KALARIPPAYATTU

The Graceful Indian Martial Art and Its

Teachings on Focus and Presence
BY YUKI KO AMAYA PHOTOS BY ALANA GREGORY
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Mohammed Shahabaz & Alexander Kutschera,
practicing kattarah (name of the dagger) payattu.
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30 LAYOGA JULY/AUGUST 2011
Focus, Yukiko! I hear senior teacher Rameshs
voice calling out as I leap forward in the softening
afternoon light, momentarily blinded by the slanting
shaft of sunlight. My breath sounds rough and ragged
and sweat is pouring down my face; with my gaze xed
straight ahead, I stamp my right foot on the red clay
oor of the kalari (the room where this art is practiced).
Crouching low I cut the air with my right hand, step out
with my left foot and stretch both arms forward.
His command confuses me. But I am focused! Cant
he see how my eyes are so concentrated? The thought
moves through me, creating a ripple. We are in the heat
of practicing the Kalarippayattu Shakti Form One. I
feel how tired I am as I kick, leap, and turn following
the instructions coming in rapid succession.
I was rst introduced to Kalarippayattu, a South In-
dian martial art, at a Yoga studio in Los Angeles when
two German practitioners, Gerhard Schmid and Kai
Hitzer, led an afternoon workshop. I was mesmerized.
They moved through the warm ups and sun saluta-
tions with the smooth grace of tigers. The freedom,
power, and balance of the leg swings were exhilarating
to practice.
But it was the short stick practice they demonstrated
that really captured my imagination. It was beautiful to
watch the rapid movement and staccato rhythm of the
sticks hitting each other as the two warriors listened to
each others movements and responded with their en-
tire bodies. There was an elasticity and uidity in their
powerful and rapid changes in direction and the varia-
tions of their movements. Watching them evoked in
me the feeling of how water ows, re leaps, and air
breathes. It was as if the two bodies became one in the
ow of energy between them. It was beautiful with an
undercurrent of danger the promise of something that
could be lethal.
Kalarippayattus origins reach back into the mists
of time. The kalari or practice arena was traditionally
made by digging a large, rectangular hollow into the
Earth along an East/West axis, lining it with red clay,
and protecting it from the elements by covering it with
a thatched roof.
Similar to many martial arts, Kalarippayattu includes
physical routines, known as body forms that are prac-
ticed alone along with weapon forms that are taught
with a partner. Many of the forms and movements
have animal names, such as the elephant pose, cat pose,
horse, and others. These suggest a close observation
and understanding of the various currents of energy
that ow through nature and the adaptation of these
energies to human form and movement.
In the practice, there exists a sense of being very
close to Earth and her primal energies, and moving
with liquid uidity, becoming those energies. The
form used in Kalarippayattu serves as an entry point
to be able to access these currents of energy that ow
throughout nature.
Three years after my initial introduction to Kalarip-
payattu, and after hours of solo practice of some of the
basic forms, I nally made my way to Gurukal Sher-
ifkas school, Kerala Kalarippayat Academy in Kannur,
Kerala, to practice for ve weeks. My inquiry into con-
nection and truth led me to this place at this time. I am
a novice practitioner in this art.
Sherifkas senior teacher, Ramesh, talks to me after
the practice in the traditional kalari space that after-
noon. Yukiko, your form is good, but your body is not
steady. You need to focus more.
As I reected on my practice, his simple observation
suddenly made sense. I have learned how to catch the
not-so-subtle uctuations of my mind through observa-
tion. But the oh-so-subtle uctuations of which I am
not aware, these the body knows. And it shows as I
practice.
The body does not lie.
The body, does not lie.
I am blown away by this simple realization, and sud-
denly, I see Kalarippayattu as more than merely an
outer physical training, but as also a path of the inner
warrior. The movements on this path are honest reec-
tions of the practitioners state of being.
In life, it is so easy to make subtle or gross alterations
to truth of the moment, and not be completely present.
I observe how that happens in the middle of my medi-
tation or Yoga asana practice. But in kalari practice,
when you are not completely present, the body will lag
and waiver, and no matter how much your mind insists
otherwise, you are not really focused. There is no fudg-
ing the reality and truth of being in the moment. If the
practitioner is open to listen, the feedback is immediate
and precise: You lose your balance, the body teeters,
you do not land from the leap with your feet solidly
planted, your body and your feet start heading in dif-
ferent directions, your stick does not hit the other stick,
and on and on.
This, for me, was an invaluable mirror to gaze into on
the path of Consciousness.
The next morning, I return to the kalari. It is hard as
I feel my energy dispersed and sluggish. A part of me
observes this state and is curious to see how or if it will
shift as I warm up and practice. I feel into each body
part and observe the awakening of the body. I notice
how the breath comes naturally, and become aware of
how the parts of the body are activated through warm-
practice kalarippayattu
In the practice, there exists a
sense of being very close to Earth
and her primal energies...
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JULY/AUGUST 2011 LAYOGA 31
up exercises. Slowly, my feet connect to
the clay Earth; I feel myself move through
the air around me, I feel the way my body
awakens. I sense the energy of the other
practitioners moving in the kalari. Every-
thing becomes simple.
Phillip Zarrilli, one of the rst Westerners
in modern times to study and write about
Kalarippayattu, speaks of it as When the
Body Becomes All Eyes, also the title of his
book about the art. Perhaps this description
is a common precept in many martial arts,
yet somehow, this is the practice that has
hooked my attention. There is something
innately satisfying for me in the practice it-
self, in the way the body and mind awaken,
and become more sensitive, and even more
alive. After practice, I feel worked out yet
vibrant. I am told this experience is related
to the fact that the practice stretches and
awakens the nadis, or energy lines. I sense
it also has to do with embodying other en-
ergetic currents available in the Universe.
The practice brings into full play my studies
and trainings in shamanism, Yoga, dance,
Ayurveda, and meditation practices, then it
takes all of them further.
I grab the long stick for partner practice
with an instructor. Focus on the eyes, I
am told. Relax the upper body and keep a
strong lower body. I stand in horse stance,
and with our long sticks crossed, I gaze in-
tently at the eyes of my practice partner. I
am focused yet simultaneously relaxed; see-
ing and sensing everything.
I still have a long path ahead of me, but
in this moment, I am glad to be here, now,
practicing to stay in a state of focused pres-
ence while feeling life energy pulsating fully
through me. This state of focused presence
represents for me total aliveness. You are no
longer caught in the past and future plans,
the usual, human condition. Instead, you are
relaxed, ready, and capable of response that
is accurate and true to a current situation.
That state of presence is also the crux of
spiritual practice for me. I am interested in
living fully engaged in this human dimension
and connected at the same time to my divine
nature. So I take a deep breath, ground my
energy and begin the practice again.
Yukiko Amaya is an artist, teacher, and healer born in
Japan, now living in Topanga. She practices and
teaches embodied consciousness through Tantric Yoga
and meditation, conscious dance, and Kalarippayattu:
Sundarisacredarts.com
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