BODHIDHARMA - THE TAMIL GUY, WHO SPOKE TAMIL LANGUAGE: AN IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE HISTORY OF ALL MARTIAL ARTS

Today, we are goin to see about the Most Important person in the History of Martial Arts of the World.

BODHIDHARMA - THE TAMIL GUY: FATHER OF ALL MARTIAL ARTS

He is none other than our BODHIDHARMA.

BODHIDHARMA IS A TAMIL GUY, WHO LIVED IN TAMIL NADU, SPOKE TAMIL LANGUAGE AND LEARNT THE CULTURE, TRADITION AND MARTIAL ARTS OF THE ANCIENT TAMILS.

Bodhidharma was born as the last son of the Royal Tamil Pallava Kingdom's King Suganda,

From his young age, Bodhidharma had breathing problems.

But, being from a Kings family, he had to learn Various types of Traditional Arts such as Meditation, Martial Arts, Medicine, Yoga etc which were the prestigious tradition of the Tamils.

In Tamil Nadu, the main people of importance were the 18 Siddhars.

The Siddhars tradition were and are still followed in Tamil Nadu.

Vaasi Yoga and Meditation were of utmost importance along with Martial Arts training like Kuthu Varisai (Empty Hand Fighting) and Silambam (Weapon based Fighting) systems.

Since Bodhidharma was bon to a King's family, It was necessary for him to train in these Martial Arts.

So from his childhood, Bodhidharma learnt Kuthu Varisai, Silambam and Varma Kalai.

Bodhidharma studied Buddhism under the 27th Patricarch of Buddhism named "Prajnatara"

In the Chinese Movie titled "BODHIDHARMA: THE FOUNDER OF SHAOLIN KUNG FU", you see Pranjatara (Bodhidharma's Master titled as "Puti Tara" and Bodhidharma named as "Puti Dharma")

In Tamil the term "Podhi" - means "To Preach" and "Dharma" - means "Charity".

This is how Bodhaidharma got this name in his own Mother Tongue Tamil.

Prajnatara had asked Bodhidharma to go to China after his death, and preach Buddhism there; and also made him the 28th Patriarch of Chen or Zen Buddhism.

THIS IS THE REASON WHY CHEN (IN CHINESE) AND (ZEN BUDDHISM) ARE PRACTICED ALONG WITH KUNG FU IN CHINA AND KARATE IN JAPAN RESPECTIVELY.

At the age of 67, after Prajnatara died, Bodhidharma started to travel towards China, and reached there in the next 3 Years time.

There was a king who had constructed Buddha Temples and statues all over the china.

He was the Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty, he had to invite Bodhidharma to his province and the conversation went between them was not so good.

The King asked Bodhidharma, "What would he get for doing all of these service that he has done for Buddhism".

Bodhidharma answered "You will directly go to Hell". The king was not able to accept to the answer.

The king asked Bodhidharma; "The  monks with me said that he will be reaching Heaven for doing such a precious activity". Bodhidharma said that they are cheating you and said you will directly go to hell.

In this conversation, Bodhidharma had to turn his back to The King and went to the moutain named "Mount Sung" and started his search for the next patriarch of Zen Buddhism where he had spent 9 years and created "Zen Buddhism".

Meditation Cave of Bodhidharma, The Tamil Prince: Father of Shaolin Kung Fu

Bodhidharma being the 1st Patriarch of Zen Buddhism had to go through 9 years to find next patriarch; Finally it was Huike; who stood for 24 hours in the snowfall and cut his arms to show his willingness to learn Buddhism.

He asked Bodhidharma to turn to him or he would cut his head off. Bodhidharma turned to him and said there will not be any necessary and you are the one I am searching for these many days.

Bodhidharma took him as his Assistant and did the mind transition of Zen Buddhism. Huike is the 2nd Patriarch of Zen Buddhism.  

After his meditation Bodhi Dharma saw that the monks were weak and unable to perform the rigorous meditations he expected that Buddhist Monks should be practicing.

Whilst meditating they often fell asleep or were very restless and were not achieving inner calm or peace (a state required to reach Enlightenment, that for which all Buddhist strive!). 

Bodhi Dharma countered this weakness by teaching them moving exercises, designed to both enhance Chi flow and build strength.

These sets, modified from Tamil Nadu’s Yoga (Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga) which was learnt by Bodhi Dharma in childhood.

This style of Yoga was mainly followed by royal families.

