Martial Arts of India: Silambam - Ancient warfare

There was a time when it was indeed survival of the fittest. A time when hurdles and obstacles from mother nature and other living beings lurked around every corner.

How do you survive all by yourself if you are not armed with any weapon to fight back whatever comes your way? If we have to rewind this to many hundreds of years ago, one of the answers was Silambam.

Silambam, the finest tune of art was used by kings, soldiers and even civilians as a foundation for honing the skills in defence tactics. Unlike other martial art forms that we covered on these pages, this pre-dates them. Is it now too old to survive? We travelled to Chennai, Tamil Nadu in a Hyundai Creta as part of our journey to unravel the story of Silambam and understand a bit more about this lesser-known martial art form of India.

The name is derived from the Tamil word "Silambal" which roughly translates to sounds of the hills and nature. One of the earliest mentions of this art form can be found in inscriptions as old as 2500 years ago, of renowned Hindu sage and scholar Agathiyar. Some believe it is much older than that too. Around 522 AD, Bodhi Dharman is recorded to have spread the culture outside India to South East Asia and even as far as China.

Centuries later, Silambam has once again started thriving at the grassroot levels in and around Tamil Nadu. And one such school on the outskirts of Chennai is run by a very young Silambam artist, Tamil Selvin. Interestingly he is the first one in his family to take up this martial art form, or atleast, he doesn't know of anyone amongst his relatives who has. "I was mesmerised by it when I first saw someone perform it," recalls Tamil. "I knew right away I had to learn this, not to teach or anything but just for myself. It was so graceful, yet powerful."

After years of practice around his North suburban house, Tamil is now so adept at the art that not only is he a regular at inter-state and national events (yes, it is also played at a national level now) he also started his own school on a modest clearing between a congested cluster of houses in the outskirts of Chennai where he teaches students, some of whom as young as 5-years-old. While most of his students the day we visited were school-going kids, he says it is not uncommon to have adults as students. In fact one of his disciples is a 58-year-old retired school teacher who took always wanted to pursue the sport but never got a chance in the humdrum of balancing her family and work life.

It's hot and humid but the students are sweating it out with full enthusiasm and energy which is a must for a Silambam warrior. Just like other martial forms we have seen on these pages, the stick is the most basic and starting point of a weapon for this martial art form. Swivelling it around their seemingly delicate arms and bodies, it soon becomes apparent that training has meant they probably not as delicate as most other children their age. The students practice in synchronous movement and it almost looks like a dance performance except for the collective swishing sound of the sticks cutting through the air.

"Some students pick up quite fast, some take time but we let them learn at their own pace," says Tamil. "There is no time frame to learn the basic forms of the art. There are no levels like in say, karate. It is a continuous training. I would say I am still learning too," he adds humbly.

It's hot and humid but the students are sweating it out with full enthusiasm and energy which is a must for a Silambam warrior. Just like other martial forms we have seen on these pages, the stick is the most basic and starting point of a weapon for this martial art form. Swivelling it around their seemingly delicate arms and bodies, it soon becomes apparent that training has meant they probably not as delicate as mo0st other children their age. The students practice in synchronous movement and it almost looks like a dance performance except for the collective swishing sound of the sticks cutting through the air.

"Some students pick up quite fast, some take time but we let them learn at their own pace," says Tamil. "There is no time frame to learn the basic forms of the art. There are no levels like in say, karate. It is a continuous training. I would say I am still learning too," he adds humbly.

One difference we saw was the variety that this art form brings. It is more about one-to-one combat. But if there is more than one opponent, the Silambam warrior has some tools to play with - like the ring of fire, which is a burning wheel of torches - a weapon in the hands of a trained artist only.

Evolution is a substantial precedent. Silambam too lies on the same lines. Are old methods something these days people do not enjoy practicing? Now, we don't think so. After looking at these young warriors or rather artists, there is a hope of light to shine across this kind of art form. With people like Tamil Selvin soldering the march forward into the unknown. Without any fear of uncertainty, there will always be light at the end of this tunnel.

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( With inputs from ANI )