., Pankaj, Selvan Loid B. and Babu, he imparts training at sessions in a park morning and evening. Though the art requires great flexibility, quickness and acrobatic skills, Murugan says it is not necessary to start too young. Girls can and should be encouraged to learn too, he emphasises, but most of his clientele are of the conservative sort who don't feel their teenage daughters should be dabbling in this activity and therefore he does not have senior girl students. Considering the dangers Delhi holds for women, it is surprising parents don't lap up the opportunity.
"In France more than one lakh people are practicing Kalari," he points out, contrasting this with the relative lack of interest here. But he strongly advocates it as a practice that improves health and vitality and quickens reflexes. What a normal person can do in half an hour, he says, a martial artiste can do in moments. The training also leads to calm, quiet and discipline.
Yogic practices like meditation and pranayama are part of the training. Watching Kalari is a breathtaking experience, but for students it looks life threatening at times, considering the spears, daggers, knives are never blunted or capped during practice. Here is where the skill of the master comes in, says Murugan, who knows the traditional science of first aid including how to stop blood flow from a wound and how to set bones and nerves in order. In addition, Murugan and his wife B.N. Subha run a massage and health centre where they treat ailments.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
|
