Mother of All Martial Arts?

Jingo · White Belt

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community.

For a while now, many people have been hearing that martial arts had its roots in India. But where in India... what art would it have been? Some tried to link the grappling art of Vajramushti as Kung Fu's predecessor even though it resembles Greek Pankration wrestling. Others with the Punjabi art of Gatka, which is a sword fencing art. However, during the 1990s, the Kerala art of Kalaripayattu has came out from the dark. Many people seeing this art with its martial arts type of kicks, punches and weaponry were convinced that this must be the art which Kung Fu had originated from. There are a lot of websites and articles stating that the art of Kalaripayattu was the martial art introduced by an Indian prince turned monk by the name of Daruma Bodhidarma to China. As a matter of fact, many have jumped to the conclusion that it was the mother all martial arts.

First of all, there is no connection whatsoever between Kalaripayattu and Kung Fu. Kalaripayatttu was formed around the 13th century and Daruma Bodhidarma, who traveled to China, was alive around the 6th century. There is a 700 year gap between him and the formation of Kalaripayattu. Also, Daruma Bodhidarma was born in the ancient Pallava kingdom of Kanchipuram which is situated in the state of present day Tamil Nadu where Kalaripayattu is not a native art of the state. As a matter of fact, Tamil Nadu itself has several martial arts which predate Kalaripayattu thousands of years and are even mentioned in the Tamil literature such as the Silappadikaram during the Sangam Age of the 1st century A.D. Another piece of Tamil literature which mentions of these martial arts is called the Purunaruru (Four Hundred Songs on War and Wisdom) written around 500 B.C.E.

Another thing I would like to point out is that India was not in existence before the arrival of the British around the 1600s. It was the British who unified the states and other regions into India along with Burma and Pakistan. Before the British, the Indian sub-continent consisted of many countries and kingdoms. The latest parts of the sub-continent to be brought into the Indian Union were the 5 French territories of Pondicherry in 1956. Before that, it was Assam, Manipur and the other Eastern states which came under the British rule and became part of their India during the late 1800s. At one time the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Northeastern Sri Lanka were originally called Tamil Akkam. It was one Tamil administration with three major dynasties being the Pandyan, Cholas and the Cheras. The Pallavas were also part of Tamil Akkam at one time. However, their empire was divided by Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh. The land where the Cheras ruled later came to be known as Kerala where they formed their own language out of Tamil called Malayalam.

As a matter of fact, Tamil Akkam had such a powerful infantry, cavalry and navy in Southern India and Sri Lanka that not even the Mauryan Empire of Asoka could over power it. It is amazing how Emperor Asoka was able to conquer from North India to Pakistan, Afghanistan and much of central India, but could not conquer Tamil Akkam! This was probably due to their martial expertise as well. Much information can be found along with a map of the Mauryan Empire of Asoka in K.A. Nilakanta Sastri's Age of the Nandas and Mauryas. Another good book to read on this would be Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas by Romlia Thapar.

Going back to Kalaripayattu, it looks a lot like Ninjitsu. This art may have been modified over the years to its present state. As for the martial arts of Tamil Nadu and Northeastern Sri Lanka, they are called Kuttu Varisai (empty hand combat), Varma Kalai (pressure point study) and an array of weapons arts. Kuttu Varisai resembles a mix of both Karate and Kung Fu having its own animal forms, too. There is one stance in Kuttu Varisai which resembles the horse stance which is found in Kung Fu and Karate. However, it is called the Bear stance.

There are many weapons arts and each weapon is a mastery of its own. One of the most famous ones is called Silambam which is similar to the Bo staff fighting in Japan. There are a total of 96 Katas for this art. Another weapon is the Erathai or the double stick similar to the Filipino Kali or Sinawali. There are two unique weapons which are not found outside of Southern India. These are the Surul Pattai (steel blade whip) and the Madhu (deer horns). Other weapons arts of the Tamil country are the Val Vitchi (single sword) and the Eretthai Val (double short sword).

Between the 2nd to 12th century A.D., the Pallavas and the Cholas engaged in intensive sea trade with Southeast Asian kingdoms, such as Angkor (Cambodia), Sri Vijaya (Indonesia) and even as far as China. It is possible that the Pallavas may have had contact with Japan during their seafaring naval expeditions. A good source on that would be in the book titled Traditional Cultural Link between India and Japan written by Dr. Kalpakam Sankarnaryan and Dr. Motohiro Yoritomi. There is a possibility the inhabitants of the islands of Japan may have adopted certain forms of Kuttu Varisai and Silambam by the Pallavas. Silambam could be a precursor to Kendo, Ken-Jutso and Karate.

