I’m thinking of looking in to taking up Silat, but can’t seem to find any classes or schools in the northeast of England. Can anyone direct me to any decent Silat schools/groups? I might be limited in what Silat system I might be able to do due to having bad knees, any advice would be welcome about what systems would put too much stress on the knee joints. I did Choy Lee Fut for a few years so I’m used to low horse & cross stances.
You might try to contact Glenn Lobo, he is a nice guy, experienced in silat and although he lives in London Luton area, he might travel regularly to the north.
Try Matt Teasdale of Team Phoenix, he's a very knowledgeable martial artist and a talented teacher. I think his silat is from Inosanto/Balicki Maphilindo
Although the instructor of Team Phoenix seems quite knowledgeable in martial arts, he doesn't look like a specialised Silat-instructor. In a lot of countries i noticed Silat is taught as just a small set off skills that is incorporated into a broader JKD/Kali or MMA skillset. I won't say if that is good or bad, but good silat should stand on it's own. Personally for me training JKD next to Silat would probably not improve my Silat skills since they have a very big overlap. But...offcourse if you are looking for that, it's quite ok.
Kali and slat are pretty much the same thing. If you can find a good kali teacher there is no cross over.
It's a gross generalisation to put that kali and silat are the same. It's like saying that taekwondo and karate are the same. Sure, it's both based on principles, sure it makes use of the tiga, but that doesn't make it pretty much the same thing, definitely not. Perhaps on a very superficial level but then again a lot of styles are based on punching and kicking. Most Silat styles start with unarmed combat. Aren't most Kali styles starting with sticks and/or knives? That's only one of a list of differences.
Thanks for the replies. As I am an Eskrima instructor & I have to agree with taoizt on comparing Kali & Silat.
Indeed, kali and silat are different, and (IMO), are the equivalent of saying "kung fu" in that there are some significant differences in styles: say, wing chun vs CLF, or sayoc kali vs lameco, or harimau silat vs silat serak... Anyway, let's dispense with the minutiae, conjecture and inferences from (potentially) incomplete sources: Matt Teasdale does teach silat. Mano mano, just give him a call or pop in to the gym if you're interested.
Mano Mano your best bet is to travel to Harrogate and train with Guru Paul Deans,he is from the Richard De Bourds Harimau lineage,however it is very hard on the legs including the knees,If you canget a few guys together I would be willing to travel to Newcastle to pass on the Harimau I have learnt also from Guru De Bourdes
Thanks, I knew about the school in Harrogate, it is an option as an option, but I was hoping there would be somewhere a bit closer & unfortunately amongst my group, I’m the only one with an interest in Silat. I suppose I could always try & find a school close if I do it the old fashioned 1970's way & just accost & ask ever Malaysian or Indonesian student on Tyneside if they know of any Silat groups in the area
