Kalariworld.com - Thekkan Kalarippayattu

Cultural differences and political divisions of the land of Kerala and the presence or the absence of a well established law enforcing machinery forced the ancient masters of the kalari fighting system to specialize in different methods of training and fighting. This in turn resulted in the evolution of the original martial form into the distinct verities or styles.

The three main styles of Kalarippayattu are:

· The southern style known as Thekkan
· The northern style known as Vadakkan And
· The very rare and most difficult system called Kathinayoga (Kathina = hard or difficult )


Southern style or Thekkan

This style, as one can understand from the name itself is predominantly practiced in the southern part of Kerala, especially in the erstwhile princely state of Venadu. The stances are comparatively higher than in the Northern or Vadakkan style and relatively less emphasis is placed on the weapons like sword and shield and Churika (double edged sword dagger about one cubit in length). More emphasis is placed on the empty hand techniques and knife, long staff and short stick plus the extremely effective and lethal weapon called Kottukampu. This could be due the presence of a well-established law enforcing system present in the southern part of Kerala right from ancient days. Use of weapons like swords by civilians was a crime whether in self-defense or otherwise and the ancient masters cunningly developed very effective empty hand sets. Then the science of striking the vital points or Marma developed as a great system of medical tradition and as a sinister art of killing a person without any visible mark of violence, this completely changed the nature of the southern style Kalarippayattu.
 
Certainly the vital point striking techniques are present in the northern style, but it is in the southern style that the art has developed to it's greatest extent. Sage Agasthya, one of the seven immortals according to the Hindu mythology is credited with the discovery of these vital points and his works have been documented by his disciples in the form of beautiful Tamil poetry.

      In short the southern style or Thekkan kalari system places more emphasis on the empty hand fighting, wooden weapons like the long staff, short stick or Muchchan vati and the striking of vital points while less emphasis is placed on the use of sword and shield. This style is more suitable for street fighting and especially against multiple attacks.
Training takes place in an enclosed space called Kalari. Beginning with the solo forms called Chuvadu the students progress to Jodi (prearranged sparring with a partner) then to Maravan Adi (training with long staff), Kurunthadi (short stick), and knife, Chiramam (fighting with short sticks), Valum Parichayum (sword and shield) then Urumi (flexible sword) and Kottukampu.

An interesting feature of the Thekkan style is the collection of specialized techniques and the use of unconventional weapons for women like the kitchen utensils