Tendangan Sila in the Sixth

Guru Ed did not come for training last Monday night. Probably down with a fever, or a flu bug. Anyway, I get to train with the other students doing the empty hands.

We revised five Buahs tonight, repeatedly. Still a lot to be done. All of us have to train harder to get better at this art. After doing those revision throught the training session, Guru Jak ask us to show him our moves, one by one, with a partner. I was the first to demonstrate and immediately he told me that I was too slow. Yes, I agree. Well, if I lived my whole life doing things slowly, and moving slowly, how can I be fast in Silat? I have to train myself to move faster. Silat is supposed to be done in blinding speed. Lightning speed! Remember Si Kilat? One of the many theories of the origin of the word Silat.

Before the class is over, Guru Jak showed us Buah Enam, or the Sixth Buah. Yes, he showed me previously. The others were not around at that time. Did I mentioned that this used to be my favourite Buah, but somehow, it got lost from my memory bank? It was slightly different last time. The approach was different, hence, the application.

One thing Guru Jak mentioned about this Buah, that I wanted to take note is the Tendangan Sila. Sila comes from the word Bersila, which describes how the Malays sit on the floor cross-legged. .

This Tendangan Sila is one tricky kick that the receiver will find it hard to determine where it came from and where it is going. According to Guru, this kick is similar to a kind of kick used by Tae Kwon Do practitioners, only not as fancy. The application in this Buah is very short and don't look very impactful but target is a quick delivery to the groin, which explains why it does not have to be so hard in its execution.

We ended our class after a few rounds of trying this Buah Enam, and quickly headed to a food court in 223 PJ for a light supper, which I had my nasi lemak, otak-otak and Iced Neslo O Kosong.

Image via Wikipedia

Salam

Elbow Techniques in Silat

Earlier during the day, I was casually going through Youtube not really looking for anything. However, I stumbled into an interesting find, and I find it worthy to be kept as a reference for personal study and to share with you.

Below is a video of elbow techniques as taught in the Cikalong Silat system, demonstrated by Guru Bambang Suwanda and Guru Bobbe. I find it interesting because of the variety of techniques and applications of the elbow alone. I can say that there are much similarity to the elbow techniques and applications that I have learnt in the Harimau Berantai system, eventhough the entries are not as similar.



I hope, together, we can benefit and progress in our Silat studies from the efforts of our Silat brothers who created and shared this precious video.

Salam.

Weapons From The 'Other' Side

Last Monday night training, Guru Ed and I started our training with our Belati Buahs. Quick revisions on all eight, each of us did two rounds.

No Sauh training that night. Instead, we did our 5 Buahs of Sakti Pencawangan throughout the remaining session. I did not know why, but I felt really sleepy during training. Probably, I was getting flu, but sore throat was the only other symptom besides fatigue.

Before we end our session, Guru Jak showed us a new Buah, the Sakti Pencawangan sixth Buah. Impressive as the others, only that, I being much vertically challenged when put against Guru Ed, I think I do have to adjust some moves a bit to compensate my lack of height advantage. Despite the fatigue, we tried on this new Buah for about five minutes.

After class, Guru Jak unveiled to us some old weapons, several variations of the Tumbuk Lada. They looked gorgeous I would say, their Pamor, the pattern welding work, one is called the 'Tapak Gajah', which translated as, Elephants Footprints, while the other takes another pattern, called Pucuk Rebung which translated, as Young Bambooshoots. Simply beautiful piece of work they are. There were another two, both of which looked like a combination of a Keris and a Tumbuk Lada. This is due to their forms, which displayed characteristics of the Keris, curves at the end of the blade and I also saw what looked like the Belalai Gajah, or the Elephant's Trunk, a common characteristic of a Keris, at the other end of the Tumbuk Lada. Within these two interesting Tumbuk Lada, I could also see that there are a smaller Keris within their core body. Simply amazing.

I asked Guru Jak how do we use these weapons. According to him, it is used as how we use our Belati. He also told us that, these weapons, two of the earlier mentioned, came from the 'other' side, and needed to go through a process of orientation or familiarization before they are ready to be used for whatever purposes on 'this' side.

Wallahualam. God knows Best.

