Kalaripayattu, the vibrant traditional martial art of Kerala, has been a part of the history and culture of Kerala from time immemorial. It is considered as the ‘Mother of all Martial Arts’ and thus, forms a holistic base for the many of today’s performing artists. On any evening walk down to the Shaji Kalari-the school of Kalaripayattu and you will see a mix of individuals from various walks of life from the city eagerly learning the nuances of the ancient martial art form. Post yoga, pilates and Zumba, mixed martial art (MMA) is the new buzzword in the health sphere for Chennaiites. There are numerous centres of MMA mushrooming in the city.
http://combatkinetics.com/
Among the most popular names is Combat Kinetics. Be it combat sports, parkour, functional fitness or athletics, the chain is at the spear head in establishing the concepts of MMA, urban combat, high intensity workouts and movement-based fitness programmes in India. MMA goes beyond all boundaries,” explains Ajit Sigamani, the group’s founder and trainer. “That’s what draws people to it. The fighters in the club are individuals who would’ve become salesmen or engineers if they hadn’t found the right place to apply their skills.” He set up the enterprise almost four years ago, when the absence of any facility in the city for both Indian and international combat forms struck him as odd. Today it has thousands of students across age-groups.
KravMaga is a combat system devised originally for the Israeli military. In Hebrew KravMaga means “Contact Combat”. It is designed for survival in the streets or war-zone. We concentrate in equipping the trainee only for those crises. For that purpose, there is lots of training on anger management, handling stress and being aware in a crisis. Chennai is warming up to the idea of Krav Maga and there are 7 centres in the city offering Krav Maga classes. “It is a contact combat, designed to equip people in crisis on the streets or war zone. These days, with the increasing safety issues, Krav Maga comes in handy for women in vulnerable spots,” says S. Sreeram, instructor at KravMaga Tamil Nadu.
The Chennai Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is another place in the city where not only international individual martial art styles are taught, but also styles are combined to come up with new martial arts. Santhosh T, president of Chennai MMA was trained in mixed martial arts for over six years in Canada. He says, “People knew little about MMA when I started out. In fact, only sportspersons were interested. Over time, youngsters and office-goers came forward. MMA involves international techniques and that has really appealed to people,” says Santhosh.
So what are you waiting for? Opt for your favourite martial art form and get going!
