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Pursuing a martial art

The Japanese student is trying to find out how an understanding of Kalaripayattu can enrich her knowledge in Ayurveda.

Caoru Osanai

An Ayurveda student in Gujarat University, she is now in Kannur to study Kalaripayattu. She talks to Mohamed Nazeer about her plans to promote both Ayurveda and Kalaripayattu once she is back in Japan.

Caoru Osanai can hardly conceal her surprise when she says that she very often comes across people in Kerala who have no idea of what their traditional martial arts are. For the Japanese student of Ayurveda, who is now in Kannur to study Kalaripayattu, Keralites' ignorance of their traditional martial arts appears strange.

"In Japan, children in junior high schools and high schools learn their traditional martial arts such as Judo, Karate and Kyudo (Japanese archery) as part of the curriculum of their physical education, which is taught at least twice or thrice a week in schools," Ms. Osanai told The Hindu . Unlike the Japanese children, the students here are not given a good opportunity to be exposed to Kalaripayattu, she says.

The 26-year-old student from Aamori city in Japan has been in Kannur for some time to learn Kalari from a `Gurukkal' (Kalari master) here. A BAMS student in Gujarat University, Ms. Osanai is also exploring areas where her knowledge in Ayurveda can be enriched by an understanding of Kalaripayattu.

Ayurveda advocates `dinacharya' (daily regimen) of positive lifestyles for protection of health of the healthy and prevention and treatment of diseases of the sick, she says. "When I first physically and practically came across with Kalaripayatu a year ago, I already knew Ayurveda. So it was much easier for me to see the very deep relation between principles of Kalaripayatu and Ayurveda and these principles have similarities," Ms. Osanai says. Elaborating her point, Ms. Osanai says that anointing oil all over the body before the Kalari training is more or less similar to that being done as part of the `dinacharya' of Ayurveda. The idea of `vatha' is central to Ayurveda, she says adding that she is convinced that the knowledge of `vata' is better understood in Kalari training. "The Kalari Gurukkal explains the whole phenomenon by the concept of `marma' points and `nadi'," says Ms. Osanai.

"Our modern lifestyle is one in which we have to live with lots of noise, pollution and irregular diet, among other things. We can say that a daily practice of Kalaripayattu can help us maintain health and allow us to prevent diseases," Ms. Osanai says adding that it is also the objective of Ayurveda. Ayurveda does not have a systematic way of massage like Kalari massage, she says adding that Kalari massage along with Kalari exercise is effective much faster in treating muscular and neurological problems. Foot massage also relaxes the muscles and the body and remove toxins from the body, she says.

"It is time for Ayurveda doctors to explore the science of Kalarippayatu, especially its healing aspect, so that Ayurveda can be more effective in treatment and Kalaripayattu can be saved from extinction," Osnai says suggesting her plans to promote both Ayurveda and Kalaripayattu once she is back in Japan. There was a time when all children in Kerala were supposed to practice Kalaripayattu for a period of at least three months. "Aggressive nature of children could be controlled through the practice of Kalaripayattu," she says. Kalaripayattu, according to her, covers all the criteria of health defined by Ayurveda as well as the World Health Organisation, which looks at health from physical, mental, spiritual and social points of view.

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