After class, went out for a quick supper, some bee hoon soup and two glasses of hot lime tea. Having them with a good company, a good chat, and receiving my first ever Christmas gift, certainly satisfied the tummy, soothed the throat, the fatigue miraculously disappeared, and not to mention, warmed the heart too.

Salam.

A Story by Jack, Not Guru Jak

Today, I came across a story  titled My Special Child by a writer named Jack, in the Starmag, Heart & Soul section of The Star newspaper. It tells me about Jack, a parent who remembers the moment when his daughter who has Down Syndrom was born, how he felt, and how he reacted.  Anger, disgust, frustration, clueless, mixed in a myriad of emotions that suddenly came gushing in, not long after the Doctor told him of her condition, describing her newborn baby as a bit 'Mongoloid'. What a word to describe a newborn baby. A word that hurt him so much.

According to him, the doctor said that Mongoloid is a term used to describe babies with Down Syndrome. A kind of genetic disorder whereby an extra chromosome exists during the foetus' development. Among the characteristics of a Down Syndrome baby are slanted eyes, fat fingers, clubbed feet, a weak heart, simian crest on the palm and a protuding tongue. 

I remember when a close personal friend of mine who had a baby with Down Syndrome.  However, the baby did not live long due to the baby's heart condition. I recall times when this friend's Facebook status displayed her sadness remembering her loss not too long ago.

I too remember times when I asked myself what would I do, how would I react, if I am to be given a child with Down Syndrome. I can't say for sure but after some thought, I told myself that I should accept his special child with love and total acceptance as a gift from the Almighty God.

Now, let's get back to Jack's story. He brings me to a scene at the coast near Batu Maung in Penang. While sitting by himself on a rock, looking out to the horizon during a hot sunny day, watching the sampans dance with the tide and life seemed ordinary when his own world collapsed and nobody else seemed to care. Realising nothing much he could do and thoughts of ending all his despair came to being as the sea looked.. inviting..

..when suddenly, he heard a voice: "I'm sending you a special child to cherish in my name. For you to love with all your heart and teach her just the same. For she is not like other babies, nor will she ever be. You'll cry a million tears, but I promise when she smiles at you, the pain will dissapear. Love her just the same and take good care of her for me."

Coming out of shock and confusion, hearing a voice that was authoritative, yet peaceful and assuring, Jack gathered himself together and chose to be strong and face the future.

Fourteen years later, Elizabeth, Jack's special daughter attends a special school. Tall as Jack is, without heart defect or any major problems, she speaks a rojak of English, Malay and Cantonese, can dress herself, perform simple household tasks like washing dishes. She is as pretty as Jack says she is, as there is a picture insert of her wearing a Santa hat standing by a Christmas tree, in the four-columned, half page spread. And every time she smiles, all Jack's pain and anguish shall quickly disappear.

I myself had a personal little voice talking to me experience which I wrote about in my other blog, Kickboxing Jom! which is delivered in Malay.

To Jack, thank you for a heart-warming and inspiring story that you share with us Malaysians. I wish you, your beloved Elizabeth, and the rest of your family members a very merry Christmas this coming Friday. As a Silat Student, and a Muslim, I believe there is a lesson to be learnt here, of patience, courage, acceptance and LOVE.

Love, came to you in a form of a special child, Elizabeth. Love came to me too, maybe I'll see her tomorrow in Facebook.

Salam.

Picked Up My Weapons Again

Guru Ed was back in training last Wednesday night. So, it was time for me to pick up the Belati,  Sauh, Sakti Pencawangan and the Bokken again and start training weapons again after several nights of empty hands revisions.  So, that night we did eight Buahs and three Pecahans of Belati, eight Buahs of Sauh, and five Buahs of the Sakti Pencawangan.

My knee hurt a bit from a collision during a very light kickboxing sparring session earlier. Not that I am complaining but I felt a bit uneasy during my Silat training last night, especially when I was going for the low attacks. It was my left knee that collided, but my right knee felt strained too due to my shifting most of my body weight onto my right leg.

Hmm.. to ease the pain on the left knee, I allowed the right knee to suffer too. Reminds me of a Malay proverb, 'Cubit paha kanan, paha kiri terasa juga', which translates, 'Pinch the right thigh, the left thigh aches too'. What the proverb really means is 'If one cause hardship to one's own family member, one will only cause hardship to one's own self ultimately.

