Why Silat?

[infinite beginner]

Art only needs a beginning from that point it is endless.at some point you see your teacher just to be reminded how endless the art is.

[infinite beginner]

Enjoy the fight, Despise the violence.

[infinite beginner]

Inspiration precedes perspicacity.

[infinite beginner]

what physicist do with atoms, silat does with timing that is, to smash it.

[infinite beginner]

Its always less dangerous to be free of all pre conceived notion

[infinite beginner]

All those who practice a martial art must choose to live more dangerously
although its always risk'y to speak or think in absolutes

[infinite beginner]

we can spend many years to learn a thousand sword fighting techniques,or all of our years to be the sword.

[Brother John]

Personally I love that close in manipulation and leg destructions. http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif
Those are the very things that impress me the most about Silat. I've seldom watched/seen a Silat practitioner execute their techniques w/out me being impressed with the contact manipulation, the destructiveness AND having sympathy pains in my knees and ankles as I watch the 'attacker's' lower limbs get torqued, twisted, yanked, kneed and stomped on!!!!

Your Brother
John

[infinite beginner]

Thats where all the sick timing comes into play, you might buy a moment with a high attack and in that near gone moment ,you set up and execute a step,or a stomp, sweep etc.then with their un willing cooperation you can go where they are going in the way you choose to go.

[infinite beginner]

Inspiration might be the most important drive. what inspires you to do your thousand plus sapu's a day, besides the fact you might have a hell of a sapu
at the end of the year.your favorite teacher will always be your foremost inspiration.

[infinite beginner]

When we make our teacher's proud, we give back to the art.

[infinite beginner]

Once I had a teacher, under my present teacher and he would often talk about training to make his and our higher teacher,feel proud I guess it was the way he would say it, like he were about to take an oath of honor "come on guys lets reallymake him feel PROUD" .that hit me hard then and it still does.For a long time I kinda had that take what you can grab and get attitude.plundering thru it for my own purpose's.actually now I have come appreciate what he said more and more with each day.nothing lasts foerver and nothing is impossible

[infinite beginner]

merry natal dan hari libur setiap orang Joyeux Noël et Bonne vacances tout le mondemerry christmas and happy holidays iederGlædelig jul og glade feriedage hverVeselé Vánoce a šťastný svátky každý圣诞快乐，每一个节日快乐saoire na Nollag agus sásta Merry gach ceannkislap sa christmas at happy bakasyon sa bawat isamerry vacanze di Natale e felice ogni unomerry christmas and happy holidays alleСчастливого Рождества и праздники каждогоvacaciones de Navidad alegre y feliz a cada uno

[infinite beginner]

In the art of silat, there is only one option,and that option, stands alone
as the full, body, bulk and cornerstone, of the art and, that is to go in and bring them to you,but this can occur in any order, so you could break it down, into two options, and four variables, in any order,or to put it blunt
hit em, while they are in motion, if your feeling tired dont be affraid to stretch them out far as possible,heavy, blunt, objects, are easier to move that way,timing takes anticipation,and patients,train, with purpose and dignity,to be a warrior is to protect the weak and defend what is just honest,and fair,and to mis quote some one from somewhere "there are wolves and there are sheep and between them you have the sheep dog,be a sheep dog"

[infinite beginner]

if, you train, from the best,most of the rest, will take care of itself,

[infinite beginner]

silat, is full of microscopic, details, here's a little thing that helped me immensely, do your jurus ,say tick,tock,like you are a clock,so the beat is the same between all motions great and small,play with the motions fast, but, always go slow to practice,by the way what I write is for anyone,
not just big headed wise guys,

[infinite beginner]

its almost, as if the jurus ,are only, the background, to contain the infinite in betweens,beginners,will think, in terms of jurus, where experts,will only think, in terms of what they see in between, and I should know, because Im no expert, because ,I do go to one

[infinite beginner]

the way I see it, its all about, using the jurus for spring like momentum,
to land, and take off, loaded from where ever you are, like using the same
mechanics from a karate double reverse punch only starting from a twisted
structure only at the last second, you switch the feet, to give it spine
cracking power, your own if your not careful, its like a series of awkward
shifts, that compound, as they unfold

