Why Silat?

[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

 

[infinite beginner]

When a whip is cracked,or here a sarong, that's the exact timing for exploding tension behind a strike.

when someone can leave,a good,welt with their sarong, odds are they might have a good whipping punch,

as the sarong to silat, is least of all a garmet.

 

[infinite beginner]

silat is a good meditation of motions, the jurus are an open book,

they are not for speed readers.most speed,and strengh notions

are built in obstacles and adversaries. anyone can be mighty or

speedy.some don't even try and are just naturally born faster

or stronger,how fast does a car go ,it always depends,on the

twists in the terrain,its like we first come to silat all muscles and speed,

and our hundredpercent equals exactly zero,and we add from there.

and it might take a lifetime to get back our strengh and speed

 

[infinite beginner]

Speed is bad ,Speed kills,Speed is all the Power without the Control.

 

[infinite beginner]

there just is no time for speed, the time it takes to make a fist ,that's a punch

its pure accuracy is what beginners miss,we see an arm we go,to,it, grab it fast

perform a throw,where our teacher's will always,make,their arm fall easily into

their grasp as the start of the flow of the throw,eliminating that need for speed.

effects take time,that can not be rushed, just like in boxing if you were to sock

someonein the bread basket it takes time, for them to double over, and present

their chin.

 

[burleighgirly]

You're going to wait for them to present their chin, IB?

I might have missed it, what style of silat do you practice?

 

[Zenjael]

Is it not impossible to proficiently practice many and yet retain claim to mastery of one

The only thing which is impossible in the martial arts, truly, is that limit which you set for yourself. Just saying.

 

[infinite beginner]

yes it is our practice to reverse the impossible whenever possible,but common sense tells us if ones kidney say

were to go bad would it not be best to see a surgeon who specializes,in just kidneys,would it not be best to

trust ones life to someone,who,devotes their focus to just kidneys, and doesn't dabble in spleens,livers,or,

colons.And are we not also in a way trusting our lives to the street validity of the skills our teachers share and entrust

in us.

 

[infinite beginner]

And yes it all takes time fighting takes time,you,can even see,the physics when moe times the eye poke perfectly,with the
inverted hammer fist to the gut as curley is stooping forward ,Its a formula I guess a strike to the ribs,will,arch
someone sideways as a,strike,down to the hip can,double someone,over,faster than any hit to the bread basket can
that is to say,If you can have a chin flying 90 miles an hour some where its all up to ones skill,of placement and
timing to meet that with something else going 90 imiles an hour for double impact, ideally speaking.of course in silat they
might prefer to have the hand behind the head too for sandwiching impact to the tenth power,

 

[infinite beginner]

funny thing silat shows the widest motions imaginable in the dance

and we see so many clips of practioners who carry them over into their demos of

applications lunging in with long sweeping arm motions ,they forget

to always use the closest weapon to the closest target, to bring the

other targets closer,we see experts doing this we shake our heads

in amazement ,thinking where did they come up with that ,as we look

for open targets they are already hitting some thing with something ,

doesn't matter whatever is in front of them its like a gift ,knowing to go

for any head hunting is to by pass and ignore a hundred vulnerable targets

its the art of launching obscure awkward short strikes from any position

and drawing on the hands and machanics to form the right weapon for the

time and place

 

[mmhafiz]

interesting topic here.

i live in Malaysia. There are so many silat styles here. basically some of them are from the same founder/principle.
i practice Silat Cekak Ustaz Hanafi, whereby the gerak/jurus are based on the 4 basic movements of Muslim during prayer. this particular silat i practice is straight forward if i may say so. it has no 'bunga' or 'tari' where you can find them in silat gayong and other silat styles. it it also the main attraction why i prefer this silat style compared to others.

Silat Cekak (in general) has its own compatible weapon (or should i say, official weapon) that goes with it's movement, which is Parang Lading. the Parang Lading is chosen instead of other weapons because of the basic principle of the silat cekak itself, which is 99% defence and 1% attack...this is because the founder of silat himself didnt want to be much offensive. he prefered to wait for the attack, rather than attacking. If you watch the video on youtube, you can see how we hold the Parang Lading, hence the 99% defensive.

if you learn the silat, you'll notice, all the gerak/jurus/strike are only activated once the attacker's punch/kick reach the body of the pesilat. we are trained to respond to the strike, much more than striking towards the opponent.

although it is 99% defensive silat style, that doesnt mean there is no striking gerak/jurus at all.

what i love about silat (generally) is the movements really make sense. and also the strike targets the vital points of human body. like Silat Cekak, we have 'kunci' or locks so that you can interogate the attacker once he's locked or one-finish movement...

i also plan to study other silat styles like Silat Kuntau Selendang Merah (which is very popular during Communist Rebellion in early Indepence of Malaysia, you all should learn the history of this silat), Silat Lian Padukan and Silat Gayong (because i love the Karambit play)...

 

[infinite beginner]

so much of silat is close in fighting, to get to be able to use it ,it has like a built in bar to hurdle

and that means getting past everything the attacking opponent knows to close the distance into

ideal knee elbow etc range, I see my teacher ,moving people effortlessly, into the most

devastating sweeps throws falls and having hands free to keep striking,and I say bottom line

I just want to do learn do what he is doing , and what ever styles he has under his belt

to now move a certain way is really back ground and his not mine ,we know no one is ever finished with

martial arts learning, but a teacher has to represent to an extent for their studentsa finished product of skill level

every art has its cirriculum everyone goes thru but of the many only a few rise to be great fighters or

teachers or even rarer but ideally both,It is always their art plus their skills ,one persons skills to make an art

work may not mirror anothers much in any way though they were exposed to the same training,

so in a sense, for any art, it is the teacher before but never above the art as the art is left for dead without

the great teachers