Silambam words · Intermediate

The words that make the commentary make sense. They build on the beginner words.

I · Intermediate · 34 words · Step 2 of 2

General terms

World Silambam Association

The WSA, the international body of silambam, founded by Guruji Murugan Chillayah and registered in Malaysia, with regional bodies for Asia, Europe, Oceania, Pan America and Africa. Its Silambam Sports Rules (SSR) are separate from its arts education rules.

Silambam Sports Rules

The WSA's rules for training events and tournaments, so that tournaments are run fairly and in order at its events, following the Indian traditional roots.

School games rules

The set used for the Indian national school games, with under-14, under-17 and under-19 age groups for boys and girls. There are five stick-fight weight classes in each boys' group and in girls under 14, four for girls under 17 and under 19, and five artistic events. The School Games Federation of India decides when and where the national championship is held.

Age rules (WSA)

No one under 13 may play in an official WSA tournament. The WSA uses cadet, junior, under-21, senior and older categories for boys and girls, men and women. Staff fencing and unarmed tournaments are only for green belt and above.

Weapons and equipment

Sedi kuchi

The short staff of about 3 feet, easy to conceal, which needs separate practice. For WSA tournaments it is at most 62 cm and weighs 280 to 300 g for men and 250 to 280 g for women.

Staff preparation

The traditional treatment of a cane staff: scraping off the rough outer layer, burying it upright in river clay for a week or two to harden it, straightening bends with castor oil and warmth, and sometimes soaking it in linseed oil. Metal rings may be fixed to the ends to stop cracking.

Combat protective equipment

In the school games stick fight a competitor wears head gear, a body cover or shield pad, an abdomen guard, an arm guard and a knee cap, in the corner colour red or blue. The WSA allows only a groin guard and shin or instep protector of an approved type.

Uniform (silambam)

In the school games, a white T-shirt with the Silambam logo, black pants and white socks and shoes with flat soles, tucked in. The WSA uses an orange saffron uniform in tournaments, worn with the player's own belt.

Events

Thanithiramai

The individual skill events: one competitor shows a traditional weapon display. In the WSA it is called Tani Tiramay, with patterns (salavarisai) performed alone, as a pair or as a group. Only one competitor per state is allowed in each age category in the school games, and a competitor may enter any three events.

Veechu

A swing or sweeping stroke, the root of the names of the weapon events. It also appears as the title of a skill group in the self-skill event, for example the Alangara Veechu.

Self-skill event

A two-minute display of learned skills scored out of 20 points. The competitor shows Salam Varisai, Alangara Veechu, Kaaladi Varisai, Karanam and Tholil Varisai, plus marks for style, speed, skill, variety and power or discipline.

Salavarisai

A pattern: a set sequence performed individually, as a pair or as a group, chosen from the player's grade level on the entry form. Divisions are knockout.

Kuttuvarisai

The unarmed form of silambam. Masters teach footwork (Kaaladi) for a long time before it, and it lets a player feel the stick's movements with bare hands. Its tournament is for green belt and above.

Team championship (school games)

Teams earn 5 marks for each weight class gold, 3 for silver and 1 for bronze, added to their marks in the group competition. The unit with the highest total wins.

Stick fight

WSA fencing area

A rectangular floor mat platform of about 19 m by 14 m with a safety area of at least 2 m, with yellow, green, red and black lines marked inside, including a warning line and a rear line. Red and blue players stand opposite each other.

Left stance

The ready stance (idathu nilai) with the left leg forward and the right leg straight behind, the right hand at the end of the stick and the left in front. Players wait in it for the referee's signal.

Stick movement rule

In the school games the stick must always be moving round until the end of the bout, or a warning and a 1-point deduction are given. A competitor may not use one hand to take a point, and must move backward after scoring.

Stick drop

A competitor whose stick is knocked from the hand loses, because the opponent is declared the winner. A stick that falls because it is slippery is not scored and play continues. In the displays a dropped stick costs a mark.

Self-skill and display scoring

Self-skill marks

Out of 20: Salam Varisai and Padai Veechu (ten skills at 0.5 each, 5 marks), Alangara Veechu (at least ten skills at 0.5, 5 marks), Kaaladi Varisai (leg steps, at least ten skills at 0.3, 3 marks), Karanam (the best movement, 0.5), Tholil Varisai (five skills at 0.3, 1.5 marks) and 5 marks for style, speed, skill, variety and power or discipline at 1 mark each.

Display scoring (weapon events)

For the five weapon events each of style, speed, skill, variety and power or discipline is worth up to 1 mark, 20 per cent each of the total.

Display deductions

Going out of the court costs one mark each time, three times allowed and the fourth is disqualification. Dropping the stick costs one mark, with two allowed. In the individual event a fallen stick may be picked up twice from the right or left hand, and a stick caught before it reaches the floor is not a fall.

Skill names

The named basic skills listed for the display: Sendippu, Udaan, Baski, Takki, Kirukki, Pirallai, Pammal, Patunggal, Kintal and Thirumandy (for the first three groups), and Vaaral, Vettu, Veechu, Aruppu and Kuthu (for Karanam). The rule book names them but does not describe them.

Fouls and penalties

Cards (school games)

The referee shows a yellow card for a warning, a red card that loses 2 points, and a black card for disqualification after discussion with the judges and the ring chairman. A coach may be shown a yellow card and sent out, which also applies to the player.

Warnings and penalties (WSA)

A foul is one warning. Two warnings give a first penalty, and two penalties mean disqualification. A deliberate foul or serious harm can bring a penalty at once, and arriving late or not appearing is automatic disqualification.

Disqualification and appeal

The referee can disqualify for the prohibited acts. In the WSA rules a disqualified competitor may appeal through the manager or coach to the chief referee, whose decision is final.

Officials

Ring chairman

The official in overall charge of the court, who gives out the score cards, collects them, removes the highest and lowest and averages the rest, gives suggestions on disqualification, and blows the whistle that tells the referee to begin.

Judges (silambam)

Five judges in their seats with the list of competitors and score cards, who score the red and blue corners and send the cards to the ring chairman. They can give suggestions on a disqualification.

Announcer, recorder and timekeeper

The announcer calls the winner after the cards are checked while the referee raises the winner's hand. The recorder enters the scores in the record book, and the timekeeper starts the time with the referee and blows the whistle at the end.

Coach conduct

Coaches may not coach during a bout from inside the mat, hold a silambam stick in the court while their student competes, or shout. A coach may report a complaint in writing in the specified form. The WSA allows one coach per team onto the field of play.

Technique words

Staff grips

Silambam favours the hammer grip, with the strong hand gripping about a hand's width and thumb's length from the end and the weak hand a thumb's length further, plus the poker and ice-pick grips. A long list of named grips covers close, middle and wide grips, single or both hands, open or closed palm, reversed or not.

Vettu

A cut: a swing of the staff, such as the top cut (mel vettu) from top to down, begun from the left or right, and the low cut (keezh vettu) begun by the tip beside the big toe.

Pootu and thirappu

Pootu are the locks used to disable an enemy or take their weapon. Thirappu are the counters to locks, which must be done before being caught.

Varma adi

Pressure-point fighting, striking points on the body to produce crippling effect with the least power. It is described in the WSA text as part of an expert's knowledge, and is not used in sport.

Solli adithal

Challenging and successfully hitting: one expert announces that they will hit a particular target, such as the opponent's big toe, and does so.

All Silambam words