During the Chola Empires zenith, between the 10th and 12th centuries, they had conquered much of Southern India and Eastern parts going through Manipur, Assam and Southern Burma. Their empire stretched to as far south as Sri Lanka and Maldives and to the East was Sumatra, Java and Malaysia (Kadaram). Their martial arts must have been one of their exports along with various other arts like dance, architecture and the Tamil version of the Ramayana. The Ramayana (or Ramayanan or Ramavataram) was re-written from Sanskrit to Tamil by the sage Kavicakravarti Kamban of the 9th century A.D. of the Chola kingdom of Tanjore, Tamil Nadu.

There are certain moves that are in Muay Thai which are called the Hanuman or Lim Lom. Hanuman was a warrior in the Ramayana epic. Three sources on this can be found in Cholas by K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, Maldive Myster by Thor Heyerdahl and Muay Thai: The Most Distinguished Art of Fighting by Panya Kraithat and Pitisuk Kraitus.

As for the Shaolin, it may be possible that Daruma Bodhidarma did go there and introduce Dhyan (Zen (in Japanese) or Chan (in Chinese)]. The absence of fighting forms in China before Daruma Bodhidarma is absolutely false. If there was no fighting form in China, then how did their armies fight which most definitely predates the arrival of Daruma Bodhidarma? There were fighting forms in China. It was Daruma Bodhidarma who introduced his concept of breathing exercises, the arts of the vital points and the 18 Lohan which can be seen in Kuttu Varisai of present day Tamil Nadu. His introduction of these Dravidian combat forms and exercises was adopted by the Chinese which later evolved into Kung Fu. However, Bodhidarma was also not the only sage who went to China.

There was another Tamil sage who traveled to China well before him around the 5th century B.C. by the name of Boghar Siddha. He was accompanied by Lao Tse, the founder of Taosim and the first Chinese to propound the theory of duality of matter - the male Yang and female Yin - which conforms to the Siddha concept of Shiva - Shakti or positive/negative forces. In Tamil, Yin and Yang translates to Idai Nadi (female, moon) and Pingelai Nadi (male, sun). The unification of the two becomes Lingam which is a symbol of Siva. The Sanskrit adaptation of the Yin and Yang is Shiv and Shakt (or Siva and Shakti). The Sanskrit translation of the unification of Shiv and Shakt is called Prana. Prana is "breath" and is understood as the vital, life sustaining force of living beings and the vital energy in all natural processes of the universe.

Acupuncture from Tamil Akkam was also introduced to parts of Asia. This was called Varma Cuttiram also known as Varma Kalai. Originally formed as a medicinal healing art, this can also be used to maim and even kill people. Arts in China which relate to the Varma arts are Tai Chi and Dim Mak. More info can be found in Varma Cuttiram published by the Madras Institute of Asian Studies.

In Southeast Asia the arts of Krabi Krabong in Thailand and Silat in Indonesia bear a lot of resemblances to the Dravidian warfare arts of Southern India. The animalistic styles and even forms of animism found in Silat are also found in Kuttu Varisai which invokes a specific animal spirit or energy into ones body. Many Chola and Pallava naval and merchant ship landing in parts of Southeast Asia have not only brought with them the Hindu and Buddhist religions, but the martial arts as well which fused with the indigenous fighting styles of Southeast Asia. Source: Tamil Merchant Guild in Sumatra , written by K.A. Nilakanta Sastri.

In the Bible, in the book of Solomon and Esther, it mentions about trade and contact with India. The term India was used in the King James Version which was translated from Hebrew and Greek during the 1600s and the rise of the British Empire. The King James version came about after the British took control over many kingdoms and countries forming it into one British administration and giving it the name India. India is actually a Latin word for Indo or Indus in Greek which is Hindu in the Persian language of Farsi near Iran and Pakistan. In the Tamil texts, it mentions about King Solomon’s trade and contact with the Chera, Pandya and Chola kingdoms of Tamil Akkam. King Solomon was not the only one in contact with the Dravidian kingdoms - Rome, Greece and Egypt were, as well. This information can be found in Foreign Notices of South India: from Megasthenes to Ma Huan by K.A. Nilakanta Sastri.