[infinite beginner]

the jurus , that great pit fall quagmire of burning maze we have to pass thru
physical twisting contorting confusions , fumbling for understanding , you
can not do your jurus until you make the body into a high performance juru machine , bottom line if your a hundred and fifty pounds you want to hit with
the power of a three hundred pounder , then focus on endless meticulous details , in other words prerequisite study the short root motions of power torque force , all the time ,take one strike out of the jurus and do it thousands of times a day then when you do this your building jurus muscle or your exercising your jurus muscles to extreme , we are all scrapping for scraps and scrambling for crumbs like archaeologists piecing dinosaurs, trying to piece busted puzzles that were whole far away and long ago ,when the art was all, for life or death, held secret and kept sacred,

[infinite beginner]

In,silat,we, cause,damage, with, distraction,and,we destroy,with,focus,

[infinite beginner]

for,any,practitioner,,

[infinite beginner]

for,any,

[infinite beginner]

for,any,

[infinite beginner]

for,any,

[infinite beginner]

for,any

[infinite beginner]

for,any

[infinite beginner]

for,any,practitioner,,to,voice,criticism,toward,an y,system,with,out,
being,at,their,door,sword,in,hand,is,to,call,,all, systems,out,
on,the,floor,empty,hand,fighting,had,to,be,every,s ilat
warriors,worst,nightmare,here,is,how,every,knife,f ight,starts,
your,cut,just,the,same,as,you,expect,from,a,good,o pponent,to,
take,a,hit,of,some,kind,and,we,know,the,kick,can,a lways,land,
from,out,of,nowhere,in,any,fight,and,we,only,expec t the worst
from the best

[infinite beginner]

boy,did,I phuckkk,up,I,couldn't,leave,bad,enough,well,alone, I,didn't,realize,I was making,a,trail I,tried,deleting,best,I,could,do,was,edit,sorry,to ,Indonesia,to,all,the,styles,that,were,once,but,
are,now,perished,,and,to,all,the,styles,now,that,a re,soon,to,be,perished,

[infinite beginner]

Well,now,the,way, I see it as,I look back to the most golden moments,
of my training were,moments,of,supervised,insanity,starting,when, I,showed,up,to,
private,class,one,day,just,my,teacher,and,a,senior ,instructor,who,had,been,no,more,than,
an,over,cooperative,helpful,advisor,working,with,m e,for,many,months,off,and,on,
until,I,knew,the,day,was,coming,but,not,quite,so,s oon,we,always,did,two,strikes,
hand,foot,or,both,but,I,got,there,and,my,teacher,h ad,this,strange,grin,he,told,me,
my,training,partner,was,going,to,get,me,today,as,s oon,as,gets,here,no,back,and,
forth,full,speed,and,full,power,two,strikes,no,mor e,no,less,so,until,he,gets,here,for,
about,ten,minutes,my,teacher,just,is,mumbling,look ing,at,me,like,a,dead,man,walking,

[infinite beginner]

the,main,function,of,a,jurus,is,to,teach,motion,co mposition,thru,example,
then,it,becomes,a,tool,applicable,any,where,puttin g,intricate,combination's,
into,repetition,since,the,hands,move,together,yet, independent,one,hand,can,
even,stay,curriculum,as,the,other,improvises,

[Miles]

Greetings and Salutations!

Why did you choose Silat (or why Silat chose you)?

Most of the people I have talked with already had training in a different MA before they studied Silat. Some schools combine Silat with others (FMA seems common).

What do you like about Silat?

With Respect
:asian:

I chose Silat as it was available after the TKD class I teach.

I enjoy being a student and learning new material as well as discovering new insights on old material.

[infinite beginner]

very,deep.I,chose,silat,cause,its,the,only,art,for ,me,that,and,it, employs,the,whole,body,as,a,weapon,like,no,other,a rt,Ive,seen,

[infinite beginner]

also it is my contention that most of that flowery handwork,is,
for,distracting,and tangling them,high,long enough to destroy them
with the feet,baiting,the adversary into believing,it is an exchange,
we,dont,want,to,match,hand skills,too,long,when,we,are,countered,
with,a block we,strike thru or,attack,from,a,whole,different,line,their,
force,always,wins,we,never,resist,it,but we,rely,heavily,on,it,and,once,
they,lose,their,balance,its ours.

It,is superior to all other martial arts
they bore us and they pale by comparison,this is a silat forum other arts
while pretty to look at do little for us you,dont hear of many silat practitioners
staying after class to do other arts we have our plate full,the modern stuff we
mostly see as scrap,thrown together,to,make,money,they come to us and check
their belts at the door.and to be frank they start their unlearning.

