Bidayuh Headhunting Songs

Yesterday, a good friend, the person who was responsible to introduce me to Guru Jak, lend me a book called Malaysia At Random (At Random Series). In it, there's a page on a really interesting subject, a subject about songs that the Bidayuh tribe sung prior to a headhunting mission.
 
Before a group of male members of the Bidayuh tribe of Sarawak leave on a headhunting trip, a traditional prayer song will be performed by them. The translation of the song goes like this;

A normal character in ordinary time,
He can make himself a brave fighter,
And a hero when the time comes for revenge against his enemies.
We have kept the skulls for to long,
It is now time to go and get new ones,
Now we are on a headhunting expedition,
Let us say farewell to the spirits of our ancestors,
Let us give them the gifts of these rice grains,
And the heads of the beheadide enemies.

On the other hand, they will then sing another traditional song sung to those male members of the Bidayuh tribe who did not wish to join a headhunting trip which goes;

It is a pity you do not join us in the headhunting venture,
But all you can do is look after the Baruk*,
You are not brave enough,
You have no idea what the spirits of our ancestors told us,
This is because you did not join us in the katang*.
As you had joined me in this successful headhunting expedition,
I gave you the chin part of the skull for you to show to your people.
But as the dog had grabbed it from your hand, you had nothing to show.
Because you are a drunkard
You never realised
That your wife
Was having an affair with another man

* baruk - traditional structure used for ceremonial gatherings and for the storage of skulls.
* katang - a ceremony to appease the spirits of people who were headhunted.

I remember hearing my Guru asking a particular kickboxing student of his, who is affectionately known to many as Captain, if she can ask around, especially the elders from Sarawak, the land where she came from, stories of headhunting adventures and more specifically, to find out more about their fighting system. That would be a very interesting subject to research. The headhunting tribes' martial arts. I myself have been very curious about this for a long time. Hopefully, there will be a documentation of this subject soon, before anything about it will be lost forever in time.

Salam.

Silat Tomoi

I just had an AHA moment. Nothing big, but it is related to the video in the previous post. I just realized where I saw Guru Ed demonstrated a counter that looks similar to the Filipino combat knife fighting moves shown in the video from the previous post. Yeah. You can see him demonstrating it in the video above at 1:09. I gave up trying to count how many hits he delivered in that one single move.

The video above is a little trailer for a DVD on Silat Tomoi, a collaboration between Guru Jak and Antonio Graceffo, The Brooklyn Monk. which is coming out soon. Hopefully very soon, I can't wait. This video shows the many elbow applications in Muay Thai roots back to the ancient art of Silat Tomoi. Well, I might not explain it 100% accurately, I just say it as how I understood it from talking to Guru Jak. The only way is to get the DVD and watch it for yourself.

Besides the elbow devastating moves, what excites me the most would be the weapons part. The weapons that will be featured in it are the kapak kecil (small axe), Sakti Pencawangan (bladed mai sok), and I'm pretty sure I remember some kerambit demonstrations were shot during production too.

I'll give you an update when I get news about the release of the DVD and where you can get it.

Salam.

How Many Blades?

Found this video on Youtube while I was taking a short break from work in the office. I was not sure how I found it because I was sure I was not looking for it, but, I did get into trouble as soon as I shared this on my Facebook. Don't worry, it was not silat related, I did not offend any silat or any other martial art guys. However, I do regret that accidentally hurt someone's feelings that afternoon.

Actually, I wanted to say that this video kept me glued on it for a while for several reasons. First, was for the number of blades the guy was carrying on his body. Second, was for the speed of his counter attacks without causing hurt to the other guy. And third was for the moves that were demonstrated. I was very sure that the moves shown was performed on me before by Guru Ed. Well, at least the first four counters, the breaking of the knuckles, wrist, elbow and up to the neck.

However, before watching this video, I thought the hit on the elbow was only to shock the biceps muscles thus to render them useless for a while and the damage on the neck was not up to the point of breaking, only to stun and inflict pain to stop the opponent's attacks. About the similarity, I guess, Visayan knife fighting is Silat. Well, that is my conclusion.

I remember asking my Guru, how many weapons did a Harimau Berantai soldier carry on their body, when they launch a sabotage mission against the Dutch during the colonial days? I don't remember exactly, but, during a mission, a Harimau Berantai soldier wears his Javanese batik that acts as a camouflage that blends with the tropical surrounding. He carries a few blades, a few kerambits, maybe two pairs of Sauh (Tekpi), one Ekor Pari (Stingray's tail). It's highly possible that the Sundang is part of his arsenal of weapons too. He also carries a little pouch containing a powder substance, the War Dust that was used to temporarily blind the enemy soldier.

How many of them in a group? Hmm, I don't know, I guess, it's a very small army unit that I would imagine a five person group infiltrating the enemy camp and take out the number one guy, then quickly vanish into the dark.

Okay, now back to the question again. How many blades can you see on the guy's body? Yeah, the guy in the video. I don't know, I have to watch the video again.

Salam.