New to Silat

[scottie]

Hello all,
I have been karate for over 20 years. Last night was my 2nd Silat Serak class. It is amazing to me that an art can be so solid. I have trained in Isshinryu Karate for 6 years. I have taught it as an in close fighting art. but the footwork seems to be so different. I am scared I am gonna have to stop my Isshinryu training if I keep this art up. Anyone know enough about the two to comment.

 

[Carol]

Of course things seem confusing, you have only had two classes.

Karate and the softer Indonesian styles of Silat such as Serak don't blend together extremely well, but other people have done it.

Give the Serak a solid 6-12 months before making a decision. The silat styles have a much slower learning curve than other arts. Give it time and see how your body reacts.

Congrats on the new journey :asian:

 

[Shihabudeen]

Salaam Alaikum, I'm a West Sumatran Silat teacher... and would like to share that...Authentic Silat is one of the fastest arts to pass on... cause its musical... ask Guru Bobbe Edmonds... student of Guru Bambang Suwandah... about Silat Serak and you will learn something new he has real insight and knowledge about this topic... I've heard him speak on it before... I have seen true silat teachers put a persilat student against any standard 4-5 year traditional black belt within 6 months, simply as a point of fact...he or she will do more than hold their own, for a number of reasons.The musical rythmic nature of silat instruction is such that its not based on a simple attack/defend rhythm as most conventional martial arts combatives are... nor even a broken rhythm, but silat is approached through multiple rhythms; for example imagine a one armed drummer beating a beat, then give him two arms... then give him multiple arms... his rhythm will then approach the combat engagement of authentic silat... silat is not like Aikido where you have to train 5 years to be able to defend yourself with it... lifers in the martial arts know what I am talking about, when they get there they are quite beautifully talented technicians... so this is actually a compliment to the art...of Aikido voiced by my Silat Teacher, Silat is just another breed of cat entirely... the average person is not mentally prepared for the agressive intensity of authentic silat curriculum... which attacks multiple armed assailants from an unarmed standpoint. Its not a sport, Most of my hard style karate students have a 6 month adjustment period where they struggle to empty their cup... and flow with the grace of silat... letting go of years and years of short choppy conditioned movement is not easy... some of them will always look like they have multiple sclerosis when they attempt fluid flowing movements in silat... that's just the way it is... its easier for students to come empty than to have to unlearn so much... but it can be done in time...I am a personal example of that... having come to my silat teacher already a teacher in jiu jitsu, karate, and kung fu... I let it all go...when I began to drown in the ocean of silat knowledge that I was blessed in my life to encounter... and which I now teach...

All systems of silat came from 25 core Sumatran Systems... according to Donn Draeger martial arts scholar who wrote the definitive work on Indonesian Martial Arts... of the same name, similarly all karate systems have been traced to 5 core systems... one of which is the Okinawan Ishin Ryu... but all karate came from Kung Fu and all Kung Fu came through Daruma or Bodhisatva... a monk who came to china through Gujarat India.. by way of Sumatra.... this is in a nutshell presented to you to give you an idea of how these arts are flowing from one and the same source... the further you get from the source the more diluted the art will be.... and less dancelike also... less musical, mystical and more short and choppy/disjointed it will become over time...
this is just one view of the many ways history can be interpreted... to know where things come from helps to understand the context better... wherein they exist.

 

[destructautomaton]

great insights!