- Kuttu Varisai
Kuttu Varisai (Empty Hand Combat) ( _ta. குத்துவரிசை) is an Indian martial art practiced in
Tamil Nadu ,South India and in Northeastern Sri Lanka. It is a form of hand to hand combat similar toKung Fu andKarate . This Tamil martial art was first documented in the TamilSangam literature (c. 2nd-1st centuries BC).Both Kuttu Varisai and
Varma Kalai combined make up a deadly fighting art. In Kuttu Varisai, gymnastic, stretching (yoga ), and breathing exercises are conducted before training. In combat, almost every part of the body is used such as the fists, elbow, feet, knees, etc. Various different animal styles such as the tiger, elephant, snake, eagle and monkey are used. All these styles include posture, grappling, throws, hits, and locks.There are a huge variety of weapons used in this fighting system which can easily be seen in many Chola bronze statues of various deities. Weapons include the
trident , sticks (kali or kaji) (short, long, or double sticks), swords (val) and shield, double swords, daggers (kuttuval) (simple or double),knuckle duster (kuttu katai), and whips with several flexible and metallic blades (surul pattai).External links
* [http://www.silambam.in/kutthuvaresai.htm Kutthu Varesai By Mahesh Kumar]
* [http://www.tamilnation.org/heritage/martial.htm Thamizhar Martial Arts]ee also
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