ALL INDIA SILAMBAM FEDERATION

SILAMBAM is a traditional stick martial art from South India. South India has a rich culture of many thousands years, at least inheritated since the Dravidian empires.

The nowaday Tamil culture and people still have highly valuable gems to share, amongst them is Silambam. Though fighting with sticks is universal, it has reached there a summit in technics intricacy, complexity and efficiency.

The state of Tamil Nadu is considered to be the cradle of modern and scientific staff fencing, popularly known in Tamil as Silambam.

The Pandya kings ruling in Tamil Nadu promoted Silambam fencing, as did their Chola and Chera counterparts. Silapathiharam Tamil literature, dating back to 2nd century A.D., refers to the sale of silamabam staves, swords, pearls and armour to foreign traders. The ancient trading centre at Madurai city, renowned globally, was said to be thronged by Romans, Greeks, Egyptians among others who had regular sea trade with the ancient Dravidian kings. The silambam staff was one of the martial art weapons, that was in great demand with the visitors.

The use of the long staff for self - defence or mock - fighting was a highly organised game in the state as early as the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. In the Vedic age, young men were imparted training to defend themselves with staves, both as a ritual and an emergency. The staves wielded by ace fencers were given distinctive names, and treated with reverence. Some records trace the origin of this art to a divine source - Lord Muruga, and within the Tamil mythological framework, sage Agasthya is also credited with the genesis of Silambam. Silambam is believed to have travelled from Tamil Nadu to Malaysia, where it is now a popular recreational sport and also a mode of self - defence.