At the Thelappally bus stop near Irinjalakuda is a hoarding next to a side lane, of a man in black robes surrounded by a bunch of girls and boys — presumably his students. An old man standing next to the hoarding points to the lane where Ashokan Gurukkal (Master) has been running his ‘kalari’ — martial arts school — for years. In front of the kalari stand a girl and a boy wearing what looks like a uniform — a white T-shirt bearing the name of the school — Ayodhana Kalakshetram. They greet the master who comes walking from his house, opposite the school.
Ashokan’s ways are quite the opposite of what a layman might imagine a martial arts teacher to have. He is soft-mannered, a small voice explaining the methods shaped after years of trying and testing and succeeding. For it is not that he just teaches the Indian Kalarippayattu and the foreign Karate and the traditional Yoga, it is that he knows how to mix doses of these into new exercises that work wonders for people who have taken ill. Ashokan had not thought of these mixes until one day a man he met told him about a leg pain that just wouldn’t go no matter how many doctors he saw.
“He was this LIC employee and he had to take leave about two weeks every month. We were sitting over a coffee, talking. He asked me if there was anything I could do. I brought yoga into his life. I gave him a bunch of exercises mixing Yoga, Kalari and Karate and also a marmachikilsa uzhichil (a type of massage treatment),” the master says. The LIC employee never had the problem again. Another case that came closely afterward was of a woman who was on holiday from the Gulf. Her problem was diabetes but she had only 11 days of leave to do something about it. Ashokan suggested his newly-devised Kalari plus Yoga lessons and on the tenth day she went for a test that she would later tell him had drastically reduced her high sugar level to normal.
Arun and Sanjay practising KalarippayattuIt was only about 10 years ago that he began mixing these various types of martial art forms. But then Ashokan had begun his tryst with martial arts a long time ago — 32 years to be precise. It began in school when his teacher selected a few talented students for Karate lessons. Ashokan liked what he learnt and continued after school, going to different masters. “But then two years later, I wanted to try something where weapons were used. That’s how I came into Kalari.” Five more years later, he began Yoga lessons, but not seriously. Until of course there came a time when he began using it to help people deal with their diseases.
Retired government official Krishnan tells of the time Ashokan’s treatments helped him with his allergies. “He suggested Yoga, and gave a diet that I followed for three months. There was also uzhichil for 21 days. At the end, the allergies had reduced a lot,” Krishnan says. Once Ashokan’s methods have come to the aid of a cancer patient. “She had breast cancer and after the removal of one of her breasts, she couldn't even raise he hands. She said she just wants to look after her kid. It was Yoga that helped again,” Ashokan says. The master says that a lot of the time people use these exercises for short-term needs. And that is not advisable. "It should be an everyday habit like how you take your bath or breakfast. If you sweat, you will be cleansing yourself. Faeces, urine, breath and sweat are four ways of cleansing yourself.”
Karishma practising Yoga
It takes time to reach the level where you begin mixing doses of different art forms. “After years of practice it comes to us. I also use meditation to focus and find answers.” He teaches his mixing methods to his experienced students. Arun who is, as we speak, practising with his pantheeram or stick, with a partner, is one of those students who has started learning uzhichil. “We are advised not to use these stunts outside for fights as much as it is avoidable. Only when there is personal danger should we use it,” he says. “The students know the marmas (pressure points) and how much it could hurt, so they would be very careful not to give that kind of pain,” Ashokan says. “Of course, girls can rely on these for self-defence.” Karishma, who is practising her Yoga and Lakshmi, a school student doing Karate, say they have come for that and more.