Other than spices, precious stones, silk and exotic animals being exported to Rome, Greece and the Middle East, weapons and fighting styles were exported, as well. The Romans and the Greeks who traveled to Tamil Akkam were known by the ancient Tamils as the Yavanas. Weapons like the trident amongst others were imported to Rome as well as certain fighting forms which were used in gladiatorial fights in Rome. More information can be found in Silambam Fencing from India by Manuel J. Raj and The Commerce Between the Roman Empire and India by E.H. Warmington.

There are even older fighting styles found on the African continent which may have found their way to the Indian sub-continent and from Australia. These are known as Dambe of Nigeria where one hand is bound for punching and kicking and head butting are allowed. Similar arts to Dambe are Adi Thada of the Tamils and Muay Thai of Thailand. The Ringa wrestling of Madagascar is similar to the Tamil wrestling called Malyutham. Amongst the many fighting styles and sports of Africa is the Savika bull fight which can also seen in the Tamil Nadu and parts of Northeastern Sri Lanka bull fights known as Jalli Kattu.

Ancient Tamil texts mention an ancient land mass connecting India with Australia and Madagascar. It also mentions names of cities and rivers which lie beneath the Indian Ocean today. The Indian sub-continent and Australia both lay on the same tectonic plate called the Indo-Australian plate. The tsunami of December 2004 also proved the Lemurian theory when it washed back a couple of miles exposing temples and artifacts in the Bay of Bengal near Mammalapuram, Tamil Nadu. That was the fourth tsunami recorded in the history of South Asia. The third was during the early 1900s. In the Tamil Silappadikaram, it also mentions of a great flood or tsunami which wiped out an ancient Pandyan city. An interesting book which goes into detail is called The Lost Land of Lemuria: Fabulous Geographies, Catastrophic Histories by Sumathi Ramaswamy. The resemblances between Tamils, Malayalees, Australian aborigines and East Africans are very close. There is an ancient weapon that was used in Tamil Akkam called the Valari which resembles the boomerang of Australia. The Velari was shaped like the boomerang, but was tipped with a metal blade.

In conclusion, martial arts of India today were actually the martial arts of Tamil Akkam thousands of years back and not ancient India. India or the Indian Union did not come into play until after the arrival of the British around the 1600s. Kalari Payat is a very dynamic martial art with an array of weaponry including pressure point attacks and massage. However, it does not go any further back than the 13th century as quoted from Phillip Zarilli's When the Body Becomes All Eyes: Paradigms, Discourses and Practices of Power in Kalarippayattu, a South Indian Martial Art. Daruma Bodhidarma was also well alive almost 700 hundred years before the formation of Kalaripayattu. There were many other sages and monks who have travelled from present day Southern India to China well before Daruma Bodhidarma.

Related links:

Indo-Australian Plate.
The Velari (Boomerang Weapon).
Thang-Ta, Martial Art of Manipur.
Life of Bogar Siddhar.
Varma Kalai, Martial Art of Tamil Nadu.
Silambam, Staff Fighting of Tamil Nadu.
Gatka Sikh, Sword Fencing of Punjab.
Vajra Mushti, Wrestling of Gujurat.
Kalairpayattu, Martial Art of Kerala.
Map of Chola Empire Around 1014 A.D.

Patrick · KF Administrator

Thank you for the submission.

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bushido_man96 · KF Sensei

Wow, that was a lot of information! This is a very nice article, and I enjoyed reading it very much.

I love martial history!

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baronbvp · Black Belt

I'll second that. I'd be curious to know what the present day Indian military practices.
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learning kempo-karate · Orange Belt

Hello, Great article written here. I belive the first person to learn to fight was the Caveman.

The first caveman took away the first cave woman from the 2nd caveman...who then learn how to fight back to get the first cave woman back. (call gecko style). Seen this on TV..........Aloha

baronbvp · Black Belt

Is that style so simple even a caveman could do it?

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Only as good as I make myself be, only as bad as I let myself be.

Martial arts are like kinetic chess. Your move.

shogeri · Brown Belt

Generally speaking, a good article, offering yet another view of the rich history of the Martial Arts!

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