While many teenagers’ dreams ground to a halt during the Covid-19 pandemic, it catalysed Swetha Chokkanathan into an entirely different world - one filled with spinning staffs, rhythmic drums, and ancient Indian traditions.
At just 20 years of age, Ms Swetha has mastered more than five traditional Indian art forms, including Silambam – an ancient Indian martial art that involves fighting with a bamboo staff – and Adimurai, an unarmed martial art focused on self-defence. She learned most of them online during the lockdown.
“I just love learning new things, and I feel like not a lot of people know about it, so once I knew it existed, I thought, why don’t I learn it?” she told tabla!.
Her curiosity about Indian martial arts was sparked on the silver screen after watching the 2020 Tamil action film ‘Pattas’, which featured the Adimurai martial art form. “I never heard of Adimurai until I saw the movie, and then I wanted to know what it was”, she said.
But Ms Swetha is no stranger to traditional martial arts, holding a black belt in Taekwondo, a traditional Korean combat sport she has been practising since she was seven years old.
Her curiosity led her to instructor Mr Manivannan, who taught her the basics of Silambam and Adimurai in Singapore. A few months later, he introduced her to the Lemuria Varmakalari Adimurai World Organization, an institution that teaches Indian martial arts, where she continued to learn online during the pandemic.
Without an in-person instructor, she would spend hours practising simple Silambam steps like Thalai Adiyavaaral (head-level strike) and Naadi Adivaral (chin strike) at home.
“I was free during Covid, so I just learnt it, not only because I can build a good portfolio, but also because I want to promote my culture,” Ms Swetha noted.
This dedication saw her complete all 15 Silambam levels at Lemuria, master additional traditional Indian arts such as Kittiyatam, and set a world record by joining 1,200 participants who spun the Silambam stick continuously for more than 12 hours .
One of her proudest achievements was forged on the competition stage. She initially lost her first Silambam competition and broke down emotionally, but her family supported her and encouraged her to practice until she was perfect. “My family are my motivational supporters”, she said.
Her efforts paid off at the 8th International Silambam Porr Kalai Invitation Championship, held on Aug 9 and 10, 2025, where Ms Swetha won a silver medal.
Her younger sister, Ms Saghana Chokkanathan, 18, who learnt Silambam alongside her, brought home gold and gave her sister a lot of credit. “Being in the competition was a new experience, and I was very nervous, but Swetha had participated earlier, and when I looked at her, I became more confident, because if she can do it, so can I”, she highlighted.
Training in Indian traditional arts has strengthened their bond as a family as they practice and teach each other, Ms Saghana noted. Their father, Palanimuthu Chokkanathan, 53, encouraged his daughters to learn Indian martial arts to ensure they could defend themselves.
“It’s thanks to my father that I learnt this”, Ms Swetha shared. “ I thought that it was just a boy’s thing, but the more I continued, I realised it was not a boy’s thing or a girl’s thing; it’s an Indian thing.” After seeing their interest, Mr Palanimuthu also started learning from his daughter, Ms Swetha. “My father was my first-ever student, and by teaching him, I learnt to teach others”, she said.
At just 18 years old, Ms Swetha began teaching classes at Pirabanja Aatral Kudil, a Singapore-based institution that teaches martial arts, and now spends her weekend mornings teaching all ages at Bedok and Sengkang with her family.
Reakshetha Babu Venkatesh, 17, joined Swetha’s classes to carry on her great-grandfather’s legacy as a professional silambam athlete. “She’s a really good teacher; she teaches step-by-step despite being so experienced, and I can easily understand the steps”, she said.
Despite her demanding schedule, Ms Swetha has never thought of giving up her craft. Even when she had to temporarily halt her practice due to O-Levels, she would spend her free time practising silambam. “I’ve never gotten a full stop in my journey; it is just a comma”, she said.
“In the future, I want to see Silambam and Adimurai go to the Olympics, and there, I see myself winning gold for Singapore”, she said.
