Styles of Kalarippayattu:
There are many different styles of Kalarippayattu. If one looks at the way attacks and defences are performed, one can distinguish three main schools of thought: the northern styles, the central styles, and the southern styles.
Northern Kalarippayattu:
Northern Kalarippayattu (practiced mainly in the northern Malabar region of Kozhikode and Kannur)[1] places comparatively more emphasis on weapons than on empty hands.[1] Masters in this system are usually known as gurukkal (and only occasionally as asan), and were often given honorific titles, especially Panikkar.[1] By oral and written traditions, Parasurama, the sixth Avatar of Vishnu, is believed to be the founder of the art.[1] The northern style of Kalarippayattu have been practiced primarily by Nairs and Thiyyas(Chekavar).
Northern Kalarippayattu is distinguished by its meippayattu - physical training and use of full-body oil massage.[1] The system of treatment and massage, and the assumptions about practice are closely associated with Ayurveda.[1] The purpose of medicinal oil massage is to increase the practitioners' flexibility, to treat muscle injuries incurred during practice, or when a patient has problems related to the bone tissue, the muscles, or nerve system. The term for such massages is thirumal and the massage specifically for physical flexibility chavutti thirumal. There are several lineages (sampradayam), of which the arappukai is the most common nowadays. There are schools which teach more than one of these traditions. Some traditional kalaris around Kannur, for example, teach a blend of arappukai, pillatanni, and katadanath styles
Southern Kalarippayattu:
n southern styles of Kalarippayattu (practised mainly in old Travancore including the present Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu)[1], practice and fighting techniques emphasize empty hands and application from the first lesson.[1] In the southern styles the stages of training are Chuvatu (solo forms), Jodi (partner training/sparring),Kurunthadi (short stick), Neduvadi (long stick), Katthi (knife), Katar (dagger), valum parichayum (sword and shield), Chuttuval (flexible long sword), double sword and Marmma and kalari grappling. The southern styles of Kalarippayattu have been practiced primarily by Nadars and a section of Nairs and Ezhavas in Kerala.[1]
Zarrilli refers to southern Kalarippayattu as Varma ati (the 'law of hitting') or marma ati (hitting the vital spots) or Varma kalai (art of Varma).[1] The preliminary empty-hand techniques of Varma ati and Adithada (hit/defend).[1] Marma ati refers specifically to the application of these techniques to vital spots.[1] Weapons may include long staffs, short sticks, and the double deer horns.[1] Southern styles of Kalarippayattu are not usually practiced in special roofed pits but rather in the open air, or in an unroofed enclosure of palm branches.[1] Masters are known as 'asaan rather than gurukkal (in Northern style).[1] The founder and patron saint is believed to be the rishi Agasthya.[1]
Medical treatment in southern styles of Kalarippayattu—which does include massage—is identified with Dravidian Siddha medicine[9] which is as sophisticated as—though distinct from—Ayurveda. The Dravidian Siddha medical system is also known as Siddha Vaidyam is attributed to the rishi Agasthya.
Silambam:
Silambam is a stick fighting, part of southern style of Kalarippayattu. This style supposedly originates from the Kurinji hills, present day Kerala, 5000 years ago, where natives were using bamboo staves to defend themselves against wild animals. "Salambal" is a common word used to denote the sound of fast flowing rivers/springs, the chirping noises of birds, the murmur of leaves, the noise created by blah blah ing of a crowd, the whooshing, whirring and clanging sound of weapons etc. When long sticks, swords and chain flails are used they produce the "sala sala" sound which is called "salambal". Thus Silambam became the name of the martial art that uses long sticks, swords etc.
Central Kalarippayattu:
The central style (practiced mainly in Thrissur, Malappuram, Palakkad and certain parts of Ernakulam districts[1] is 'a composite' from both the northern and southern styles that includes northern meippayattu preliminary exercises, southern emphasis on empty-hand techniques, and its own distinctive techniques, which are performed within floor drawings known as kalam.
Courtesy - en.wikipedia.org/
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