Looking after your training staff
How to oil, store and check a kettukari or silambam staff so it stays straight and does not split.
Preparing for your first class
What to eat, what to wear and what the first ninety minutes look like.
Your first class at Chuvadu is free, and it is meant to show you what training feels like, not to test you.
Eat lightly. A banana or a glass of water an hour before is enough. Training on a full stomach is uncomfortable, especially in the morning batch.
Wear loose clothes you can stretch in. We provide a kacha, the traditional cloth tied at the waist, for regular students, and will show you how to tie it. Remove jewellery and watches. We train barefoot, so there is no need for shoes.
Arrive ten minutes early. A senior student will show you how to enter the kalari: step in with the right foot, touch the floor and then your forehead, and greet the poothara. Then you join the warm-up.
Most of the first class is meythari: slow leg swings, basic stances and walking patterns. You will be corrected often and gently. Expect your legs to ache the next day; this is normal.
At the end, the gurukkal will talk to you for a few minutes about which batch suits you. There is no pressure to join on the spot. Come back to watch, or try a different batch, before you decide.
