9-month pregnant woman does ancient Tamil martial art drills for 6 hours

<p>
<strong>Displaying a remarkable feat on the occasion of International Women’s Day, a nine-month pregnant woman Sheela, performed silambam at an event which was organised by the local association connected with this ancient Indian martial art at Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur.</strong></p>
<p>
Belonging to Anaikattu village which is close to Pattukottai, 29-year-old Sheela told the media that she gave this performance after duly consulting the doctors.</p>
<p>
<strong>Video:</strong></p>
<p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ID9FeX8QBn8" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p>
Tamil Nadu is the birthplace of this Silambam and it comes from the Tamil word ‘Silambu’, which means sound. The Tamil Sangam literature also mentions this style.</p>
<p>
Sheela martial artist who is also a karate blackbelt holder started at 6.45 a.m. and finished her performance at 1.35 p.m. She took three breaks during this feat – once for breakfast and twice for drinking water.</p>
<p>
Chatting with the media, she said: “I have been interested in sports right from the age of 7 and have learned Silambam, boxing, karate and participated in various competitions and won many prizes. Since I am pregnant, it was only with mental courage that I was able to achieve this feat beyond physical exertion.”</p>
<p>
Sheela was trained by her father’s elder brother and has been coaching students for the last seven years. She was also a physical education teacher at different higher secondary schools.</p>
<p>
She is equally adept in boxing and powerlifting too.</p>
<p>
"I completed a boxing training course at Netaji Institute of Sports in Kolkata. In power lifting I was given the strong woman of Tamil Nadu award a few years ago. I got a national medal in Federation Cup powerlifting in 2010.”</p>
<p>
Praising her husband S Arockiadass, she said: "Without my husband's encouragement and support I would not have attained my targets," Sheela said.</p>
<p>
<strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/culture-news/kerala-s-wheelchair-bound-model-wants-to-walk-in-paris-fashion-week-156344.html">Kerala’s wheelchair-bound model wants to walk in Paris Fashion Week</a></strong></p>