Hi, I am in KL for a few weeks and was initially interested in trying out silat during that time, but this won't be feasible now due to my schedule. However, I would still like to see some silat classes but can find none in KL. It doesn't seem very popular in it's own country of origin!!?? I found one but they charge like about 50 uk pounds for 3 hours!!! which is just ridiculous, and they are meant to mix their art with some kind of black magic, which is weird aswell?? Anyway, i'd just like to see what it's like if possible. Does anyone know of a class i can visit? Thanks.
Silat did not originate in KL. Silat did not originate in any 1 place. Some styles might have. But not Silat, as that is an umbrella term. My Silat originated in West Java for instance... What style were they offering at those prices!? The Black Magic may have just been internal training ... energy transfer/drain etc which a lot people see as 'Black' for some reason...
ok, my misunderstanding then. I thought silat was the malaysian national art; whereas java is in indonesia?? anyway, this website is http://www.cakraalam.com/images/galeri_beladiri.html Regards
Java is indeed in Indonesia.... Wow...thats a really bad site imo. I dont personally fancy training an art where they set themselves on fire and roll around on spikes. But maybe I'm just soft! ;-) I dont understand the language so not sure what they saying, but there's very little info provided even for someone who can speak the language. Personally, Id avoid like the plaque....but I could be wrong..... Try www.cimande.com for the Javanese Silat.
oh, but i'm in kl right now for a few weeks then back to thailand and london. not going to java i'm afraid, although i did meet a girl from java here and they are gorgeous
lol.....you can do Cimande in England. I prectice in Northern Ireland. I can PM you some contact details of the other British Clubs if you are interested?? The origins are Javanese, but there are teachers here in the West.
What the hell is that site on!! Karate poses and uniforms, breaking slabs, and all the usual rubbish parlour tricks that have given silat such a rubbish name recently. my recommendation is to steer well clear, and look for a traditional silat school elsewhere. Just my opinion though.
What site wali? it looks from your post that you mean Cimande.com, but i know thats not the one you mean.......right?
hhaahahahaha... NO man!!! That's funny! I meant the other site with the crazy board breaking!!! http://www.cakraalam.com/images/galeri_beladiri.html
phew! i hoped so! but your right...its madness what they doing in the name of Silat. I hope no-one gets hurt doing that, for it certainly looks likely!
It ****es me off how they take a good system and turn it into a circus show. It's because of clowns like this that Silat is dying in Indonesia and turning in a Karate-like system. The other side of the spectrum is IPSI, which has also taken the system and mass packaged it so that it is no longer real silat. Ironically it is easier to find real silat in the West these days!
I recently found out on a previous thread that the Malaysian military doesn't practice silat because interestingly enough they consider it a muslim martial art, and being a multi-ethnic state with Indians and Chinese as well as Malays in the goverment they chose a non preferential MA, Korean MA's . Makes me wonder what the MNLF in the southern P.I. learned since they were trained by Malaysian special forces. There's a good passage in O'ong Maryono's book where he interviews young pesilat's in Indonesia and ask them about silat. They say they're proud to practice silat in their home village, but get embarassed and ashamed whenever they go into a city because the taekwando practitioners have sneakers, get to go to the olympics and drive cars. Gives you a sense of some of how silats viewed there. lawman, try the forum at KPSnusantara.com a number of the posters live in Malaysia and are well aquanted with the guru's there.
It's hard to imagine a Silat practitioner being embarassed around TKD practitioners in Indonesia. That is truly sad.
I dont think its an embarrassment of their art, more of their lifestyle. maybe feel insignificant because their art is beeter to them, but they dont get the recognision it deserves.....i dunno, im speculating, but i can imagine kinda what it must be like...
Hi Crucible, just retuned from the PI. Some units in the malaysian army train in silat. My former malaysian guro was sent to Sarawak to train Dayak troops.... There is also a rumor that british SAS trained them. MNLF fighters didn't need to train in Malaysian silat because filipino experts were already teaching them in the training camps of the "freedom islands". Guess who taught silat to Nur Missuary ?
Hi Crucible, just retuned from the PI. Some units in the malaysian army train in silat. My former malaysian guro was sent to Sarawak to train Dayak troops.... There is also a rumor that british SAS trained them. MNLF fighters didn't need to train in Malaysian silat because filipino experts were already teaching them in the training camps of the "freedom islands".
I wonder if this is universal or just within certain branches Malaysian military or MNLF? Ah, but the MNLF did make an agreement with the Malaysian goverment not to pursue the Sabah claim in exchange for fiirearms, supplies and military training, perhaps it was specific to military tactics and use of firearms? BTW how was your trip? Get any training in?
Concerning my former malaysian guro this was in the late 80's. About the SAS rumor it concerns the MNLF but I am pretty sure they trained some units of the malaysian army. Nice trip, Christmas is always good fun in the PI but very busy, I couldn't move out of Luzon (had to meet my wife's relatives). Of course I trained silat, it was mostly on weapons. I will settle in the PI April or May and hopefully go one month to Basilan in July.
