About the Training

The training is taught in English. German translation is available.

The Kalari.org 60h Practitioner Training will be taught be Kalari.org founder and Senior Teacher Kai Hitzer. It is the beginning of your personal journey into Kalarippayat. Kalari was originally created as martial art and healing art, but it’s unique psychophysical approach to human training make it of timeless and immeasurably value to anyone looking for a tool for holistic health, personal transformation and growth. This Training is perfect for any Yogi, mover, martial artist, dancer or any other practitioner looking to immerse into one of the original root arts of holistic human movement.
The prime goal of the Practitioner Training is to provide you with a solid foundation and the understanding necessary to create and safely sustain your self practice. It will give you the tools to practice alone or in a group with confidence, direction and safety. Completing it will also make you eligible for participation in any open Kalari class, advanced workshops and the upcoming 200h Kalari.org Teacher Training. The Practitioner Training includes the following:

› Cheruthozil: Simple and powerful psychophysical warm-up and conditioning exercises, including groundwork and animal movements
› Vadivu: The shamanistic Animal Postures of the Kalari tradition
› Kal Ettupu: The nadi-cleansing leg exercises and their basic combinations
› Kalari Yoga Vanakkam: Intro to the Sun Salutation of the Kalari tradition
› Puthara & Kalari Vandanam („Salutation Form“) and Kalari Yoga Vandanam („Kalari Yoga Salutation“)
› Meippayat: Arapukai I, Water Form and introduction to Fire Form („Female Form“)
› Kaikuttippayat: Pilaithangi I („Male Form“)
› Kolthari: Wooden Weapons – Kettukari I (Longstick) and introduction to Cheruvadi (Shortstick)
› Creating a self-practice: Learn how to create, scale and maintaining your own personal practice
› Background information:Learn about the culture, history and philosophy of Kalari Mura („the Kalari Way“)
› Fundamental psychophysical principles: Recognize and understand the core principles of the practice
› Exclusive Practitioner Manual: Take home your pictured manual with key information about the postures, sequences, terminology and key principles of your practice

Week I „Embodying the Animal Spirit“

The first week of the Kalari.org Practitioner Training covers the core foundation of the Kalari practice up to the Salutation Form. It includes the fundamental warm-ups, groundwork, leg exercises, animal postures, as well as an introduction to Kalari Yoga Vanakkam, the Sun Saluation of the Kalari Yoga tradition and the silent Kalari Yoga Salutation Form. This is where we lay foundation. The entrance in the east of a traditional pit-style Kalari is sometimes called Gaja Mukha, the elephant face. Three and a half steps down into the pit, a powerful hymn to Kundalini, that which „resides in the pit“. This is where your journey into Kalarippayat begins.

“Your first encounter with the Kalari practice will be Chezho Tozhil (warm-up excercies), Groundwork, Kal Etuppu (leg exercises) and Vadivu, the shamanic animal postures of the Kalari tradition, which constitute the psychophysical foundation of the Kalari practice. We will spend time here, also looking in animal postures and variations which are rarely practiced, and go into detail on the basics, including an extensive adjustment clinic. With this foundation rooting in your system, we are now ready to learn the first sequence: The Puthara and Kalari Vandanam, also simply known as Salutation Form. The Vandanam has been opening the space for Kalari practices and ritual duels for millennia, its practitioners utilizing its subtle power to awaken and balance their energy and liberate themselves from fear and other worldly attachments. Your journey will continue with a session focusing on Kalari Yoga Vanakkam, the unique Sun Salutation of the Kalari Tradition, and we will be closing with Kalari Yoga Vandanam, the silent Salutation of the Kalari Yoga tradition. We will finish Practitioner Training I with a final QA and a closing circle, providing you with all the necessary tools and information to sustain and continue your personal journey into Kalarippayat.”