Well, the proverb and its meaning bear no relevance to the circumstances that I went through, but, the proverb itself, in relation to my mishap, do bear some degree of similarity.

 Salam.

Recollection of the Lost Buahs

Last Monday night training, it was down to two persons only who came. Nick al Yabani and me. Well, both of us trained the five empty hand striking Buahs that we had learnt previous nights. Nick, being a Japanese middle age guy, performed his silat very karate like, especially during the Sikap Pasang. Well, I think, its interesting to have some sort of variety. If its wrong to do it that way, Guru Jak would have madesome comments to correct it. So, i think its ok.

Before the end of the class, we were shown the Sixth. I forgot how this Buah looked like until everything came back slowly to me when I was at my parent's home last weekend. It was my personal favourite Buah when I was first introduced to all eight empty hand striking Buahs.  Maybe because this particular Buah looked like it can end a fight immediately after one is being attacked. Well, at that time, this looked like the fastest to end a fight. Now, with the slightly varied version I'm learning now, all the Buahs looked potentially effective to end a fight immediately.

It has been a while since my last weapons training, but its okay. I'm making the best out of it. I never want to lose the empty hands striking Buahs ever again.

Salam.

Sapuan in The Fifth

There were only three of us who came for Silat training last Wednesday night. Others couldn't make it because of personal commitments or perhaps the heavy rainfall earlier in the evening that made travelling  harder, especially for the ones who rely on public transports to get to the studio. Nick the middle-aged Japanese guy, Marcus the Filipino-Chinese fellow Malaysian and the Malay me, I. I have yet to find the correct usage of the word 'me' and 'I' eventhough it has been in my mind for quite some time.

So, that night we revised the Four empty-hands striking Buahs which we have learnt the previous nights. Nick too, like me on the previous class didn't realize that he has learnt more than one Buah. He thought he only learnt the First, and the other moves were Pecahans. Well, I was not the only one.

Later that night, we were introduced to the Fifth Buah by Guru Jak. One characteristic of this buah is, it employs the Sapuan or Leg Sweeping moves in it. Cool stuff when it works perfectly. Perfectly to me means, the opponent's head lands exactly right in front of you, after executing the leg sweep, so that you can follow it up with continous  devastating blows to the immediate target.

Guru Ed was not around again that night, so, I took the opportunity to fully concentrate on revising the Empty-hands Buahs that we have been taught. The leg sweeps need alot of practising especially.

Before we left, I was trying my best to recollect the sixth before the next class but to no avail, yet.

Salam

Putar Kepala in the Fourth

Guru Ed was away last night. So, no weapons training for me. I had a good time training empty hands striking Buahs, but, only last night that I realized that prior to this, we had learned 3 Buahs. How did I not notice that? I thought all we did was the First Buah and many Pecahans. I have to pay more attention to my Guru in class.

Last night, after spending most of the time revising the first three Buahs, Guru Jak showed us the Fourth. It's almost the same as what I had learnt before, only with a slight difference at the entry. The entry showed last night was a double eye jabs instead of just parrying a right cross and counter with a jab and a cross of your own against the opponent, which how how I had learnt before. Well, those double eye jabs are more economical, efficient and painful.

Then comes the Putar Kepala move. Guru Jak mentioned how Silat in the west widely adopts this move but he did mentioned how its implementation is flawed, based on his own many observations.

I think, the main thing that we have to pay attention is the opponent's ability to counter. Prior to the Putar Kepala, we must deliver blows to soften the opponent. During executions of the Putar Kepala, check for the opponent's ability to counter, and counter a counter if there should be one. Deliver more blows to weaken the opponent while you are at it.

After the Putar Kepala, bring the opponent down, but do not lose hold. Control  the opponent through joint manipulation. Then, Destroy.

Salam.

A Visit By The Brooklyn Monk

On August 3rd 2009, a martial arts traveller, writer and filmmaker Antonio Graceffo, also known as the Brooklyn Monk in Youtube.com where he has a webdocumentary series called Martial Arts Odyssey visited our Silat studio to conduct an interview with my teacher Guru Jak.  Our studio was one of the few martial arts schools that he stopped by, in his quest to gain some insights about martial arts in Malaysia.

The interview with Guru Jak on Silat is broken up into three parts.  Throughout the videos, Guru Jak explains about Silat Harimau Berantai and demonstrated some of the Silat weapons that are used by the Harimau Berantai clan.

