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.

(Click to Continue Reading..)

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.

(Click to Continue Reading..)