This gave raise to the legandary art of Kung Fu, this art was based on the movements of the 18 main animals in Indo-Chinese iconography (e.g., tiger, deer, leopard, cobra, snake, dragon, etc.).

This is the exercise which finally became the Shaolin Kung Fu. 

BODHIDHARMA: THE TAMIL PRINCE FROM KANCHI CITY - FATHER OF SHAOLIN KUNG FU AND EASTERN MARTIAL ARTS:

Bodhidharma who was born for Tamil parents who lived and Ruled the Pallava Kingdom from Kanchi city is the father of Eastern Martial Arts.

Statue of Bodhidharma in Shaolin Temple, China

This is the statue of Bodhidharma present in the Entrance of the Shaolin Temple in China.

Before starting Martial Arts classes in China, Bodhidharma is worshipped by the Shaolin Monks.

For a while, that is, from before a few years, there was a Martial Art from a neighboring state of Tamil Nadu, called Kerala there was a Martial Art called Kalaripayattu, which had gained popularity by the practitioners stating that "Kalaripayattu is the Mother of All Martial Arts".

THIS FALSE PRIDE OF KALARIPAYATTU PRACTITIONERS HAS BEEN DEBUNKED NOW...

So long the Birth Place of Bodhidharma was a debate.

Though it has been known that Bodhidharma was from India, from Where in India was an unanswered question, and this opportunity was made use of by the Kalaripayattu practitioners of Kerala who started claiming that Bodhidharma was from Kerala, and he learnt Kalaripayattu martial art.

BUT - A CHINESE RESEARCHER ON THE HISTORY OF MARTIAL ARTS NAMED TANLIN WHO LIVED AROUND THE 6TH CENTURY AD IN HIS DOCUMENT WRITES STATING THAT

"BODHIDHARMA WAS A SOUTH INDIAN OF EASTERN ORIGIN. HE WAS THE THIRD SON OF A PALLAVA KING, HIS AMBITION LAY ON THE MAHAYANA PATH AND SO HE PUT ASIDE HIS LAYMAN'S ROBE FOR A MONK'S ROBE. LAMENTING THE DECLINE OF TRUE TEACHINGS IN THE OUTLANDS, HE SUBSEQUENTLY CROSSED DISTANT MOUNTAINS AND SEAS TRAVELLING AND PROPAGATING THE TEACHINGS IN HEN AND WEI'

This is the First ever record with the name Bodhidharma found in China.

THEN A JAPANESE RESEARCHER NAMED PROF. TSUMO KAMBE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO,

When he was researching for the BIRTH PLACE OF BODHIDHARMA, among the documents published just after the Tang Dynasty in 907 AD, records the BIRTH PLACE OF BODHIDHARMA WITH THESE TWO CHINESE CHARACTERS. 

香 - KANG

至 - ZEE

Literally the name of the BIRTH PLACE OF BODHIDHARMA IS "KANG-ZEE", which when under even more elite Research was found to be "KANCHI".

IT IS NO DOUBT THAT THIS ANCIENT CAPITAL OF THE PALLAVA KINGDOM WAS "KANCHI CITY"

Today, this city is known as KANCHEEPURAM. In Tamil "PURAM" means "CITY".

ALSO TO BE NOTED IS THAT KANCHIPURAM, WAS FORMERLY KNOWN ONLY AS "KANCHI" 

Comparing both, The Research of Tanlin (Chinese) and Tsumo Kambe (Japanese) people 

THE FACT THAT KANCHI CITY, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL CITY OF THE TAML PALLAVA KINGDOM IS THE BIRTH PLACE OF BODHIDHARMA.

It is no doubt that Bodhidharma being a King's son, MUST have been born in the Capital of the Kingdom, which has also been proved by two different people of Non Indian Origin and Source.

THUS, THE FACT THAT BODHIDHARMA WAS BORN IN TAMIL NADU, AND SPOKE TAMIL LANGUAGE AND LEARNT THE TRADITION OF THE TAMILS AND THE MARTIAL ARTS OF KUTHU VARISAI, SILAMBAM AND VARMA KALAI HAS BEEN NAILED WITH SO MANY PROOFS.

TILL TODAY, KUTHU VARISAI, SILAMBAM AND VARMA KALAI ARE BEING PRACTICED IN TAMIL NADU - THE BIRTH PLACE OF BODHIDHARMA: FATHER OF EASTERN MARTIAL ARTS.