Enjoy.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Salam.

One Buah, Few Pecahans, Elbows and Blade Applications

Last Wednesday night, for the first time, our Silat training starts early at 9.00pm. Since Kickboxing starts half an hour earlier, I joined in for a bit of kicking, just to warm myself up. Surprisingly, I can still kick without running out of breath. Yes. It feels good to do kicking again, together with all the other kickboxers.

Again, we practise our striking Buah again tonight. The first of 8 striking Buah. Then, out of this first Buah, Guru Jak showed us some Pecahans.  Tonight, the Pecahans he showed has a lot of wicked elbow moves in them. Awesome!

After doing the Buah and Pecahans, Guru Jak then ask each of us to grab a rubber blade. He then showed us, how, with the same Buah or Pecahan, he applied them with a blade in his hand. How beautifully, wonderfully and smoothly they worked together.

I was happy, but the others were overjoyed, since they stayed back longer than me to practise their bladework.

Salam.

Empty Hands for Warm Up, and the Sakti Pencawangan Night

Last monday night, we had two more new students joining in our Silat class. Both of them are girls, one who has been with us in Kickboxing class and now going through apprenticeship to become a new instructor, while the other, i met for the first time as she flew in from Australia. The latter is a Kickboxing instructor in her home country and has some experience in Filipino Martial Arts.

We started our session with a warm up session doing the empty-hands combat Buahs. I'm so glad that I get to revise those Buahs again, together with the new guys.  This is my chance to recollect all the Buah that I have lost. Note to self, "Must Write Down". The unarmed combat Buah is slightly different from what I have learnt, but the gist is still the same. The approach is slightly closer to the moves that has been taught to Guru Ed. Parry the jab, cut the incoming cross with an immediate eye jab, destroy the arm by breaking the elbow, multiple blows to the body with hand and leg attacks, go behind the opponent, grab the balls, destroy, follow through with more attacks until he or she is rendered immobile. Well, that is to give some ideas on how some of the Buah looks like. I guess the keyword here is, Overkill. Don't settle with only one or two counters but with multiple blows. Besides the Buahs, we also get to do some Pecahans, which are combat moves derived from the main Buahs.

Then, Guru Ed and I do our usual drill with the Sakti Pencawangan. Last night Guru Jak briefed the new students about this weapon. He said Pencawangan means suggestions. Must be an old Malay word, because currently, the Malay word for suggestion is Cadangan. Then he explained to us that the tonfa-like part of the weapon, is not a Tonfa. He used a Thai traditional weapon  where the tonfa-like weapon has two handles, one to hold and the other one in front is to protect the fingers. A rope is attached around one end so that it stays still on the forearm.

Mai Sok. Image grabbed from http://www.tonyjaa.org/muaythai_ongbak.shtml

I looked up the Internet, and found that the said Thai weapon is called Mai Sok.  Well, last night, Guru Jak pulled a blade out of the modified Mai Sok.  Our traditional Malay weapon, or Javanese weapon to be more precised, he did mentioned Javanese, Sakti Pencawangan has one handle with the length of the main shaft extending slightly behind the elbow, with a concealed blade, that can be pulled out of it. From one or the other end, depending on where the owner of the weapon wants it, I guess.

That night, I could see that many of the new students were amazed. Me, personally, I still am.

Salam.

Keris in a Rembrandt, Silat in Fine Arts

As I was browsing a book on knives in Amcorp Mall today, I found a mention about the Keris, a traditional Silat weapon being depicted in a painting by Rembrandt titled The Blinding of Samson (1636).

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15, 1606 – October 4, 1669) was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history and the most important in Dutch history. His contributions to art came in a period that historians call the Dutch Golden Age.

Rembrandt, role-playing in Self-portrait as an 

oriental Potentate with a Keris, etching, 1634

Rembrandt being a Dutch artist during the time of Dutch presence in the South East Asia through the Dutch East India Company (V0C), is also a collector of exotic artifacts such as the Keris, which lend picturesque credibility to his biblical subjects like The Blinding of Samson. Using a Keris to puncture Samson's eyes probably shows his fascination with the exotic looking Silat weapon.

