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Kalari-Ppayattu, the ancient martial art of South-India, is based on the science of yoga for its exercises; while it's medical system is based on the science of Ayurveda, Siddha and Tribal medicine.
The origin of Kalari-Payat is obscure, since it has been nurtured from the oldest martia1 tradition of South-India of Dravidian origin and later influenced by Aryan martial traditions, which is an off short of Dhanur-Veda (the ancient Indian Science of war). |
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Even before the advent of the Aryans, the martial tradition of South-India, was kept alive by the Buddhists through their monasteries known as Sha-lais. The most prominent Sha-lai of ancient Kerala from the 5th to the 9th century was the Kandaloor Sha-lai, which is situated in the Trivandrum district of South-Kerala. The place where the ancient Sha-lai was situated is now known as Sha-lai Bazaar. It is possible, that the system of training practiced at the Sha-lai were taken by the Buddhist Monks traveling to China and other south-east-Asian countries, and probably in China the monastery of Shao-lin (Sha-Iai?) had been founded. However, it would be interesting to note that there are exercises practiced in South-India, which were probably practiced in ancient China also, and known by the name of China-Adi and China-Kuthu (Chinese Boxing) in South-India, even today.
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