Don't mess with great-grandma

Meenakshi Amma practitioner and teacher of 'Kalaripayattu', a traditional martial art originated in Kerala, posing for pictures at her family-run Kadathanadan Kalari Sangam school in Vatakara in the Kozhikode district of the state of Kerala. Photos: AFP

Deftly parrying her son with a bamboo cane, Meenakshi Amma belies her 78 years with her prowess at kalari, thought to be India's oldest martial art.

The great-grandmother in Kerala, southern India, has been a driving force in the revival of kalaripayattu, as the ancient practice is also known, and in encouraging girls to take it up.

"I started kalari when I was seven years old. I am 78 now. I am still practising, learning and teaching," the matriarch of the Kadathanad Kalari Sangham school, founded by her late husband in 1949, told AFP.