A Great Grandmother Keeps India’s Oldest Martial Arts Alive – Eme – 02/10/2021

Meenakshi’s mother offset her 78-year-old gallery expertise by effectively pushing her son with a bamboo carpet. Martial arts The oldest in India.

This Kerala (South India) born old lady has been a key factor in resuscitating Kalaripaya because martial arts are also known and in encouraging women to train.

“I started college at the age of seven. Now I’m 78. I still practice, learn, teach,” the school matrix told AFP. கடத்தநாடு களரி Society founded in 1949 by late husband.

“When you open newspapers, you can only see news of violence against women,” she says.

“When women learn this martial art, they feel physically and mentally strong, which gives them the confidence to work and travel alone,” she emphasizes.

Weapons such as swords, shields and sticks can be used, along with elements of kalari, dance and yoga.

Theoretically 3,000 years old and mentioned in the ancient Hindu scriptures, it is still associated with religion.
British settlers in India banned its practice in 1804, but it remained underground until the early 20th century and the post-independence renaissance in 1947.

He has chosen his coaching in recent decades, thanks to Meenakshi, who won the National Award in 2017.

It is now recognized as a sport and is practiced all over India.
At his school, his son Sanjeev Kumar, with a lungi tied to his bare chest and waist, runs his students barefoot on the ocher sand floor.

“There are two divisions in rioting: one is rioting in peace and the other is fighting in war,” says the author.

“It is an art that cleanses the mind, body and soul, improves concentration, speed and endurance and regenerates physical and mental energy,” he says.

“When you are fully connected mentally and physically with the gallery, the enemy disappears and the body becomes eyes,” he says.

“It’s a poetic form,” says civil engineer Azhaka S. Kumar, 29, the teacher’s daughter and Meenakshi’s mother of several grandchildren.

“I’m going to teach the gallery with my brother. We have to take responsibility. Otherwise it will disappear.”