After knowing these facts and the True Roots of Martial Arts from Tamil Nadu, there was a movie taken titled "KUNG FU PANDA".

Now, we are going to see how this movie explains the Origin of Shaolin Kung Fu Martial Arts from Kanchipuram

Kung Fu Panda ad with Kanchi Temple as Background

It is interesting to note that the Movie titled "KUNG FU PANDA" advertises Kung Fu Panda with the Temple at Kanchi at its background.

THIS CLEARLY DEPICTS THAT THE SHAOLIN KUNG FU CAME FROM THIS PLACE.

Kuthu Varisai of Tamil Nadu (Left) and Kung Fu Panda (Right)

The Kung Fu Panda depicted with a stance present in Kuthu Varisai CLEARLY represents that Shaolin Kung Fu IS  from Kuthu Varisai of Tamil Nadu.

Animal Styles depicted in Kung Fu Panda are the same 5 Animal styles present in Kuthu Varisai of Tamil Nadu

The above poster depicts 5 different animals, which actually represents the 5 different animal styles used in Kuthu Varisai, from which the Shaolin Kung Fu was derived.

Bear Stance of Kuthu Varisai (Left) and Horse Stance of Chinese Kung Fu (Right)

The Motion Picture Kung Fu Panda in which the Kung Fu Panda stands with a Horse Stance of Chinese Kung Fu.

The Horse Stance of Chinese Kung Fu is from the Bear Stance of Kuthu Varisai which was the Martial Art that the Tamil Sage Bodhidharma introduced to the Chinese Monks.

THUS, IT IS CLEARLY EVIDENT THAT THESE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CHINESE FIGHTING SYSTEMS WERE INTRODUCED TO THEM BY THE TAMIL MONK BODHIDHARMA WHO TOOK MARTIAL ARTS FROM TAMIL NADU TO CHINA.

THIS CLEARLY PROVES THE EMPTY HAND FIGHTING SYSTEMS WERE FROM THE KUTHU VARISAI MARTIAL ART PRACTICED IN TAMIL NADU.

After learning the True History of Chinese Martial Arts, the Shaolin and other Chinese Martila Art monks are regularly making visits to Tamil Nadu, the birth place of Bodhidharma who taught these monks the devastating arts of Varma Kalai, Kuthu Varisai and Silambam.

Here is a short Documentary on Chinese Monks in Tamil Nadu to learn the Original Martial Arts that Bodhidharma taught them.

WHY KALARIPAYATTU IS NOT THE MARTIAL ART THAT BODHIDHARMA LEARNT?

Well, after reading so far, I am sure people would like to raise a question, especially those who have been thinking that Kalaripayattu is the Mother of All Martial Arts.

I recently happened to come across two videos in YouTube, from another blog post.

Here are those videos for you.

Even from the two videos above, I have found many inaccurate combinations made by the editor of these videos.

Here are these differences for you.

SHAOLIN KUNG – FU	KALARIPAYATTU
It  is the martial art with origins dating back to the 5th – 6thCentury AD.	It is widely considered to be a Battlefield Excercise that was  practiced around the 13th century AD.
It is a practical martial art, short straight and powerful lines of attack with a solid stance, Not overtly graceful but highly effective.	It is more graceful and aesthetically pleasing with a lot of  circular movements, extremely low, deep stances and high leaping attacks.
It’s practice has a very pronounced sparring component.	Practice is limited to heavily choreographed sequences till years into training.
It places more emphasis on unarmed combat, weapons come in after one has mastered the unarmed aspect.	It teaches unarmed combat only after weapons training is completed.
It has its origins in Chinese Shaolin Temple and is still practiced there.	Kalari is a martial art from Kerala and is still widely practiced there.
It is practiced in the open at different locations and terrain to mimic multiple combat scenarios.	It is practiced in a roofed kalari which has an altar and fixed dimensions.
It has its base in the science of Chinese medicine, WHICH IS A DERIVATIVE OF Siddha Medical System.	Kalari which has a healing bent to it is based on the science of Ayurveda.
Kung Fu Masters are called Sifu	Kalari masters are called Gurukals.
Kung Fu masters teach their students combat techniques and quickly the students then develop their own individual styles of executing these techniques and perfect them according to their own strengths and weaknesses.	Kalari students have to follow the exact syllabus, sequences and techniques step by step and without variation for years until they are told they are masters themselves. Only then can they develop their own style.
Kung Fu does not have elaborate rituals.	Kalari is heavily ritualistic.
Kung Fu is a combat science.	Kalari is a battlefield art.
Kung Fu is practices by Shaolin Temple monks, who are Buddhists.	It is practiced by Brahmins, who are Hindus, and the Kalari serves as a Hindu Temple.

