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SOURCE: THE ASIAN AGE
A team of Varma Kalai experts from Tamil Nadu was recently flown to New Delhi by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) to teach selected portions of the martial-healing art to the jawans for increasing their oxygen intake even at high altitudes.About 20 jawans underwent intense training in two varmams—vilangu and adapakala—from three Varma experts and practised them for about a month to register big improvement in breathing easy during crisis situations at high altitudes. The practice sessions were held in DRDO lab that simulated attitudes up to 12,000 ft in the room and it was found that the jawans could manage up to two minutes even in zero-oxygen conditions.
“The crisis situations include lack of oxygen gear or depletion of oxygen in the cylinders the jawans carry while moving in high altitudes”, explained Dr S Yoganathan, orthopedic surgeon from Perunthurai medical college (Erode district), who had accompanied the varma exponents on the DRDO trip.
“There are 108 varma points in our body. We can increase our energy levels by activating the right points. In vilangu varmam, the points in the shoulder region are activated by pressing with fingers in a given manner. In the adapakala varmam, the rib cage points are stimulated. These activations improved respiration and lung capacity”, he said.
Next: Varma kalai comes in handy for high altitude training
A member of the varma kalai team that was taken by the DRDO for training the jawans to manage in crisis situations at high altitudes told DC that the ‘pupils’ were excited at the results.“They had simulated high altitudes, right up to 12,000 feet for us to carry out our training with the jawans numbering about 20. They were excited that the two varmams we taught them enabled them to survive at zero-oxygen level up to two minutes in the absence of oxygen gear, and that they could perform this with their bare fingers to save life in an emergency”, the varma expert said, requesting anonymity.
He said the DRDO planned to take the experiment to the next level and popularize it for regular practice and use. Coimbatore-based Arts Research Institute’s advisor N Shanmugom, an expert in varma, was the key person who selected these two varmams and ensured that there were no ill effects during the experiment.
It is likely that this initiative could extend to tackling some other emergencies faced by jawans by using appropriate varma kalai techniques, “but only after proper study and adequate training under experts”, said the team member.
Varma kalai is a highly advanced form of martial art for both healing (vaidyam murai) a patient and harming (vadham) an enemy by triggering with bare fingers the 108 varma points located at the nerves, veins, muscles and tendons, besides organs and bones.
It may be recalled that Kamal Haasan had punished corrupt people by using varma kalai in his hit film ‘Indian’.According to legend, Lord Shiva taught varma kalai to his son Muruga who in turn passed it on to sage Agastya, foremost of the Siddhars.
Agathiar taught the art to other Siddhars and even wrote treaties on it in Tamil. The kalai is said to date back to the times of the Sangam literature about 4,000 years ago.
A team of Varma Kalai experts from Tamil Nadu was recently flown to New Delhi by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) to teach selected portions of the martial-healing art to the jawans for increasing their oxygen intake even at high altitudes.About 20 jawans underwent intense training in two varmams—vilangu and adapakala—from three Varma experts and practised them for about a month to register big improvement in breathing easy during crisis situations at high altitudes. The practice sessions were held in DRDO lab that simulated attitudes up to 12,000 ft in the room and it was found that the jawans could manage up to two minutes even in zero-oxygen conditions.
“The crisis situations include lack of oxygen gear or depletion of oxygen in the cylinders the jawans carry while moving in high altitudes”, explained Dr S Yoganathan, orthopedic surgeon from Perunthurai medical college (Erode district), who had accompanied the varma exponents on the DRDO trip.
“There are 108 varma points in our body. We can increase our energy levels by activating the right points. In vilangu varmam, the points in the shoulder region are activated by pressing with fingers in a given manner. In the adapakala varmam, the rib cage points are stimulated. These activations improved respiration and lung capacity”, he said.
Next: Varma kalai comes in handy for high altitude training
A member of the varma kalai team that was taken by the DRDO for training the jawans to manage in crisis situations at high altitudes told DC that the ‘pupils’ were excited at the results.“They had simulated high altitudes, right up to 12,000 feet for us to carry out our training with the jawans numbering about 20. They were excited that the two varmams we taught them enabled them to survive at zero-oxygen level up to two minutes in the absence of oxygen gear, and that they could perform this with their bare fingers to save life in an emergency”, the varma expert said, requesting anonymity.
He said the DRDO planned to take the experiment to the next level and popularize it for regular practice and use. Coimbatore-based Arts Research Institute’s advisor N Shanmugom, an expert in varma, was the key person who selected these two varmams and ensured that there were no ill effects during the experiment.
It is likely that this initiative could extend to tackling some other emergencies faced by jawans by using appropriate varma kalai techniques, “but only after proper study and adequate training under experts”, said the team member.
Varma kalai is a highly advanced form of martial art for both healing (vaidyam murai) a patient and harming (vadham) an enemy by triggering with bare fingers the 108 varma points located at the nerves, veins, muscles and tendons, besides organs and bones.
It may be recalled that Kamal Haasan had punished corrupt people by using varma kalai in his hit film ‘Indian’.According to legend, Lord Shiva taught varma kalai to his son Muruga who in turn passed it on to sage Agastya, foremost of the Siddhars.
Agathiar taught the art to other Siddhars and even wrote treaties on it in Tamil. The kalai is said to date back to the times of the Sangam literature about 4,000 years ago.
