Silambam, a kind of staff fencing, is a modern and scientific martial art of Tamil Nadu. The kings which ruled in Tamil Nadu, including Pandya, Chola and Chera, had promoted it during their reign. The reference to the sale of silambam staves, pearls, swords and armour to foreign traders can be found in a Tamil literature known as Silappadikaram, which dates back to second century A.D. The silambam bamboo staff was one of the most popular trading items with the traders and visitors from Rome, Greece and Egypt. This art is believed to have travelled to Malaysia from its originating State, where it is a famous sport apart from being a mode of self-defence.
The long-staff was used for both mock fighting and self-defence.
This was one of the highly organized and popular games of the state since the first century A.D. The record of its origin can be traced to divine sources, for example, Lord Murugan (in Tamil mythology) and sage Agastya are credited with the creation of Silambam. During the Vedic age, training was imparted to young men as a ritual and for an emergency. From a pure defence art, Silambam has
transformed into a combat exercise.
There are four different kinds of staves used in this art. The first, called ‘torch silambam’, has lighted balls of cloth at one end of the staff, second produces a sonorous swishing sound, the third is a nonelastic staff that gives clattering sounds and the fourth is quite short yet powerful staff. As far as the dress is concerned, the players wear langots of different colours, turbans, sleeveless vests, canvas shoes, and chest guard and use wickerwork shields.
There are different kinds of techniques that are used in Silambam including swift movements of the foot, use of both hands to wield staff, use of thrust, cut, chop and sweep to achieve mastery and development of force, momentum and precision at different levels of the body (head, shoulder, hip and leg level). The player must be trained to diffuse an uncontrollable mob by using strokes like snake hits, monkey hits, hawk hits and also deflect stones thrown by them.
There are three ways to win at Silambam contest. The first involves dispossessing a player of his staff. The second requires counting of the number of ‘touches’ (that are indicated by the number of markings on the body of the opponent) made by one contestant on the other. The third is by judging the skill shown by each contestant in protecting money pouch that is either kept at or between contestant’s feet. The contestant who succeeds in marking the forehead of his opponent wins the contest.
