The word kalari is said to have been derived from the Sanskrit words "kala", which means art, and "ari", which means enemy. Literally, thus it means art of defeating an enemy. Legends has it that around 525 AD, an Indian Buddhist monk named Bodhidharama travelled to China and trained the monks in kung-fu at the Shaolin temple. Kalari practitioners claim that 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 are said to be derived from the eighteen 'adavukals' (adavu = technique), which form the substratum of the 'Vadakkan' or northern style of Kalarippayattu. Slowly this fighting style traced its route to Japan and blended with the fighting skills of those regions, resulting in today's martial arts.
Martial arts was often referred to as fighting systems, but apart from self-defence and sport, people now study martial arts for fitness ,meditation, mental discipline and self-confidence.
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