Steven Ho's Blog - Deconstructing Fighting and Stunts for your enjoyment

The urumi (Malayalam: ഉറുമി) or Surul Pattai (Tamil) or Aara (Hindi) is a long sword made of flexible steel, sharp enough to cut into flesh, but flexible enough to be rolled into a tight coil. It was used and still can be found in Kerala, Rajasthan and Punjab, and is one of the weapons learned by practitioners of the martial art of Kalaripayattu, Varma Kalai, Kuttu Varisai and Sikh martial arts Gatka. It was most popular in the North Malabar Coast of Kerala state, India, and is often mentioned in the ballads of the region.

The flexible sword is called Urumi in the Northern System of Kalaripayattu and Chuttuval in the Southern System. The word Chuttuval is derived from the Malayalam words Chuttu (coil/spin) and Vaal (sword) and means Coiled Sword, a very apt description of the way the sword is maneuvered by the swordsman. Since the sword is flexible, and worn curled around the waist or bundled into the belt, it has to be straightened out, which is generated by turning it around the wielder’s body mostly in a vertical plane. Urumi is still practiced in all kalaris.

The sword is a flexible band of steel three-quarters to one inch in width, and long enough to reach from the fingertip of one hand to the finger tip of the other hand when the hands are held outstretched, (usually about four or five and a half feet). It has a small handle with a cover. Often there are Urumis with multiple belts on a single handle, which makes it more dangerous to the opponents and wielders alike. In modern times it is often made from used Band-saw blade.

Agility and skill are more important to a mastery of the weapon than strength or aggression. Twirling and controlling the urumi is a difficult and dangerous art, and is therefore taught only to the best pupils of the Kalari and Gatka. Incorrect use can result in the flexible sword wounding its wielder, and great concentration is required during use, even by experts.

The Urumi is most useful to a warrior when he is alone and has to fight multiple opponents. The Urumi can be worn like a waist belt and therefore can be carried inconspicuously and without great inconvenience. Since women often wore belts, the Urumi was a convenient weapon for them to carry, worn around the waist. Unniarcha, one of the heroines of the ballads of the Northern Malabar coast, was said to have been adept at wielding the Urumi. It was also a good weapon for duels since thrusting with the point of the sword was not permitted in duels in South India.

Sir Isaac Newton is best known for his theories regarding gravity and laws of motion on earth (we all know the apple story by now). In short, Newton theorizes that all matter is self-contained and that the only way to change matter is by force or collision; heating, freezing it, burning it, dropping it, hitting it.

But what Newton and many scientists do not account for is the “energy” of our world that is generated by essentially everything around us (our thoughts, feelings, plants, animals, etc…). In simple, commercial terms….think of the Na’vi (blue people) in “Avatar”.

If you’re an athlete or have been in a position where only your sheer willpower was the only way out of a jam, then I’m sure you have experience in the power of human intention. Be it “chi power” or just an “adrenaline rush”, I believe we all the power to do things that could not be explained by Sir Isaac Newton.

In 1985 Harvard Benson went against the typical scientific grain and conducted self-heating/energy tests with a group of Tibeten monks. Here is what he found…

Performed by: Herbert Benson - Cardiologist at Harvard Medical School

Experiment Details: In 1985, a group of Tibetan monks were put into a room with temperatures approaching freezing, while a fellow monk
draped them in cold, wet sheets. These severe conditions would normally send the body into shock, the core temperature plummeting,
and result in a loss of consciousness and vital signs after only a 12 degree drop in body temperature.

Instead of trembling from the cold, the monks began to sweat, causing steam to rise from the sheets. In an hour they were dry, and two other
ice-cold, wet sheets were placed on the monks, one after another - both were quickly dried by the heat generated by the monks.

Results: Herbert Benson and his team of scientists found that these monks had raised their temperatures by up to 17°F and lowered their
metabolism by more than 60%.

They had done all of this with the power of their thoughts and intentions.

Source: H. Benson et al., “Body temperature changes during the practice of g tum-mo (heat) yoga,” Nature
1982; 295: 234-6; H. Benson, “Body temperature changes during the practice of g tum-mo yoga (Matters
Arising),” Nature, 1982; 298: 402.

Where was youtube when I was an elementary school kid trying to figure out how to make ninja stars? I hope you guys know ho lucky you have it. Here’s a fun video tutorial showing you how to make your homework assignments or junk mail into lethal paper weapons. Have fun kids, don’t hit anyone in the eye.

Trivia: The Shuriken (Nina Star, Throwing Star) was initially developed to provide a distraction and not a weapon of attack.

Many will debate Elvis’ true abilities in martial arts and if he was really deserving of that seventh degree kenpo black belt. But regardless of the truth of that matter, nobody wore a gi like the King did.

Sorry…I couldn’t resist. I laugh just as hard every time I see this:

My favorite backboard shatters…

1. DARRYL DAWKINS. My #1 favorite has to go to Darryl from the Philadephia 76ers days because shattering glass began with him. Darryl was an unforgettable showman on the court and his hulk-like strength, competitive nature, and sense of humor made him a natural to be the backboard shattering king. He even named his dunks like they were his children; The Rim Wrecker, The Go-Rilla, The Spine Chiller Supreme, The Look Out Below, The In-Your-Face Disgrace, and The Cover Your Head.

Darryl Dawkins shattered the backboard twice in 40 days: November 11, 1979 December 6, 1979

2. MICHAEL JORDAN is the only man alive who could destroy a backboard with this much grace. Here is is shattering the glass with a one-handed, SOARING dunk during a Nike Exhibition game in Italy in 1986.

3. SHAQUILLE O’NEAL. In 1993, during his rookie season in the NBA, Shaquille O’Neil’s weight and strength managed to break and pull down two NBA backboards. The first on national television on February 7th in Phoenix delaying the game for a half hour. The second time on April 23rd in New Jersey.

If you’ve been watching your diet and working out like a maniac but find that your weight has increased or stayed the same…don’t freak out and don’t fire your trainer. NO…muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. That’s ridiculous because 5 lbs of muscle weighs the same as 5 lbs of fat or 5lbs of ball bearings or 5 lbs of feathers.

5 lbs is 5 lbs.

But as you can see in the above creepy photo, fat is much bulkier than muscle and in turn fat takes up more real estate (volume) in your body than muscle does. So if you’re carrying around an extra 5 lbs of fat, you’ll be lumpier than if it were an extra 5 lbs of muscle. Capiche?

A woman weighing 120 pounds with 15% fat will look much smaller than a woman at 120 pounds with 25% fat. They may weigh exactly the same, but their composition is entirely different. So ixnay on the obsession with your scale and start paying attention to your body composition. How your high school jeans fit you and how you look in the mirror in your birthday suit is much more telling.

Youtube is restricted for housing the NBC/Universal stunt segments with Conan (from the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien episodes). But I was able to upload them at Funny or Die for now….and btw….we’re working on ideas for Asian Conan, episode 2.

CONAN STUNTS ON FUNNY OR DIE

If money were not an issue in the matter, here are some pretty rad gadgets that I would by for myself, my Homies, and for random Facebook competition giveaways…

Now, I wouldn’t suggest you actually try this in one minute unless you’re already in decent fitness, but these are fantastic, all-around body exercises by Torsonator.