45. Lucy May Constantini | Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘: Martial Art of Kerala

In this episode we speak with Lucy May Constantini about her
fascinating research and practical experience studying the
south-Indian martial art tradition of kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘. We discuss
Lucy's background of training in Kerala, the history of kaḷari,
the role of the gurukkaḷ ("lineage-holder"), the tradition's
Śākta Tantra context in Kerala, medieval ankam battles, the
gendered dynamics of male and female practitioners, training with
weapons, parallels with yogāsana and the renaissance of modern
postural yoga, and much more.  We conclude by previewing
Lucy's upcoming online course, YS 128 | Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘: Embodying
the Cosmic Wind.



Speaker Bio
Lucy May Constantini is a dance-artist turned scholar
who first encountered the South Indian martial art kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘
in 2002 during a residential dance workshop in South India. She
went on to train extensively in kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ at CVN Kalari
Sangham in Thiruvananthapuram. In 2012 she was initiated into and
apprenticed in kaḷaricikilsa, kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘’s therapeutic
system. She was awarded with distinction a masters in South Asia
Area Studies from SOAS, University of London in 2018, and
recently submitted her PhD thesis in the School of Religious
Studies at the Open University in the UK. This was funded by the
UK Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Open-Oxford-Cambridge
Doctoral Training Partnership and supported by the École
française d'Extrême-Orient in Pondicherry. Lucy’s research was
co-created with the lineage-holder of CVN Kalari Sangham and
explores the relationship between practice and textual traditions
in kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘. Her interdisciplinary research encompasses
ethnography, drawing on the relationship since 2002 with CVN
Kalari in Thiruvananthapuram, and the study of manuscripts in
Malayalam. Her research methodology draws on her background in
dance and somatic practices, where her work investigates the
confluence of her praxes of postmodern dance, martial arts and
yoga.



Links


https://www.yogicstudies.com/ys-128

https://open.academia.edu/LucyMayConstantini

"Firm Feet and Inner Wind: Introducing Posture in the South
Indian Martial Art, Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘" (2023, Journal of Yoga
Studies)