Salam hormat, Hello everybody. It has been awhile since I’ve been on the board and I apologise if it looks as if I’m needling into this conversation. It seems to have run its course anyway. If allowed, I would like to comment on a few of the posts. To Lawman: I’m very sorry you couldn’t find any silat to study while you were in Kuala Lumpur. From a native’s point of view, there are about 30 silat I could have introduced you to if I had known you were here. The next time you plan on coming to Malaysia, please do contact me at saifulazraq@gmail.com. I make no excuses for KL-ites who don’t know silat from Adam but rest assured, silat is popular in Malaysia. Unfortunately, existing laws make it so that classes have to be regulated by the police and the home ministry. If you were in the heart of KL (KLCC/Ampang/Cheras), I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t find any classes since most silat aren’t for-profit and could never afford to rent a space in downtown KL. Secondly, most practitioners of silat are children and university students. Therefore, most of these classes are in the suburbs and higher learning institutions. There are also personal classes, but these are never advertised. To this day, silat has never been declared as a Malaysian national art. This is at odds with Brunei who has declared Silat Cakak as its national silat. Reason being, Malaysia is no longer a Malay national country. About 30% of the population is Chinese and for cultural and political reasons, the assertion of Malay culture and religion is difficult. A huge row surfaced when the former Prime Minister declared Malaysia an Islamic country, much to the opposition of the non-Muslims. However, due to the efforts of the government and local silat bodies, many young Malaysians are taking up silat, either by choice or compulsory co-curricular activities. As for Cakra Alam, I would heed my fellow boardmembers’ advice. Do steer clear of them. I won’t say anything other than this, if it’s silat you’re looking for, then they don’t have it. To SilatPupil: I understand what you’re saying that silat as a whole did not originate in one place and I’d be surprised if there actually was a silat that was born in Kuala Lumpur say, 400 years ago. Sort of like New Yorko Karate-do. KL is a settlement barely 200 years old. It was just dense brush before the Chinese came in and transformed all that. The ‘Black Magic’ aspect that Lawman refers to is probably of his own observation of the website. However, from my experience with them, a lot of people see their practices as ‘black’ not for just some reason, but for very good reasons, which many non-natives will put down to internal energy training and things like that. In defence of people who enjoy setting themselves on fire and rolling around on spikes, they would save a lot on mattresses and fire extinguishers, don’t you think? To Wali: Parlour tricks in Malaysian silat (let’s not talk of Cakra Alam, shall we…) is essentially a survival mechanism to combat the influx of Judo, Karate and Taekwondo into the Malay mindset during the 50s, 60s and 70s. More and more Malays were being mesmerised by the sheer power and display of these arts that they began seeing silat as something ancient and no longer practical. Several different silat reacted differently. Silat Cekak discarded the practice of kembangan and did high-speed hit-and-lock demonstrations, while Seni Gayong and Silat Lincah emulated the Japanese in their brick-breaking, glass-smashing, coconut-teeth-peeling (well, maybe this was just them) antics to sway the Malay community back towards silat, and to a large extent, it worked. For a time, Seni Gayong was accepted as material in the Royal Malaysian Police and Royal Malaysian Army as combat training. Many silat also adopted the Judo colour belting concept and began having gradings and really long maturity periods in their studies. However, many of these survival reactions have remained in the modern day silat and deemed part of tradition. This has resulted in quite a few students missing the woods for the trees. However, I can personally vouch for the Gayong people who knew nothing of parlour tricks and actually smashed bricks, tiles, walked on glass and others with regular zeal. That is, until they discovered why their hands and feet hurt more than the other ‘parlour artists’ who used wet bricks and bottle glass. Lest you think I’m playing this up, no. They really got hurt. However, I admire their tenacity and confidence. The reason you can find real silat in the West these days is because the West has a way of weeding out the non from the corn. I don’t know about Indonesia (must travel there someday) but in Malaysia, silat is as real as it can get. To Crucible: It is true that the Malaysian military (ATM) doesn’t practice silat but that was on the recommendation of Tan Sri General (R) Ghazali Seth, who saw the Korean military’s discipline and strength and attributed it to Taekwondo. He decided to add it to the empty handed combat training (TTS) syllabus. Presently, the ATM’s training syllabus has combined the best of Gayong, Judo, Karate and Taekwondo. A similar blend is taught to all police personnel and is termed Silat Polis. I agree with SilatPupil’s comment on Pak O’ong Maryono’s interview. It is not so much that they are embarrassed with silat, rather the lifestyle and surroundings that silat is accustomed to be seen in. Taekwondo on the other hand, even in Malaysia, is studied by the affluent, which is why the segregation of the societal strata is viewable even by looking at the arts studied by their children. Upper class Chinese and Malays send their children to study Taekwondo while the middle to lower income bracket study kung fu (even then, very little) and silat. Salam persilatan, Saiful Azraq
yes. bersilat was the malaysian national art. what he was saying is that silat is a general term for a type of martial art. like penjac/ penkak silat in indonesia, bersilat in malaysia, filipino silat and kuntao silat of the southern philippines.
