Kalaripayattu – An ancient martial art
December 18, 2013
Walking with Giants
December 28, 2013
Photo by Raja Badri
From our previous post, we wrote about our experience watching the training of an Indian ancient martial art known as Kalaripayattu. From that experience, we got to know of a special body massage called Chavutti Thirumal- a full body massage executed mainly using the feet.
Chavutti Thirumal was developed by the Kalari warriors thousands of years ago, and it was originally used to heal battle related injuries (muscle tears and broken bones) and to help their warriors increase their strength and body flexibility.
Nowadays this massage is practiced upon sportsmen, dancers, and other martial art practitioners because of its ability to keep the body supple and in good condition. However, it is also suitable for the rest of us that doesn’t necessarily be active in strenuous physical exercise.
Photo by Raja Badri
When we were first offered to try this massage, quite frankly the idea of having someone using their feet to massage the body was not at all inviting.
We kept wondering what if someone double our size started to put his or her whole weight on us, would we be able to withstand it?
We are happy to inform that our experience doing the Chavutti Thirumal was a pleasant one.
Firstly, we were not walked upon. The massage therapist uses a rope to balance herself while using one feet to massage your body., so the size of your therapist is not an issue (nevertheless we were thankful ours were quite skinny)
At first touch her feet was really smooth… and the strength of the massage ranges from medium to hard.
Photo by Raja Badri
Watching the therapist doing Chavutti Thirumal is like watching her dance. Standing on one leg and using the rope to balance herself, she will deliver strong continuous pressure to the body using the other leg while slowly raising her body up and down according to the length of the patient’s body.
The massage was done with us laying on our front, sides and finally on our back. Another thing… it is done without your clothes on but should you are uncomfortable in your birth suit, they do have cloth that you can use to cover yourself.
It was a first and unforgettable experience and surely it won’t be our last.