Varma ati

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Varma ati is a Tamil martial art practised in old Travancore and the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu and is called the southern style of kalarippayattu.[1]

The preliminary empty-hand techniques of varma ati are known as ati murai (the 'law of hitting') and ati tata (hit/defend).[2] Disciples of the southern style are trained in using bare hands, feet, knees, elbows and forehead. Varma ati refers specifically to the application of these techniques to vital spots and is sometimes known as chinna ati.[3]

These Tamil arts are traditionally practised primarily by Nadars, Kallars, Thevars,[4] some Sambavar,[5] Maravar, Ezhava and the Nair community of South Travancore.

Unlike kalarippayattu, varma ati is not practised in special roofed pits but in the open air, or in an unroofed enclosure of palm branches.[6] Masters are usually known as asan, and often given the honorific title Kurup.[7] The founder and patron saint is believed to be the rishi Agastya.[8] Practice and fighting techniques emphasize practical applications and/or empty-hand techniques from the first lesson, and initial steps/exercises include attacking and defending the body's vital spots.[9] Weapons can include long staffs, short sticks, the double deer horns,[10] churul patta, and val. One element of varma ati are medical treatments—including massage—from the Dravidian Siddha medicinal system.[11]

Other southern style empty hand martial arts include Kuttu Varisa and Marma Kalai.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Zarrilli, P. (1992). "To heal and/or harm: The vital spots (marmmam/varmam) in two south Indian martial traditions--Part I: Focus on Kerala's kalarippayattu". Journal of Asian Martial Arts 1 (1). 
  2. ^ Zarrilli, Phillip Z. (1998). When the Body Becomes All Eyes: Paradigms, Discourses and Practices of Power in Kalarippayattu, a South Indian Martial Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-563940-5. 
  3. ^ Zarrilli 1998. "Application to the vital spots with these techniques is known as varma ati (hitting the vital spots), and sometimes as chinna ati (Chinese hitting).
  4. ^ Zarrilli 1992
  5. ^ Zarrilli 1998
  6. ^ Zarilli 1998
  7. ^ Zarilli 1998
  8. ^ Zarrilli 1998
  9. ^ Zarrilli 1992
  10. ^ Zarrilli 1992
  11. ^ Zarilli 1992
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