Chavutti Thirumal training for licensed therapists
Chavutti Thirumal, taught in three levels.
The rope-suspended foot massage of Kerala, taught hand to hand to licensed massage therapists. Learn to deliver long, deep, continuous strokes with your feet, balanced from a rope overhead, and give your hands a break for the rest of your career.
Hero film12-second loop: foot sweeps the length of the spine, rope in frame, oil catching the lamplight.
The lineage
Long before massage was a luxury, it was a warrior's discipline. In the kalaris of Kerala, training grounds dug into the red earth of India's southwest coast, the masters of Kalaripayattu taught two arts side by side: how to fight, and how to heal the body that fights.
Students learned the body's marmas, the vital points where muscle, bone, vessel and breath converge. The knowledge that made a strike precise made a treatment profound. Chavutti Thirumal comes from that healing half of the tradition, handed from teacher to student across generations.
Read the origin storyPhotoThe kalari: red-earth floor, the seven-tiered puttara lit before training.
The courses
PhotoStudent on the rope, foot sweeping down the back
30 hours
Back of the body
The foundation of the art. Rope work, balance and weight transfer, then the long, continuous strokes of the back of the body, from shoulders to heels.
Prerequisite: current massage license
See what you’ll learnPhotoSide-lying work, rope in frame
30 hours
Side and front of the body
Side-lying and face-up work: the side of the body and the front, with the positioning and draping each one needs.
Prerequisite: Level One
See what you’ll learnPhotoInstructor demonstrating an advanced stroke
[Hours] hours
Advanced techniques
[Advanced curriculum: techniques and sequences covered in Level Three.]
Prerequisite: Level Two
See what you’ll learnThe path
Every student begins at Level One and moves forward with the instructor’s sign-off.
Complete the application with your massage license details and training background.
Merry Webb reads every application personally, then schedules a short call.
Small-group, hands-on training on the ropes. Students practice on each other, giving and receiving.
Complete a level and you’re eligible to apply for the next.
Not a weekend workshop. A lineage, taught hand to hand, to licensed professionals.
Studio[Studio address]
Hours[Days and hours]
Contact[Phone] · [Email]
The training
Chavutti Thirumal is taught in three levels, each building on the one before. Training is open to licensed massage therapists only.
PhotoLow angle, hard sidelight: the instructor gripping the rope, foot pressing a long stroke down the leg.
The art
In Malayalam: chavutti, to press with the foot; thirumal, massage
You’ll learn to work from a rope suspended overhead, using your feet to deliver long, sweeping strokes the length of the body. Body weight, balanced through the rope, becomes deep, even, continuous pressure that hands alone can’t sustain, without the strain on your hands, wrists and thumbs.
Three levels
Each level is completed in order. Finish one, and you’re eligible to apply for the next.
PhotoStudent on the rope, foot sweeping down the back
30 hours
Back of the body
The foundation of the art. Rope work, balance and weight transfer, then the long, continuous strokes of the back of the body, from shoulders to heels.
Prerequisite: current massage license
Apply for Level OnePhotoSide-lying work, rope in frame
30 hours
Side and front of the body
Side-lying and face-up work: the side of the body and the front, with the positioning and draping each one needs.
Prerequisite: Level One
Apply for Level TwoPhotoInstructor demonstrating an advanced stroke
[Hours] hours
Advanced techniques
[Advanced curriculum: techniques and sequences covered in Level Three.]
Prerequisite: Level Two
Apply for Level ThreeEvery level requires a current massage therapy license. Proof of license is checked before the first class.
| Level | Focus | Hours | Prerequisite | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level One | Back of the body | 30 | Current massage license | [Tuition] |
| Level Two | Side and front of the body | 30 | Level One | [Tuition] |
| Level Three | Advanced techniques | [Hours] | Level Two | [Tuition] |
Applications are reviewed personally by Merry Webb. A current massage license is required to apply.
Apply to trainIn the kalari, fighting and healing were never separate subjects. They were one education in how the body works.
The body
The first stage of training: kicks, stretches, leaps and animal postures that build a body both supple and explosive. Chavutti Thirumal grew from the need to prepare that body.
The points
The body's vital junctions. Advanced students learned where a strike could disable, and with equal care, how pressure at the same points could restore.
The medicine
Oils, pastes, bone-setting and massage: the healing half of the kalari, used to treat injuries, keep fighters conditioned and speed their return to training.
The lineage
A training ground sunk into the earth, with the seven-tiered puttara shrine in its southwest corner, where lamps are lit before every session.
Master of both combat and cure. The gurukkal set bones, treated sprains and prepared the oils for the students they trained.
Marma maps, oil formulas and techniques passed orally and on palm-leaf manuscripts, generation after generation.
[Our lineage: teacher, kalari and years of study]. We carry the tradition forward with deep respect for where it comes from.
The hand that learns to wound must first learn to heal.
PhotoWeathered hands, a palm-leaf manuscript, a brass oil vessel.
PortraitThe instructor on black, single lamp as key light.
Your instructor
Trained in Chavutti Thirumal under [Teacher name] at [School name]
[Bio: how she found Chavutti Thirumal, where and with whom she trained, how long she has practiced and taught it, and why she teaches it.]
[A second paragraph: her teaching style and what students can expect in her classes.]
Student application
Chavutti Thirumal is taught hand to hand, in small groups, to licensed massage therapists only. Every applicant is reviewed personally by Merry Webb before a place is offered. Tell us who you are, what your body can do today, and why this practice is calling you. It takes about 10 minutes.
Merry Webb reads every application personally and will reply to within [number] days, usually with a short call to talk about your goals before a place is offered.
Reference number
