I'm surprised at how quiet this forum is. I freely admit that I hadn't spent a lot of time here prior to becoming its topic moderator, but I'm worried that there's so little reason for potential new silat players to visit this subforum. And I don't, myself, have the silat background to spark conversation. (My most recent effort didn't really take off.) So this is a rallying cry to the knowledgeable silat players here.
Silat is an art that I think is still pretty rare. Historically (since I've been here), a conversation will start every so often or someone will ask a question about it who has had no experience in it. There is a lot of rivalry between different teachers state side so most practioners post on their own forums or on friendly ground. There was a long time troll here once but he finally got himself banned. I thought your recent effort actually did take off as far as the Silat forum goes. It's just pretty quiet here. Cheers!
It isn't. Silat in the States seems to be most frequently taught as some part of the JKD Inosanto type curriculum which is taught in conjunction with FMA & other stuff. There are a few places in the states where it is taught separate & distinct but these are few & far between.
It's more prevalent here in my neck of the woods. I'm just outside of DC. I know the Indonesian Embassy used to have a class. Not sure if they still do. Then, as Ular Sawa mentioned, there are various JKD teachers in the Inosanto lineage. How much silat crops up in their classes varies. My primary JKD teacher didn't use a ton of it. But I've done bits and bobs over the years. Nothing constituting serious study. A one-time poster here (GungFuJoe) teaches silat in the area. Haven't seen him lately though. All of which is to say that silat is relatively strong around here. But that still isn't saying much.
Too bad Silat isn't as strong there in the States... I'm here in one of Silat's birthplace, Malaysia, hoping more will embrace my ancestor's Art.
I guess that's kind of my point. It's not popular here because it isn't on anyone's radar. Kali has the same problem to a degree. Though the use of kali in various movies has helped its popularity, you have to do your research to KNOW that it was kali you were watching. Hell, most people still think The Bourne Identity was a showcase of krav maga. I guess the questions are two: 1) How do you get silat on people's radar? And 2) do you actually want that?
dan inosanto teaches silat techniques? there certainly isn't a place in chicago that does silat. what?!? jason bourne does kali? that's cool. i think the fight scene in the apartment is probably the best hand-to-hand fight scene i've ever seen, in a movie.
Yes he does! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcNgAf_mU6M"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcNgAf_mU6M[/ame] Edit to add: Damn, that man never ceases to amaze me! Just look at that flow!!!!
Hannibal, I'm not exaggerating when I say that, seeing him in action in DC last year, I just sat in my chair shaking my head. Seamless. That's the word that comes to mind. It's not a question of speed or power or whatever. It's just the apparent effortlessness of it all while he's simultaneously explaining it all. The man is a phenomenon.
I can totally believe that. Training with Dan is on my 2012 "to do" list, along with some of my PFS brothers. Everything - every single thing - that the man does is the epitome of efficient delivery The man is quite simply a living legend and by far the most talented martial artist on the planet. So humble, so skilled and so deadly!
Do you actually learn anything when you attend a Dan Inosanto seminar, or do you go home with a headache struggling to remember what has been taught? He seems the type of guy who is very giving, and with his encyclopedic knowledge is he given to going off on a tangent?
I'll let you know at the end of the year!!! I know Paulson wanders off a bit because he too is an encyclopaedia of moves and always have at least 20 variants on any given technique he demos!
I haven't been to one in years. But my feeling is that seminars are more for inspiration than actual education. Precisely because he's throwing out a lifetime worth of information like it was nothing and you spend the whole time madly scrambling around trying to "save" it all somehow. I've decided that it's a better use of my time to simply enjoy myself and reaffirm my interest rather than trying to document, categorize, and preserve the whole lot.
There are a couple of places that do silat in Chicago and I am familiar with both of the instructors.. One of them is John Bedardski and the other one is Sam Clark.. John teaches at the Midway Kodenkan where he also teaches Dekiti Tirsia siradas and Sam Clark has a following in the silat that he teaches.. I know at one time they both were with the Mande Muda group which was led by Pak Herman Suwanda.. I have also seen the cimande silat that Sam teaches and the jurus were like what I had received in my training with one of my instructors in Michigan..
I have found similar with Danny Guba (FMA) seminars and even private lessons. I would rather get one or two techniques down, but he works at a pace where you just cannot remember, let alone successfully do half of the stuff he teaches in a lesson.
From me (brief) encounters with Danny I remember him as being always "on" and operating at mach 3 even when making a cuppa!
I first heard of Silat at one of Dan's seminars back in 1984. I remember thinking that if he's this stoked about Silat, then I have to really explore this.....
