Happy Teacher's Day.

In conjunction of Teacher's Day here in Malaysia, I would like to wish Happy Teacher's day to Guru Jak Othman, and dedicate this Belati knife fighting video to all Silat Gurus all over the world.



Hope you all enjoy this. Do share it with your Silat buddies and leave some comments.

Salam.

Kerambit. Weapon of Silat video is up.

 Please accept my apologies for the extremely long silence. So bad.

Anyway, I have recently been tasked to produce some Silat weapons video. Please spend some time to watch the first one that just came out.


I'll be back! Soon.

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.

The Small Axe

This is going to be a quick and small post. I am just going to announce to you that my Guru have written an article on the Kapak Kecil (small axe).  It is the first part of a series of articles that he would produce this year in 2010.

Let me list down some of the few things that he talked about in this article on the Kapak Kecil.

• History of the Kapak in the Malay world
• Famous battle
• Kapak Bungkus, or axe wrapped in a piece of cloth used by the Malay assassins of Kelantan and their Modus Operandi
• Kapak Terbang, or flying axe used by specialist hitmen
• Kapak kecil, small axe used by Srikandi (lady warrior) and Pendekar of the Harimau Berantai clan.
• Anatomy of the Kapak Kecil
• Carrying and Concealing
• Methods of handling
• and lastly, two BUAH (attack & defense combos) taken from the Harimau Berantai kapak syllabus.

I'm sure you can't wait to know more about the Kapak kecil. Now, do not delay any longer. Go read it up at his blog.

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.

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..)