Kalarippayattu

Kalarippayattu can be traced back to the Vedic period. Legends say that around 525 AD an Indian Buddhist monk named Bodhidharama traveled to China and preached at the Shaolin temple. On finding the monks weak and listless, Bodhidharama taught them the eighteen hands of Buddha - a special set of exercises and from this evolved the Chinese art of Shaolin Boxing. These eighteen hands of Buddha were said to be derived from the eighteen adavukal (adavu = technique), which form the base of the Vadakkan or northern style of Kalarippayattu. Slowly this fighting system spread to Japan and along with the fighting traditions already present in those regions, developed into many of today's martial arts.