Week II „When the Body becomes all Eyes“ 

The second week takes you deep into the heart of Vadakkan Sampradayam, the Northern Style of Kalarippayat. This Training will lead you all the way from physical sequencing in the Male and Female Form to the first long- and short stick forms. It completes your initial journey into Kalarippayat, making you a Kalari.org certified Practitioner and opening the door for future immersion and personal growth.

“After checking in and revisiting the foundations we laid during the first week, we will start to take our first steps in the Male Form, Pilaitangi, and tap into what the scriptures call “transformative fury“. Practiced with a one-pointed focus, it is not just a physical form, but a fierce invitation for our Kundalini to rise, as well a tremendously powerful tool of personal transformation.With the energy awakenend, we are now ready to put it into action in the Female Form, Arapukai, expanding our senses outwards into a state of maximum sensory awareness. Here you learn how to put the energy previously created in the male form into creative action, losing and regaining focus, jumping, crouching low and rising high. The Arapukai is not just a set of techniques, it tells the ancient story of cosmic creation.After realigning and energizing the body it has become time to meet a new set of teachers: Weapons. Becoming extensions of our bodies on a non-dualistic sense, every weapon in Kalari is associated with certain attributes, which are taught through partner practice. Entering a state of Yoga and cultivating steadfastness and detachment, this practice is a gatekeeper and marks an important transition into the higher stages of the practice.Kalari practitioners are called Abhyassi, „the repeating one“. During the last lessons of the training we will focus on integrating everything you have learned during your 60 hour journey. Now it culminates and comes together in its traditional order and tempo, providing you with a taste of how a traditional Kalari practice feels like. We will let our bodies do the talking and cultivate the flow. Surrender, and maybe you will get a taste of what it truly feels like „when the body becomes all eyes“. We will finish the training with a final QA and closing circle, providing you with all the necessary tools and information to sustain and continue your personal journey into Kalarippayat.”

https://kalari.org/
https://www.facebook.com/kalari.org/

Your Teachers

Kai Hitzer

Kai Hitzer

The founder and director of Kalari.org, Kai discovered Kalari in early 2004 while looking for effective exercise to help his recovery from a severe slip disc syndrom. inspired by this experience, he embarked on his first 6-months trip to Kerala in Southern India, starting his studies under Kalari Grandmaster Gurukkal C.M. Sherif of Kannur.

Deva Kamila

Deva Kamila

Deva is a proud mother of five, an ex-track and field athlete and a professional relaxation therapist and bodyworker by her initial background. She has been a meditator and body-worker for almost 20 years and is the founder of ArtofNoMind, a  holistic system of Kalarippayat, deep bodywork, meditation, nutrition and transformative life coaching.
„Relaxation is a matter of being, not a matter of knowing“ is her motto. Deva’s personal path felt complete when she encountered Kalari in 2015. It became part of her daily practice, and she started teaching herself in late 2017.
Her work knows no segregation, but her current work focuses on the empowerment of today’s women in the KalariWomenTribe and her Holistic Woman Workshops, that started to blossom in major German cities like Hamburg, Berlin and Munich. She is the strong women behind Kalari.org and is regularly assisting Kai in his larger workshops and trainings.
Deva on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artofnomind/

Booking and Registration

Training Location

Center of Gravity Talstr. 19 20359 Hamburg, Germany

Travel

To travel from Hamburg Airport to the Center of Gravity is a 34min ride with S1 Train to “Reeperbahn” station which will cost 3,20€. When you get off the train look for the exit stairs to “Talstraße” and take a left into “Talstraße”. After a 100m walk the studio will be in a backyard on the left side behind a metal gate. Use http://www.hvv.de/en/ to get information about connection times.

Food and Accommodation

We offer tea and snacks during the training. The Center of Gravity offers places to sleep, which will be available in return for donations to the Center. There are many cozy spots to choose from, including a dais in the entrance area, as well as a separated corner normally reserved for bodywork and relaxation. The Center features a small tea kitchen, which is not suitable for full-fledged cooking, as well as two bathrooms and a shower.