It is an interesting fact to know that a Silat weapon is admired and owned by a great painter such as Rembrandt. So, I had to own this book titled The World Encyclopedia of Knives, Daggers & Bayonets by Dr Tobias Capwell. The sad thing is, I as a Malay and a practitioner of a Silat, has yet to own one myself, this Malay dagger called the Keris.

According to my teacher, Guru Jak, the Keris is used more as a weapon of duel by the Malay noblemen, instead of as a weapon of war. I have a very little knowlege on how to use the Keris as a weapon and the only opportunity I had to learn was during the shooting of the documentary Inside Silat : Weapons of Destruction which one of its segments is on the Keris.  It was based on Silat Hulubalang Melaka at Gelanggang Anggerik Jingga in Melaka and thought by a Silat World Champion of the 80s, Guru Eddy.  Very different to the system that I am learning and hard for me to grasp as I have no prior experience in handling this weapon.

Later in the evening, I went to Suria KLCC mall and stopped by the Galeri Petronas where they are showcasing the artwork by  one of Malaysia's foremost contemporary sculpture, Raja Shariman.  The show is called Rhythm of the 21st Century - Monologues of Raja Shahriman.  It is his sixthe solo exhibition and his largest to date, bringing together 20 new large-scale sculptures, 25 drawings and 15 paintings in a compelling show that symbolizes the destructive nature of man.

Alang Durjana by Raja Shahriman

A very productive artist I would say. Besides the elements of ammunition and  twisted black metal in humanoid form being violent and destructive in nature, elements of Silat such as the Sikap Pasang and Keris are obvious in many of his sculptures. Another thing that I noticed is a number of his works are titled after the conflicts that occurred and is still occurring in the Muslim world. So I would conclude that his artworks are closely tied to his identity as a Malay and a Muslim. As I was doing some research on his work, I stumbled upon his series called Gerak Tempur, which are really compelling to me. Must find out more about this artist. I think I met him once before, in a tribute to A. Samad Said show.

If you happen to be in Suria KLCC, stop by the Galeri Petronas to see his amazing work. The exhibition is open to public until 24 January 2010 from 10.00 am – 8.00 pm. Admission is free.

Salam.

Wednesday Night Training, New Members

Last Wednesday's training night, we received a guest, Scott McQuaid who will be with us on and off for about 2 months. I have seen him before, in Youtube.com where he produces some clips to promote mainly the Harimau Minangkabau system. Then, he had visited our place before, few months back when I was 5kg lighter, to do a little shooting and conduct an interview with Guru Jak.

That night too, we received new silat students, they are those who have went through kickboxing training under Guru Jak and are now being offered a place to learn the Harimau Berantai system.

Now that we have the new students with us, I would take the opportunity to polish my basics again by training with them. Actually, I had to jump up a level so that Guru Ed could have a training partner. I being the only one left doing Silat would feed him attacks for him to deflect and counter. Good for me as this situation allowed me to learn more weapons techniques besides the Belati.

While the new students were training the basics of Belati attacks, yes, we learn to understand the mechanics of belati attacks, learning how to attack before we can learn knife defense, Guru Ed and me train our 8 belati buahs again. Again and again and again.

When we're done with Belati, we proceeded to train using our Sakti Pencawangan, as oppose to the Sauh that we had last Monday night.

The Sakti Pencawangan is a two-part weapon which looks like a tonfa with a concealed blade. While our left hands are holding the tonfa-like part of the weapon, doing defense and counterattacks, our right hands will be holding a blade that is unsheathed from the tonfa like part and hidden close to our body, away from the opponent's view. Again, we train using the Sakti Pencawangan against a Bokken. To our surprise, that Bokken is very strong and durable, taking punishment after punishment for months against the iron made Sauh and also the Rattan-made Sakti Pencawangan. The Sauh should be the more punishing weapon against the bokken as it is made of iron steel.

Up until now, we have learnt 5 buahs of the Sakti Pencawang, taking attacks from different angles, attacks from up slashing downwards, from the right cutting diagonally down the body, from the front coming straight stabbing through the torso and one coming from the left cutting the neck.

