The term appears in the Rigveda, where Indra hits Vritra in a marman with his vajra. The term varmam/ marmam is a loan into Dravidian from Vedic Sanskrit marman, an n-stem neuter derived from the root mб№› 'to die', translated as 'mortal spot, vulnerable point, any open or exposed or weak or sensitive part of the body' by Monier-Williams. Three different varmam, categorized by the attack. The 108 marmam points of Varma ati allegedly have parallels in certain schools of Chinese martial arts. With the formation of the Kerala Kalarippayat Association in 1958, Varma ati became known as the 'southern style' of Kalarippayattu for organizational reasons although its techniques are recognized as distinct from those of Kalarippayattu. Kalaripayit developed on its own and no Chinese influence is there in it but the Chinese techiques taught in some schools is given the name 'Cheena Adi'. The origin of these techniques is credited to some Chinese sailors. Masters are known as asans.Д¬hina ati is a set of techniques taught in a few Kalaripayat schools.

It is traditionally practiced by Thevars and Nadars. It is supposedly derived from Tamil traditional medicine, Varma Cuttiram.

It has been practiced in Tamil Nadu and in the territory of princely state of Travancore. Varma ati or Marma ati ('hitting vital spots', also known as Varma Kalai, Varma Kalari ( Tamil: а®µа®°аЇЌа®®а®•аЇЌа®•а®ІаЇ€) Marma Vidhya, ati murai 'law of hitting' and chinna ati, Malayalam: chД«na adi 'Chinese hitting', also Malayalam: adi kkai pidutham ) is a martial art based on attacking sensitive pressure points of the human body. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. This article needs additional citations for verification.

Nokku varmam techniques in tamil