Kalari Payat requires considerable fitness to begin with and therefore one should be ready to expect physical punishment!
One needs to have considerable experience in martial arts before starting Kalari Payat or needs to prepare her/his body before even starting the training.
Few things of utmost import are endurance and flexibility, these will be helpful for being successful kalari performer. This sport or art demands cardiovascular endurance, the artist practices in short bursts of energy and long duration combat with weapons, this demands a lot from the heart. Thus the practitioner should give time to endurance training for eg. - running, uphill climbs etc. the aim is to keep the heart as fit as possible. one of the benifits of performing kalari Payat is you end up with a very strong heart!
Flexibility is also key to be successful in Kalari, flexibility will give additional boost to performance and prevent injuries, very important as kalari is a injury prone art/sport.
Flexibility training is a regular part of the training and warm up routine in Kalari. Yoga and other forms of stretching are useful tools to be a top performer. Flexible body leads to a young body, clinical trials have demonstrated that a flexible body leads to improvement collagen preservation and production, this ultimately has anti aging and disease preventive effects (prevention of cardiovascular and orthopaedic diseases).
Development of concentration and 'ek-argrata' is also a result of Kalari payat practice. This art/sport is a form of meditation, since the levels of concentration required are tremendous. medically, a focused mind is less prone to sudden spikes in adrenalin levels resulting in a calm and composed person.
Strength training as in conventional 'bodybuilding' training is of little help for kalari Payat practice, but specific strength training developing the muscles of the 'core' and the lower body is essential for a Kalari Payat practitioner.
Injuries are common while practicing kalrai, most common if the performer is overconfident, less experienced, unfit or lacks concentration. Kalari prefers individuals with a strong core, strong lowerbody and a light upper body, this body structure suits the bio-mechanichs of Kalari Payat or most martial arts for that matter.
Common injuries are musculoskeletal and weapon related. injuries caused while landing on feet after jumps and wrestling are related to tendon and muscles, in the lowers body care should be taken to prevent ankle injuries (muscle and tendon) most can be minor strains or sprains which heal easily, but there can be tendon and muscle tears which take longer to heal. Fractures are rare. injuries to the ligaments of the knee are often seen.
Upper body injuries are mostly limited to the shoulder, followed by wrists, elbow and rarely the back or neck. The injuries are strains or strains and are easily treatable. Rarely the shoulder can be injured leading to a dislocation or subluxation but these events are very rare.
Most injuries are easily and quickly treated.
Injury first aid is very simple as in case of a sprain, strain or twist of a muscle or tendon- simple ice application for a period 2 minutes to 5 minutes, repeatedly(not continuous) and resting the injured limb or muscle will be very helpful in a speedy recovery. Ice or cold fomentation without pressure and massage are very helpful. In case all fails you need to visit the doctor!
Post training recovery and rest are vital in injury prevention, nutrition is more of carbohydrate related feeding the long duration activity, rice, fruits, dals play important role. Protein is needed for recovery of the body. vitamins minerals and water should not be neglected.
Recovery training should include flexibility training!
Care needs to be taken while weapons training, especially if one is less experience, there is a strict protocol one use of weapons in Kalari Payat which should be obeyed, if one fails to be careful with weapons serious injury could result, needing hospital admission.
*core-consists of muscles of the trunk, torso, back and buttocks.