[infinite beginner]

we dont care what they know we know when they see what we do it makes their eyes pop out well not literally, okay literally, we have that,too, but it looks like magic to them just
like it did to us,

[Miles]

It,is superior to all other martial arts
they bore us and they pale by comparison,this is a silat forum other arts
while pretty to look at do little for us you,dont hear of many silat practitioners
staying after class to do other arts we have our plate full,the modern stuff we
mostly see as scrap,thrown together,to,make,money,they come to us and check
their belts at the door.and to be frank they start their unlearning.

I've discovered in nearly 36yrs of training that there is no superior martial art, just superior martial artists.

Everyone training in the Silat class with me also trains in other martial arts. No one wears their belts from other arts.

As I mentioned, I believe Silat to be very complimentary to my TKD and I enjoy being a student.

[infinite beginner]

yes,I,don't,believe,we,study,an,art,so,much,as,att empt,to,emulate,the,skills,
and,tallents,of,the,most,amazing,practitioner,we,c an,discover,with,in,our,
geography,that,will,take,us,as,a,private,student,m y,teacher,happens,to,
come,from,Indonesia,his,art,happens,to,be,silat,I, like,allot,of,roaming,space,
and,I,went,to,him,because,I,saw,he's,miles,above,m e,and,will,always,be,
along,with,silat,as,I,know,it,its,the,thinking,art ,where,theres,no,time,to,think,
if,we,make,our,opponent,think,we,are,doing,somethi ng,we,have,their,time,
that,moment,they,are,lost,in,thought,we,attack,not ,at,all,fair,tactics,we ,all,have,the,same,options,its,how,we,learn,to,com pose,and,combine,those,
options,on,the,spot,to,attack,with,quick,distracti ng,injurious,destruction,does,not
require,power,if,they,happen,to,intercept,the,firs t,strike,we,have,to,always,
assume,that,they,will,then,we,have,our,power,to,un leash,its,a,formula,built
into,the,system,based,on,acute,highly,trained,adva nced,awareness,of,dealing,with,
sensitivities,to,forces,and,pressures,to,me,this,i s,the,most,unseen,part,of,the,art
at this other site to squeeze more words I use comma's it,habit,I,just,do,it,but,
here,it,screws,up,the,spaces,to,tedious,to,fix,wit hout taking out all the comma's

[infinite beginner]

Ideally, if you think its a block, its a strike,and,if you see a strike coming
thats not the one that is going to hit you .

[infinite beginner]

I,wonder, what, the, late, great, Pendekar, Herman, would,
have, said, about, one, of, his, former, students, of, Lilly,
white, stout, origin, publicly, up, and, announcing,, himself,
a, Pendekar, to, faster, market, his, own, name, and, material,
as, brilliant, as, disgraceful,

[infinite beginner]

we, all, really, know, whats, to, say,
It, would, only, take, a, real Pendekar's,
little, finger, to, blow, you, away,

[infinite beginner]

just, watching, the, imposter's how, they're, so, lame,
looking, now, like, their, moves, are, taken,
straight, from , a, video, game,

[infinite beginner]

lets, see, about, four, or, five, trained, random, practitioners,
from, various, schools, attack, you, at, once, in, real, time,
lets, see,how, well, you,can, earn, that, honored, if, not, sacred,
title, publicly, now, that, you, have, bestowed, it, on, your, self,

[infinite beginner]

back to what matters.the, way I see it ,techniques, are, too, long,
and,they must be splintered , if we, are, able, to set up a standing
scissor, throw, we,are,set, up to take off anywhere from that structure,
instantaneously, as they, may, recognize, a, position, with a counter,
we, want, that, in other words you set them up to,fall straight, back, on their back
then, you, flow to,a strike,setting,up,an arm capture, break throw, we,
dont, lock in silat we always break the, point, is why pause for an instant,to,
execute,a, particular technique, techniques are, lost, in the moment
techniques,are, all,like, gears, engaged, to, be interchangeable, and, unending,
it,is really the transition being, neither, here nor there, between of the first
and, second, technique, where, the,most,destruction,should,occur its,
always, best, to, keep, them, guessing, never, being, in, one, place,
just, as, they, believe,they,are, being, locked, up we, let, them go, to
knock, them ,out,

[infinite beginner]

I'm here,thinking,my teacher,has said "the hands must be like water"
this can only mean, jurus not watered up, must then be watered down,

[infinite beginner]

in silat, there is no strike too small or large, the jurus,only show the way to find the motions needed
to produce the technique,in application the art,is not,found in the jurus, the jurus are found in the
higher understanding,of the art here, to know ten thousand,motions of the jurus is not enough and,being
an,internal art the guideline seems to be using full force but,no strength

