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One sad thing about these ancient martial arts is, they were great for the battle conditions of the ancient era, but they were not sufficiently improved for mod

One sad thing about these ancient martial arts is, they were great for the battle conditions of the ancient era, but they were not sufficiently improved for modern situations. I don't know much about angampora in particular, but Kalaripayattu (which is a related martial art from Kerala) has sadly become more of a performing art than martial art these days.

RajuVarghese 5y ago
They could follow the path taken by judo and karate and become a sport (ie mock fighting) or a form of self-defense. That will include meditation, mental control and confidence-building which are all benefits. The original purpose of hand-to-hand combat will not be of much use in these times.
watwut 5y ago
In think they performing art is adaptation for modern situation. We dont need to strangle people or gauge their eyes out anymore in fight. We dont have warlord clans fighting over influence nor trying to eliminate other clans. And where those exist, they use guns. Martial arts as they existes were attempts to become as deadly as possible. The fight was about killing or seriously harming the other - stuff that leads to prison now.
- chakkepolja 5y ago
  Well there's Krav Maga. Kalaripayattu / Silambam / Angampora could have been more skewed towards armed combat with the weapons of that era, which is fair. But martial arts have a place for self defence.
Delk 5y ago
Another reason why martial arts have evolved into sports or towards other non-combative priorities is that practising martial arts in an actual combative way is harsh and rough. Most people don't really want that, at least not on a level that might be required for practising and testing actual combat effectiveness. I suppose it might be possible for a martial art or tradition to be both actually martial and mainstream if it's part of the local culture e.g. for a significant proportion of men to engage in rough and actually violent martial arts and events. My perspective might be limited, but I don't think most modern societies do that.

RajuVarghese 5y ago

They could follow the path taken by judo and karate and become a sport (ie mock fighting) or a form of self-defense. That will include meditation, mental control and confidence-building which are all benefits. The original purpose of hand-to-hand combat will not be of much use in these times.

watwut 5y ago

In think they performing art is adaptation for modern situation. We dont need to strangle people or gauge their eyes out anymore in fight. We dont have warlord clans fighting over influence nor trying to eliminate other clans. And where those exist, they use guns. Martial arts as they existes were attempts to become as deadly as possible. The fight was about killing or seriously harming the other - stuff that leads to prison now.

chakkepolja 5y ago
Well there's Krav Maga. Kalaripayattu / Silambam / Angampora could have been more skewed towards armed combat with the weapons of that era, which is fair. But martial arts have a place for self defence.

Delk 5y ago

Another reason why martial arts have evolved into sports or towards other non-combative priorities is that practising martial arts in an actual combative way is harsh and rough. Most people don't really want that, at least not on a level that might be required for practising and testing actual combat effectiveness. I suppose it might be possible for a martial art or tradition to be both actually martial and mainstream if it's part of the local culture e.g. for a significant proportion of men to engage in rough and actually violent martial arts and events. My perspective might be limited, but I don't think most modern societies do that.