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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."
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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.
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"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.
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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.
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