Silambam(Tamil: சிலம்பம்) is a traditional stick martial arts of Tamil Nadu State, South India.
According to the folklore, it is said that the origin of the martial arts and related Ayurveda is Sage Agastya who acquired the knowledge in the depths of meditation thousands of years before.
Its history probably dates back to at least the 4th century BC, according to literature from the cradle of the Dravidian culture, Sangham period.
There are two theories to the word Silambam. One theory is that Silam stands on the hill and Bam stands for the stick of bamboo, and collectively it is "bamboo on a hill." Another theory is that the wind noise generated while swinging a stick is made into onomatopoeia in Tamil.
But anyway, the Silambam has been practiced by Tamil people since long ago in the Indian subcontinent.
The Tamil people have been aggressively expanding overseas from ancient times have settled mainly in Southeast Asia and formed a community long before the days of the Age of Exploration by Westerners.
Then many Tamils were taken abroad as labor during the British colonial period and the community expanded especially in Sri Lanka, Malay peninsula. Silambam is also practiced by such Tamil community overseas as an ethnic identity.
Recent years, in popularization as youth sports, the light and resilient cane (a kind of rattan) are generally used in many cases, but as the original martial arts, a bamboo stick which is very hard and heavyweight with high damaging power is used.
It was said that during the British colonial era Silambam was heavily oppressed as the symbol of the resistance movement against British like Kalaripayattu in Kerala, Paika Akhada in Odisha, and forced to hide in the remote mountain areas.
However, after independence, along with a revival movement of traditional culture, social interest toward Silambam by Tamils in both mainland India and overseas communities have raised. Then Silambam is popularly practiced nowadays particularly along with school education.
Member of Silambam club in modern uniform / Madurai
Besides such trend, Silambam is very popular since before especially in the farming and mountain village areas because there are everyday conveniences of stick use such as getting rid of wild beasts, avoiding snakes, protecting themselves from robbery, cattleman works and so on.
Most senior villagers are Silambam expert
Originally Silambam seems to have been comprehensive martial arts like Kalaripayattu with a variety of weapon skills and body arts, and some master still has such knowledge, but it is mainly practiced as a form of only stick arts among young generations in the modern age.
The heroes acted by famous actors such as MG Ramachandran, Rajinikanth and so on in the popular Tamil movies often play Silambam to defeat evil enemies. In such sentences, Silambam seems to show off the 'Manliness of Tamil'.
But Silambam is very popular among Tamil girls nowadays, and many actresses like Sai Dhanshika love to practice Silambam as ideal Tamil heroine.
In addition, one of the features that should not be forgotten in the field of Silambam is the presence of Muslims. Most of the masters I interviewed this time were Muslims, and many of the technical terms used in Silambam are words of Arabic origin.
If you understand the background history of Muslim commitment to Silambam, you will be able to understand the difference more clearly between Silambam and Kalaripayattu which is deeply associated with the Hindu religion.
Silanbam can be divided into three major categories.
1. Sports Silambam (Stick Fencing)
The spread of modern Silambam is strongly related to physical education for children in elementary and junior high schools and regional youth sports activities.
In this field, Sports Silambam (Stick Fencing) is popularly practiced as a competitive game sports.
In the game, two players face each other in a circular coat, hold a stick and compete for hitting points like kendo or fencing.
The English name 'Stick Fencing' is getting popular in India nowadays and authority of Silambam field wishing to make the sports formal Olympic game.
The rule of Stick Fencing is a point system adjusted for children, and if you hit the opponent hard, a penalty will be charged. The practical elements of real fight are extremely dropped, and it is closer to a Sports Chanbara than Kendo.
However, master class competitions have very high levels of tactics and skills, and everybody can enjoy it with much excitement.
2. Show Silambam
The demonstration takes place mainly at school events and local festivals. Recently, techniques such as ribbons and rings for rhythmic gymnastics have also been incorporated and show a glamorous attire.
In particular, the series of Fire Silanbam, which takes place at night, is mostly circus-like entertainment. The techniques performed with the rhythm of folk drums bring you into the world of deep trance, where actors and spectators are united in excitement.
3. Warriors Silambam
This is the original martial stick art. Starting from the basic footwork and stick operation performed by alone, then mock fight with an opponent.
It shows various spreads such as the joint technique using a stick, the throwing technique, and metal weapons, etc.
As for all Silambam techniques, the emphasis is placed on steps or footwork. Another emphasis is on stick rotating techniques as a basic exercise to establish the bodily basements for the stick manipulation common to all fields in the sports.
The high-speed stick rotation seen in Silambam can be said the highlight of all Indian stick arts.
When we go to the southernmost part of the Tamil Nadu State, Silambam master tends to have the knowledge of Marman(pressure points used for both attack and heal), joint lock technique and Urmi flexible sword skill similar to kalarippayattu, therefore the distinction between Silambam and the South Style Kalarippayattu become vague.
There many senior Silambam masters know about Kuttu Varisai empty hand technique which is a counterpart of Adi Thada in South style Kalaripayattu.
It has always been a topic in this survey, that Silambam and the South Style Karalipayat, which is the very origin? But I have not yet come up with the answer.
Considering that Keralan Malayalam has separated from Tamil around 800 AD and that the common roots of the two languages date back to the Sangam period, the two martial arts in Kerala and Tamil probably have the common ancestor in the same Sangam period.
It would be reasonable to see that, after Tamil and Kerala's separation, each martial arts began its own evolutionary development.
Even once separated, both are mixed and influenced each other around the former Kingdom of Travancore region. Styles and techniques that were lost by one side might be preserved in another side, and later might be handed back again to revival. It's not possible to say that what is the very origin, which is the mother and which is the child.