[infinite beginner]

so,yesterday,I,pick up a heavy,dumb bell in each hand,curl,one,side,then,the,other,forgeting that I struck my funny bone earlier this week
no strengh but I forced,a,curl or two channeling,all,the,strengh,from,my,shoulder and back couple hours later fell,asleep on,the couch,
I,woke,up,I thought my,lung,was,going,to,bust feeling,pain,from,my,gut,to,my,chest,this,lasted,k eeping,me,awake, half the night
after,tons,of,stretching,it subsided enough,to, sleep so, I go down to the farmers market for a massage,a,lady has a table there
she pin points its my back,that is knotted causing the right,side,chest pain,no sooner I lay down up comes this guy ranting at her she
sold him the wrong oil ,last week he wants a 4.00 refund,she says she doesnt give refunds but she will make an exchange next week.
he doubles his rant at her upon, hearing that ,so face down on the table finally I say ,some people are just f,ing crazy, now he is yelling
swearing,at me from,across,the counter,for butting in, finally I looked up and told him I paid money for a massage he,is taking away from my time
so he yells he paid money too,now I hear different voices confronting,him,and,he is inviting every into the parking lot,he wants to fight,
now he is justifying his rage saying I provoked,him,by,saying some people are crazy,which only makes him sound crazier,
then,I,guess,security was called and he left young,stocky guy with a strange,square beard cut undoutably modeled after his
favorite ultimate fighter, but the massage lady,also,a,martial,artist,some kind of kick boxing who,knows,I,do martial,arts because I go to her
beat,up, after seminars, said,something,that I,was glad to hear ,she said you stay so relaxed ,she would know,and she,asked,is that part of your training ?
and I thought is it ever ,without that,there,is nothing,being,relaxed,is,what,makes all,the,counters,possible,it,opens,the breathing gives
quickness,to,motion,and,allows,strikes,to crack like a whip upon impact,so,now at the market I,figuire I might, have to watch ,my back,
but that,is also built into the training,so,the massage lady told me she was proud of me and gave me extra time,chilvary,has its rewards when its not doing us in,

[infinite beginner]

So,its like when your past forty,there is no time for sport, of fighting,you,have bridge work and enough injuries that wont heal
you,have,to,think kill or be killed,and,there are no rules,like on the suppranoes,you use anything and every way to destroy the guy,who,wants,to,fight,
If,I spit in that furious,guys left eye as I hit him in, the right eye, with an an incense,candle,jar,and,timed his lunge,to,kick him in the nuts,as
,he charged,that would be a clean victory,also,leaving him unconscious so,he can't pull out his gun and shoot as you flee,the,scene, thats silat,

[infinite beginner]

I,remember,this punk fighter that lived in the neighborhood,kind of a small wiry guy ,who would go to parties and
start trouble with guys twice his size ,almost the same thing every time,he,would appologize,saying,he,didnt,want,to,fight,
and,the,guy,would,finally,turn,around,only,to,wake ,up in,the,emergency room,he knew,one,thing well,this,guy,was a master,
of,throwing his,coat,over,their head,wrenching their neck with it and pulling them down so the back of their head hit the ground,
then he,would just,keep hitting,their head on the street,with the coat over their face, till they were out never knowing what hit
them and,the one thing about, silat is there never were any rules later, I saw the same principle applied thru use of a sarong, silat
even has that built into it, of course the moral is never turn your back

[infinite beginner]

It's interesting how many training tools are hidden in plain sight inside the jurus
often one point strikes another, say elbow and hand ,all the machanics,head to toe
how ever used goes into the delivery behind the force of the srtike ,you can strike your hand with
one component involved or by spliting the timing all the compounding components,
how this can be so, intricately fine tuned ,through the hands sense of sensitivity,of the strike

[Jimi]

I Know What I Know If You Know What I Mean, lol,

Hi Infinite Hope all is well, all is well that ends well, ...well?

[infinite beginner]

I would say, the jurus repetition,ingrains an,intuitive ambiance
behind and around the techniques. theres a million ways to
answer any strike and from that first connection ,the jurus
flow will automatically,dictate where to go. that is the best
thing about it, the options in mixing the motions thru an
understanding of the loaded possibilities, no,matter where
you are or where your hands find themselves your always
standing within reference to some jurus structure,
its really fighting by split second association,

[infinite beginner]

happy turkey day aside, I recall my teacher ,when I first saw him doing his jurus
he made this long,strange really,grim vicious face tightning all the muscles and sticking his
chin out like it was a third elbow .later I realized what he was doing was weaponizing,
his face however he could,and in silat the chin is a very valid weapon, everything from helping
to pin a limb to breaking small bones.