Usually, I do kickboxing before silat which takes place after that. However, I have been missing kickboxing classes for quite some time due to my own lack of motivation and current state of mind and emotion that I decided to give myself a break from it for a while. I really need this break. However, last night, I told myself that I should resume training soon, because, I could feel that I was catching my breath during Silat training. This would not have happened if I still do my Kickboxing training. However, I've been told by Guru that come December, Kickboxing and Silat classes would run concurrently. Hmmm.. Probably, when that happens, I could sometimes do Kickboxing sparring while wearing my Black Silat uniform. Kickboxing rules though. You Silat practitioners should understand why. Furthermore, I don't know how to spar using Silat.

After our training has ended for the night, our Guru brought in a box of newly made Silat training weapons consists of the Belatis, Parangs and Kerambits. They look real, they feel real with their weight and their balance are made to feel like one, and their finishing, the metal they were made of and the little details carved on their shellacked wooden handles, I can only say that I was so impressed. I must get each one of those for myself. Now that we have these new training weapons, we can train better in disarming these bladed weapons.

Salam.

Monday Night Training Belati Again

At last, after a short break of silat training, Guru Ed and I resumed our training last Monday night. At last after a long period of time, we trained ourselves the 8 buahs of the Belati Art. We also revised 3 pecahans of the said art. All of which involves switching of the bladed hands. We spent half of the alloted time training this.

The other half of the time was training to use the Sauh, or better known as Tekpi here, and also known as the Sai elsewhere. We trained 8 buahs of the Sauh art taught to us by Guru Jak. The 8 buahs are used to counter long range weapons such as the sword. So, we use the bokken or the wooden sword in this particular training.

Upon being attacked by the sword, the sauh would first parry the attack, trap and destroy the opponent's weaponed hand, then attack the opponent's legs. Proceed with attacks on the head and take out his vision, then continue with attack the groin. Lastly, finish the opponent with a stab or more through the body at any of the main organs. That's a little preview of how the Sauh art looks like.

During the training, we have to take into consideration, the speed of our movement, our footwork, how we position ourselves by taking into consideration factors such as position of the opponent's weapon. We also have to check all possibility for the opponent to do counter-attacks.

To ensure our safety during training, it is imperative that we apply a proper amount of control in our attacks and counter attacks. Wearing safety gears where necessary is important too. We are required to wear our Mr. Mark's safety goggles and I never ever forget wearing my groin guard. I usually put on my knee pad too as some of the attacks target the knee area.

What I hope to train again soon is the 8 empty hands buahs also known as the buah pukul mati, and also the the 8 locking techniques also known as the buah kunci mati. It has been a very long time since I last train those buahs, but, to further complicate matters, the buahs that I learnt and what Guru Ed learnt are different in approach although there are similarities.

Why the difference? I'm not sure. Maybe what he learnt 1 or 2 decades ago was suitable for that period of time when JKD was so big that time, and mine, what I learnt recently, evolved and simplified from his version. Well, that is one of the challenges of learning this art.

That is why I must start writing Silat in this blog. Last time, I had some notes that were written on a few pieces of paper. I couldn't find them anymore and I can't remember where I last saw them. Those are notes about the empty hands and the locking buahs. Hmm.. Hopefully, through patience, concentration and supplication, God will allow me to retrieve all that knowledge back and practise them again. Amin.

An Old Art of Belati Video Clip

The two individuals in this more than a decade old clip are my Guru, Guru Jak Othman and currently my sole training partner Guru Ed Chard doing the Belati or blade training. The first part of the video shows them doing the Pelampas or the sticky hand drills with blades.  It has been a while since I train doing this Pelampas or Buah of the Belati art.  Currently Guru Ed and I are training using the Sauh or Tekpi and another traditional weapon called Sakti Pencawangan.

Lessons I can learn from this video is, Belati or any bladed arts is an art of its own. If a martial artist were to encounter an expert blade fighter, it is advisable to immediately flee from the scene. Choose flight, not fight. An altercation with an expert knife fighter always end in a few seconds and the victim would not be the knife fighter.  Guru Jak even quoted a saying by Guro Dan Inosanto, "The chances for a martial artist to survive against a skilled knife fighter is nil."

Only another blade fighter who have studied and trained in the bladed art can engage in a knife fight with a blade fighter.  The Belati is so sharp that a simple cut by a knife fighter would cause the victim to lose conciousness or die in a matter of minutes or even seconds, depending which part of the body the cut is inflicted. Probably, the Timetable of Death developed by William E. Fairbairn would be a good reference.