Since the warfare between Chela and Chora, even nowadays, Kerala and Tamil's rivalry is intense, the two sides do not give up each other claiming that they are the roots, I'm getting out of this never-ending argument.
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According to the folklore, it is said that the origin of the martial arts and related Ayurveda is Sage Agastya who acquired the knowledge in the depths of meditation thousands of years before.
Its history probably dates back to at least the 4th century BC, according to literature from the cradle of the Dravidian culture, Sangham period.
There are two theories to the word Silambam. One theory is that Silam stands on the hill and Bam stands for the stick of bamboo, and collectively it is "bamboo on a hill." Another theory is that the wind noise generated while swinging a stick is made into onomatopoeia in Tamil.
But anyway, the Silambam has been practiced by Tamil people since long ago in the Indian subcontinent.
The Tamil people have been aggressively expanding overseas from ancient times have settled mainly in Southeast Asia and formed a community long before the days of the Age of Exploration by Westerners.
Then many Tamils were taken abroad as labor during the British colonial period and the community expanded especially in Sri Lanka, Malay peninsula. Silambam is also practiced by such Tamil community overseas as an ethnic identity.
Recent years, in popularization as youth sports, the light and resilient cane (a kind of rattan) are generally used in many cases, but as the original martial arts, a bamboo stick which is very hard and heavyweight with high damaging power is used.
It was said that during the British colonial era Silambam was heavily oppressed as the symbol of the resistance movement against British like Kalaripayattu in Kerala, Paika Akhada in Odisha, and forced to hide in the remote mountain areas.
However, after independence, along with a revival movement of traditional culture, social interest toward Silambam by Tamils in both mainland India and overseas communities have raised. Then Silambam is popularly practiced nowadays particularly along with school education.
Member of Silambam club in modern uniform / Madurai
Besides such trend, Silambam is very popular since before especially in the farming and mountain village areas because there are everyday conveniences of stick use such as getting rid of wild beasts, avoiding snakes, protecting themselves from robbery, cattleman works and so on.
A weapon called Madu made of combined two deer horns
But Silambam is very popular among Tamil girls nowadays, and many actresses like Sai Dhanshika love to practice Silambam as ideal Tamil heroine.
In addition, one of the features that should not be forgotten in the field of Silambam is the presence of Muslims. Most of the masters I interviewed this time were Muslims, and many of the technical terms used in Silambam are words of Arabic origin.
If you understand the background history of Muslim commitment to Silambam, you will be able to understand the difference more clearly between Silambam and Kalaripayattu which is deeply associated with the Hindu religion.
Silanbam can be divided into three major categories.
1. Sports Silambam (Stick Fencing)
The spread of modern Silambam is strongly related to physical education for children in elementary and junior high schools and regional youth sports activities.
In this field, Sports Silambam (Stick Fencing) is popularly practiced as a competitive game sports.
In the game, two players face each other in a circular coat, hold a stick and compete for hitting points like kendo or fencing.
The English name 'Stick Fencing' is getting popular in India nowadays and authority of Silambam field wishing to make the sports formal Olympic game.
The rule of Stick Fencing is a point system adjusted for children, and if you hit the opponent hard, a penalty will be charged. The practical elements of real fight are extremely dropped, and it is closer to a Sports Chanbara than Kendo.
However, master class competitions have very high levels of tactics and skills, and everybody can enjoy it with much excitement.
Sports Silambam matchup. Pay attention to the grip of the stick. The left hand is up and right hand is down. The reverse from Japanese sword grip.
2. Show Silambam
The demonstration takes place mainly at school events and local festivals. Recently, techniques such as ribbons and rings for rhythmic gymnastics have also been incorporated and show a glamorous attire.
In particular, the series of Fire Silanbam, which takes place at night, is mostly circus-like entertainment. The techniques performed with the rhythm of folk drums bring you into the world of deep trance, where actors and spectators are united in excitement.
Silanbam's Fire Show at the end of Competition
This is the original martial stick art. Starting from the basic footwork and stick operation performed by alone, then mock fight with an opponent.
It shows various spreads such as the joint technique using a stick, the throwing technique, and metal weapons, etc.
A Muslim master demonstrates a throwing skill using an opponent stick
The high-speed stick rotation seen in Silambam can be said the highlight of all Indian stick arts.
Silanbams ultra-high-speed stick rotation
Stick rotation by skilled Muslim player Ibrahimsa
When we go to the southernmost part of the Tamil Nadu State, Silambam master tends to have the knowledge of Marman(pressure points used for both attack and heal), joint lock technique and Urmi flexible sword skill similar to kalarippayattu, therefore the distinction between Silambam and the South Style Kalarippayattu become vague.
There many senior Silambam masters know about Kuttu Varisai empty hand technique which is a counterpart of Adi Thada in South style Kalaripayattu.
It has always been a topic in this survey, that Silambam and the South Style Karalipayat, which is the very origin? But I have not yet come up with the answer.
Kuttu Varisai Demo
Considering that Keralan Malayalam has separated from Tamil around 800 AD and that the common roots of the two languages date back to the Sangam period, the two martial arts in Kerala and Tamil probably have the common ancestor in the same Sangam period.
It would be reasonable to see that, after Tamil and Kerala's separation, each martial arts began its own evolutionary development.
Even once separated, both are mixed and influenced each other around the former Kingdom of Travancore region. Styles and techniques that were lost by one side might be preserved in another side, and later might be handed back again to revival. It's not possible to say that what is the very origin, which is the mother and which is the child.
Since the warfare between Chela and Chora, even nowadays, Kerala and Tamil's rivalry is intense, the two sides do not give up each other claiming that they are the roots, I'm getting out of this never-ending argument.
HOME © Since2005. Sangam Institute of Indian martial arts. All Rights Reserved. MALLAKHAMB
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