[infinite beginner]

as all techniques are dangerous,or,deadly, without the skills, and understandings, how to execute them.just a thought

[infinite beginner]

after unlocking the jurus you have the keys to understanding all motions

we don't keep doing the jurus thousands of times only to learn how to hit

the real skills lie in the sensitivity and timing for offensive trapping and countering.


we can not take control unless,we first have the patients to allow them to lose it
as each strike needs to have and create a new time slot.


Like a carpenter after,mastering the tool might know thirty uses for his claw hammer

the jurus might give us thirty claws and thirty hammers

[burleighgirly]

Silat chose me, it's my husband's martial art. I practice Silat Perisai Diri, and enjoy the mental, physical and spiritual challenges it presents. I love the nine different styles (asli), the large variety of strikes, blocks, kicks and footwork, and the theory behind moving to attack or avoid. I enjoy our sparring method, Serang Hindar, where you strike to your opponent, who avoids - this can get quite intense! I also enjoy all the training methods: rungkaian, face to face, beladiri, weapons work... each class is different and challenging. I love Silat - but that said, I've never trained another martial art.

[destructautomaton]

Silat is very interesting to me I only recently was introduced to it by a friend who was kind to teach and explain it as it was the malay form of it. In my scan of the internent i came across a post from antonio graceffo, since has been discussed on the forums. i found this to be way off base and very mean--------
- I am so fed up with Malay martial arts, my best advice about silat at this point is, go learn a real martial art. I have never seen so many fat, smoking, unfit, un-fighting, people in one room as i did in any silat event I ever attended. I have tried to support all sorts of traditional martial arts, but now that i am fighting again, my real opinions are coming out. if you are fat or a smoker, or if you want to practice ridiculous moves and then claim you can beat real fighters, silat is a perfect martial art for you.-

[burleighgirly]

I am so fed up with Malay martial arts, my best advice about silat at this point is, go learn a real martial art. I have never seen so many fat, smoking, unfit, un-fighting, people in one room as i did in any silat event I ever attended. I have tried to support all sorts of traditional martial arts, but now that i am fighting again, my real opinions are coming out. if you are fat or a smoker, or if you want to practice ridiculous moves and then claim you can beat real fighters, silat is a perfect martial art for you.-

I don't think I've ever seen a fat, smoking, unfit, unfighting person in my art. It's way too demanding, and fitness is integral. If you didn't have a passion for it, you wouldn't do it. Of course, with the term 'silat' covering martial arts form Malaysia and Indonesia - over 250 million people - it's not unlikely that different silats are highly varied. Still, I think that a fat, smoking, unfit, unfighting person who does martial arts is probably better off than one that doesn't. :) And I'd like to think our art doesn't discriminate on the basis of fitness, smoker, or willingness to actively engage in combat.

Regarding the ridiculous moves, well beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are a couple of moves in my art that I don't love (but plenty that I do), and my husband thinks they are among the most effective. Still, I'd never criticise another martial art, unless I'd practiced it for over five years. Since by that time, you've probably had enough experience to know a thing or two. But even then, I'd be carefully bearing in mind that different martial arts attract and are suited to different people.

I'm not sure of the significance of the person who made the quote?.

Peace.

[destructautomaton]

the person posts a ton of articles online and said he was promoting silat in malaysia then he sort of bodyslammed the art
he sort of exploited the art to promote himself then made those comments
i enjoy silat and look forward to looking into it more in the future

[infinite beginner]

If they don't go right for the kill its probably,not,silat,

if most,of the students haven't been around over ten years its probably,not silat,

If the training is not rediculously tedious dull and,kept,dangerous,it won't be easy later to throw people around like magic,

as in silat the finished product is everything few have the fore thought and patience

to,take on an art the can't expect themselves use until they have conformed their,physique to its yoga

like structures and their automatic,resposes to flows, put together thru their journey thru the jurus.

and If they tell you its not riding on 99% repetition of the entry its garbage,

[infinite beginner]

and when they say, its all in the wrist they might,have silat on their mind or

up their sleeve.silat is anthropological it involves somehow getting close to

the source,of a distant ancient island art ,the journey to even locate a beginning

may well take up to a life times quest.we see techniques lifted bunched and sold

like souvenirs but thats something different