About the BookAN AUTHENTIC AND PRACTICAL GUIDE TO KERALA’S MARTIAL ART PAYATTUIn clear, easy-to-understand language, this book will tell you how to learn and practice payattu with or without weapons. Action photographs make poses and techniques easy to follow, and traditional oral commands in Malayalam have been rendered into English.For the first time, this manual opens up the closed world of this martial discipline to anyone interested in physical and mental fitness. For the newcomer to martial arts as well as the seasoned enthusiast, this manual offers an authentic and practical guide that will help you find a new, challenging and enjoyable route to health.About the AuthorChirakkal T. Sreedharan Nair (1909-1984), was a legendary exponent of payattu, who proved its practical value as a magnificent self-defence art. He taught, researched, demonstrated and wrote about the discipline that became a lifetime obsession for him, and set up the Sree Bharat Kalari in 1944. His book on Kalarippayattu, written in Malayalam and published in 1963, was the first of its kind and is regarded as the most authentic reference work on this ancient art.The manual has been adapted by his two sons, payattu adepts S.R.A. Das and S.R.D. Prasad, for the contemporary health and martial arts enthusiast.