VADAKARA, Kerala -- Seated in her mud and tiled-roof training center filled with swords, shields, daggers and spears hanging on the walls, Meenakshi Amma, a grandmother and master swordswoman, is a picture of poise and equanimity. In a corner of the spacious, high-ceilinged room with slit windows, a few students -- mainly young women -- are practicing martial art moves with wooden staffs.
"Please continue and I'll be with you shortly," Amma instructs the group in Malayalam, the language of India's southern state of Kerala, as we squat on the ochre mud floor. At first glance, it is hard to believe that this elegant, sari-clad 79-year-old woman has been a feisty proponent and practitioner of Kalaripayattu (also known as Kalari), an ancient martial art that originated in Kerela, for four decades.