One who learns the techniques and drills of the bladed art must train over and over again until it becomes muscle memory, because a knife fight usually occurs so fast that the attacker will attack with blinding speed, the defender will have no time to think on how to react. How you train is how you would react in a real knife fight. That is a saying, or words of wisdom, commonly known in the Asian martial arts world that one must hold close to heart.

To know more about the Belati and how the belati-fighting applications, concepts and techniques that has become the very foundation of Harimau Berantai Pencak Silat's art to this very day, please read up the previous entry titled The Tiger is Loose!.

Above is a picture of Guru Jak and Guru Ed demonstrating the art of the Belati, in their latest documentary project, Inside Silat - Weapons of Destruction that recently won two awards, Best Editing, and, Best Arts and Culture awards at the recent 2009 Malaysian Documentary Awards Festival. Again, demonstrating the Art of the Belati

Lightning Fast, Bone Crushing Malay Art of War

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

This article by Guru Jak Othman was originally published in his JakOthmanSilat.com website which is now sadly not available on the Internet anymore. The date it was first published is unknown. It was found in a Yahoo! Group called silatindonesia posted on July 25th 2009.

As his student, I think I should repost this article again in this blog so that his writings will not go missing and his students like me can dissect his writings and study them part by part so that we are able to absorb this knowledge about Silat that he parted and understand them thoroughly.

Silat is often misunderstood as the Indonesian Martial Art. May be this is because most styles of Silat that reached the foreign shores are from Indonesia. We have the old styles like Harimau Minangkabau from Sumatra , Cimande from Java. American base Silat body or styles like Serak from the De Thouars family and Mande Muda by the late Guru Herman Suwanda who had taken elements from more then 20 Indonesian Silat styles into his system . We have Maphilindo Silat by Guru Dan Inosanto combining Madjapahit, Indonesia and Philippines Silat styles into his system. The styles mentioned above are among the famous ones outside the countries of origin for Silat.

Looking at the countries of origin for Silat in South East Asia, Indonesia has more than 400 styles of Silat registered with the National Silat Federation (Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia) ,more than 250 styles likewise in Malaysia (Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia), 20 styles in Brunei (Persekutuan Silat Brunei) and 25 styles in Singapore (Persekutuan Silat Singapura). There are also Silat governing body in Mindanao, Philippines and Patani , Southern Thailand which can also be categorised as countries of origin. The four National Silat Federation from the countries of origin formed the International Silat Federation (Persekutuan Silat Antarabangsa) or PERSILAT for short. Now Silat bodies from more than 25 countries around the World are affiliated to PERSILAT. Silat is not only Indonesian , but also belong to the Malays in South East Asia . As a matter of fact , Silat is the art of war of the ancient Malay empires.

 (Click here to read more..)

The Tiger is Loose!

This article by Guru Jak Othman was originally published in Silat Warrior Magazine. However, the date it was first published is unknown. It was found in a Yahoo! Group called silatindonesia posted on July 25th 2009.

As his student, I think I should repost this article again in this blog so that his writings will not go missing and his students like me can dissect his writings and study them part by part to enable us to absorb this knowledge and understand them thoroughly.


The Tiger is Loose! by Guru Jak Othman

A figure stands in the shadows, her hands moving gracefully in slow, smooth dance-like gestures as her light footsteps bring her ever closer to you. Her state of subtle grace hides any trace of danger she might pose to you.

In your mind, you see nothing but beauty in her movements. That is until you realize your eyes are hurting and before you can recover you feel sharp pains all over your body.

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Silat : My Journey

Image via Wikipedia

I find it very hard for me to write an entry, my first entry on this blog. I'm not sure why, but probably because I am still a newbie in Silat. This blog is set up to let me write about what I have learnt so far in Silat, what I have seen in the world of Silat, what i have read in literatures about Silat, and what I have heard when people with authorities or Silat Gurus when they spoke about Silat. I write them here so that can refer back when I need to, and, so that I will be able to remember.

My early encounters with Silat was probably through the idiotbox, either a P. Ramlee movie about the legendary Silat warrior Hang Tuah fighting Hang Jebat, or a short documentary about Silat in Sarawak produced by our national broadcaster. Both of which, I didn't liked much, maybe because I did not know how to appreciate Silat back then.

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