Kalarippayat

This is an excellent book of one of the original, if not the original, martial art. The book describes the art, the history and applications. It includes pressure points, identified by the Chinese acupuncture meridian points. The points are known by various names in Indian systems. I was looking for more in regard to pressure points, but for a single book covering the entire art of karalippayat I cannot complain. The book was very interesting and filled a gap in my knowledge of Indian martial arts.

Correct book for wanting to learn the art form rather than the history, despite feeling slightly thin and expensive, and is delivered in high quality paperback. Clear pictures with application of form included.

NOTE: this is linked as the paper edition of the book "Kalarippayat: India's ancient martial art" which is by the same author. The two books are totally different. This one is the author's dissertation on the subject. The book "Kalarippayat: India's ancient martial art' is a book of practice with illustrations and forms. . The book shown as the paper edition is a history and philosophy of the art. It has no illustrations and has nothing about practice. I was not careful and assumed the link was valid.

A great guide to India's heritage and some new techniques that make use of a different beginning.

Kalarippayat is an ancient martial arts system which originated in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala, where it is still practiced today. It includes empty hand forms, and an impressive arsenal of weapons including staff, short stick, spear, hatchet, a brutal-looking heavy club called a gedda, and a variety of swords. Some of the swords have wave-like blades, similar to those used in Indonesian martial arts, and another, called an urumi, has a long, flexible whip-like blade.The foundation of kalarippayat is rooted in the same conceptual approach to the body as Ayurvedic medicine. Many of these concepts are similar to those found in classical Chinese medicine, such as Shiva/Shakti (like Yin/Yang), the five elements, the Nadis (energetic meridians) and the Marmas (acupoints). There has been some conjecture about the possible influence of kalari on Chinese martial arts (for example, Bodhidharma coming from India), but many of the stances used appear to be quite different.The art is practiced in three different regional variations, Northern, Central, and Southern, which differ in their approach to footwork and training emphasis. D.H. Luijendijk studied the three traditions over a ten year period and is qualified as an instructor in all of them. He provides a good explanation of the historical and political environments that led to the development of these differences. However, the focus of this book is on practice, and many forms and applications are illustrated with photographs. Therefore it makes a good companion volume to the excellent "When the Body Becomes All Eyes" by Zarrilli, which focuses on the history and sociology of the art, but not so much on the techniques.In my opinion, this book could have been improved in two ways: I would like to have seen more conditioning techniques illustrated, and wish the author had shared more personal anecdotes about his training in India.Sadly the author notes that kalari is being passed by in it's native land in favor of Chinese and Japanese martial arts. This is too bad, because it appears to be every bit as sophisticated and effective as the arts of those countries. There are numerous video clips of kalarippayat available on the Web, and many of the techniques are spectacular.

An interesting book about the history of an ancient martial art, but do not expect that you learn anything tangible regarding the arts application. Its a history book, not a Kalarippayat training study book.

Interesting work thankyou.

Das Buch besteht beinahe nur aus Vorteilen. Es behandelt ein etwas vernachlässigtes Thema, ist spannend geschrieben, gut aufgemacht und zudem preiswert. Leider mangelt es dem Werk an Bildmaterial. Daher behalte ich einen Stern ein.

Un des livres les plus complets sur le kalaripayatt que j'ai pu lire, avec celui de Zarilli.Il analyse l'histoire du kalaripayatt, sa place dans la société kéralaise, les affiliations des différents styles (Nord, Sud, Centre...), le tout dans un style relativement facile à lire. Une bonne expérience !

As far as I know, the author wrote two books on the subject of Kalarippayattu; this one (Kalarippayat: India's Ancient Martial Art) should be the one intended for practical use. While being a little short, it is indeed very useful and well written; it offers some quite detailed explanations on basic sequences of movements, both bare handed and with the use of weaponry. Big pictures and clear descriptions help the reader to understand how the movements should be done, which is not always an easy task, despite the author's good job: Kalarippayat looks like quite an intricate art, whose movements are a lot less linear and straightforward than those of, say, karate.The author shows mainly the fist part of a northern style sequence (with bare handed and armed applications) and two shorter central and southern style sequences; I'd probably had chosen to show the entire northern form, while removing the armed applications or the other styles' sequences, but weaponry is an essential part of Kalarippayat's training and probably needed to understand the basic ideas of the movements, while, as far I know, sequences tend to be repetitive: so I'm quite confident the the author, who knows the subject, did the right choice.The books has also chapters on the historical and cultural background of the art, as well as on the location and martial use of "vital point": while not extensive, these parts are interesting and well worth a read.All in all, a very good manual for those interested in the art.