Kalaripayattu routines help women shape up by providing full-body workouts

It’s a great two-in-one deal for women. At one level, they learn self-defence and at another, they can burn up an amazing 1,000 calories in just over an hour. Combat training is the hot, new mantra for women — not just to protect themselves but to stay in shape as it helps tone muscles, improve flexibility, build stamina and concentration.

Whether it’s the Israeli Krav Maga or Kerala’s Kalaripayattu, kickboxing or the Thai Muay Thai, women are turning to martial arts and combat sports to get fighting fit.

According to trainers, the number of women joining martial arts and combat sport classes (hitherto largely male dominated) has increased significantly over the years. While training for self-defence is one of the main reasons for this rising interest, many are signing up for the fitness benefits attached.

At the All India Pro Muay Thai and Kickboxing Association, Chennai, the number of women learning the combat sport, Muay Thai, has gone up from six to 26 in the last six months. “Unlike male students, women don’t want to fight in the ring. Many have signed up because of Muay Thai’s reputation as a calorie buster,” says proprietor and trainer J. Keshav.

“Women of all ages join our classes not just to learn self-defence techniques but because a 90-minute karate session can burn 1,000 calories,” says Premjit Sen, chief technical director, All India Seishinkai Shito Ryu Karate Do Federation, which has more than 60 centres in Calcutta alone.

With its gruelling cardio and sparring, karate prepares women for self defence while toning the body

His 90-minute karate classes begin with stretching exercises done with a partner followed by cardio, karate training that includes sparring, and ends with cooling down yogic exercises and meditation. “With women, we first focus on strengthening muscles with stretching exercises. We also give them fewer repetitions as compared to men,” says Sen.

“Women are more interested in losing weight, which is why they are drawn to high calorie-burning activities like kickboxing, while men focus on building muscle and weight-training,” says fitness expert Kiran Sawhney. She adds that kickboxing (which burns 800 calories an hour) is more appealing to women since it’s a bit like an aerobic workout when performed with music.

Sawhney has about 15 women, aged between 16 and 56, kickboxing their way to fitness at Fitnesolution, Delhi. While kickboxing involves kicks and punches, Muay Thai adds elbow- and knee-strikes and raises the bar to 900 calories burned in each one-hour session. It’s a rigorous cycle of three minutes of combat training followed by a minute’s rest.

Krav Maga, the combat system developed in Israel, is also catching up fast. Krav Maga India, which has centres in the four metros, Bangalore and Hyderabad, trains above 200 women every year. Each one-hour class — power-packed with warm-up exercises, running, stretching, power drills like crawling on all fours and combat training — helps shed 600-800 calories.

Udit Bagga, director, Krav Maga India, civilian sector, says training the lower body is a crucial part of the classes. Krav Maga India charges either Rs 2,000 or Rs 3,000 a month, depending on the number of classes taken.

The elbow-and-knee strikes in Muay Thai burn up to 900 calories in a one-hour session

But, burning calories isn’t the only positive effect of practising martial arts and combat sports. They also increase flexibility, strengthen the back muscles and tone the body. For instance, Kalaripayattu has a number of movements like the mei payattu that includes jumps and kicks and works the legs, waist and hips.

The rigorous sessions of kicking and punching in kickboxing help in weight loss; (below) Tai Chi helps improve concentration and the reflexes while stretching the muscles

“The use of weapons in these martial arts demands focus and agility combined with flexibility and poise,” says Kalaripayattu instructor Krishna Pratap, who trains more than 25 women at the Parashurama Vallabhatta Kalari Academy, Bangalore. The training regimen, he says, is decided by the fitness levels of the person. The fee structure varies from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 a month.

Balance is the name of the game in the Chinese martial art, Tai Chi. The feet are always more than shoulder width apart while the body is lowered to lower the centre of gravity, making it difficult to topple the person. “Tai Chi improves concentration, co-ordination and reflexes while giving the muscles, joints and ligaments a healthy stretch,” says Sandeep Desai, who trains about 16 women in his Mumbai classes. The majority of these are youngsters seeking to tone their figures and increase stamina. The six-month basic Tai Chi course with Desai costs Rs 12,000.

It’s a double whammy of the best kind. So, perfect that you can learn to land a powerful side-kick — designed to gift the attacker a broken jaw —and tone your legs all at the same time.