KOZHIKODE: Two years ago, a middle-aged woman approached kalaripayattu trainer couple Preman Gurukkal and Krishna Priya seeking ‘marma’ treatment for fracture on her shoulders. When they enquired about the injury, the woman revealed that her life had turned a living hell with her husband, a drunkard, assaulting her repeatedly. She suffered the shoulder injury when the husband attacked her with a sharp stone publicly, while on a road.
That incident spurred the couple, belonging to Chelappuram in Nadapuram, to think of training women and children in self-defence techniques. For free.“We believe that women should be physically and mentally fit to prevent any misadventure towards them. So we wanted to give basic lessons in kalaripayattu to all women and girls within our reach to equip them for self-protection,” says Preman, an award-winning kalaripayattu exponent.
They then launched a training programme in association with schools in the region. Before the coronavirus outbreak, they had trained 120 girls and around 20 women. Now, with schools closed, they are training people at their home.“The basic self-defence training includes how to release oneself from others hold, hitting weak spots and making the perpetrator senseless by touching certain pressure points on the body. Defend oneself first. That’s the way to escape from such situations,” Preman says.
While their normal one-hour training starts from 7am every day, now they conduct classes just two days a week. Considering the pandemic situation, a maximum 10 persons are allowed per batch.
“Two such batches are being trained now,” Preman says. “Initially, we had charted a 16-day training programme - one hour each day - for schoolgirls. But the school-based programme was temporarily stopped because of the Covid spread,” says Priya.
The 39-year-old and his wife, 28, are keen to expand their mission to give martial arts training to women and girls given that crimes against them are on the rise.“To protect themselves and to resist injustice is every woman’s right. Learning kalaripayattu will definitely provide both mental and physical fitness to women. It will help them become bold and well-equipped to defend themselves,” Priya says.The couple has so far trained over 200 people free of cost.Narrating the incident which moved them, Priya recalls the woman’s story was shocking.“The 44-year-old had suffered a lot from her husband. She suffered the injury while attempting to save her child from one such attack. Basic lessons of kalari would surely help women facing such circumstances,” she says.
Preman took his first lessons in the traditional martial art at the age of 14 under Mukundan Gurukkal at Puramery while Priya was trained by Preman after their marriage nine years ago. Preman, who has trained at various kalaripayattu centres to gain expertise, was bestowed with the Folklore Award instituted by the Kerala State Cultural Department in 2019.