Kalaripayattu

Kerala's ancient martial art — kicks, weapons and pressure-point strikes trained in a mud-floored kalari.

👥1 per team🌤indoor

What is Kalaripayattu?

Kalaripayattu is a comprehensive martial system from Kerala thought to be one of the oldest still practised. Training progresses through unarmed forms (meithari), wooden weapons (kolthari), metal weapons like the urumi flexible sword (angathari), and pressure-point techniques (verumkai). Sessions are held in a mud-floored pit called a kalari.

Quick facts

Category

Combat Sports

Type

Individual

Players

1 per team

Where played

indoor

Country of origin

🇮🇳 India

Estimated origin

Ancient Kerala, India (>3,000 years)

Olympic

No

Popularity

regional

Sources & provenance

Last verified 2026-08-20.verified