Kindly go through these differences with Kung Fu and Kalari Documentaries availble online, and you will know....!!!!

THE DIFFERENCES MENTIONED HERE ARE IN NO WAY TO DEGRADE THE MARTIAL ART - KALARIPAYATTU.

BUT, FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE TRUE AND ORIGINAL MARTIAL ARTS HISTORY...!!!!

AS I SAID BEFORE, NAKED BRAIN TRUTH --- IS NOT HATE SPEECH...!!!!

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF MOTHER OF ALL MARTIAL ARTS...????

Let me tell you, if you consider ANY Martial Art to be a Mother of Some other Martial Art, then the practitioner of the Mother Martial Art MUST be able to defeat the practitioner of the other Martial Arts in a REAL TIME COMBAT.

Being a person from Madurai myself, I happened to know about a team called Manja Varmakkalai Team lead by Aasaan R.Rajendran.

This team who practice KUTHU VARISAI, SILAMBAM AND VARMA ATI in combinations.

There were OPEN KNOCK OUT TOURNAMENTS conducted in Thrissur, Kerala I think between 2004 - 2007.

AN OPEN KNOCK OUT MATCH IS ONE WHERE A PARTICIPANT IS SUPPOSED TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT SAYING THAT NO ONE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE, EVEN IF DEATH OCCURS TO HIM.

AN OPEN TOURNAMENT IS A DO OR DIE MATCH.

AN OPEN TOURNAMENT IS ONE WHERE ALL MARTIAL ART STYLES PRACTITIONERS TAKE PART, IRRESPECTIVE OF THE MARTIAL ART THEY PRACTICE.

This Manja Varmakkalai team from Madurai DID KNOCK OUT THE PRACTITIONERS OF ALL OTHER MARTIAL ARTS IN THE TOURNAMENT.

MANY OF THE PARTICIPANTS WHO SPARRED WITH THE MANJA VARMAKKALAI TEAM RESIGNED THE MATCH.

There was one instance where Master Rajendran himself says in a Documentary stating that 

"A practitioner of Kalaripayattu was struck in a Varmam point, and was about to die. The Kalari Gurukkals asked the refrees to put him aside, as he was going to die and it was a Knock Out match, and that he had signed an agreement."

But, our Master Rajendran did NOT want him to die, and used a Thiravukol Varmam murai on the victim.

After some time, when he was alright and came back to his senses, he came and fell down at Master Rajendran's feet and told him "You were the one who saved me" it seems.

Here is the Documentary video for you 

THE MANJA VARMAKKALAI TEAM HAS WON KUNG FU, KARATE, JUDO, JUJUTSU, TAEKWONDO, MUAY THAI, KALARIPAYATTU, ANGAMPORA AND MANY OTHER MARTIAL ART STYLISTS WHO TOOK PART IN THE OPEN KNOCK OUT TOURNAMENT.

THUS, IT HAS BEEN PROVED THAT KUTHU VARISAI, SILAMBAM AND VARMA KALAI ARE THE MOTHER OF ALL MARTIAL ARTS.

Now, Since Chinese Buddhist Monks have found the True History of Their Shaolin Kung Fu, they are more interested in learning Kuthu Varisai, Silambam and Varma Kalai MORE than Tamils themselves.

I THINK MORE THAN THE TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT AND THE TAMIL PEOPLE WHO HAVE LESS INTEREST IN THEIR OWN TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTS, THE CHINESE MONKS WHO HAVE A REAL THIRST TO FIND OUT AND LEARN THE ORIGINAL MARTIAL ARTS THAT ARE THE MOTHER OF ALL MARTIAL ARTS WILL SOON LEARN VARMA KALAI, KUTHU VARISAI AND SILAMBAM AND PROMOTE THEM THAN THE TAMILS.

I ENCOURAGE ALL MY READERS, BE IT PARENTS, STUDENTS AND CHILDREN TO FIND OUT LOCAL TEACHERS IN THEIR AREA FOR VARMA KALAI, KUTHU VARISAI AND SILAMBAM AND LEARN OUR OWN TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTS AND PROMOTE OUR OWN TRADITION TO OUR FOLLOWING GENRATIONS.



THANK YOU,


BENJAMIN FURROWS.