i train in filipino kali/escrima/arnis in inosanto academy~martial arts research systems school. recently they have added a class "panantukan silat" where we do a lot of silat body mechanics and applications. what kinda strikes me is that if i'm correct?,Silat is about as knife oriented as kali, yet we treat it like an empty hand art. what's up with that?
Firstly, there is no such thing as panatukan silat. There is panatukan, and there is silat. What you describe sounds like a hybrid almagamation of both systems, with bits and bobs from each. Each to their own I guess. As for your query, silat has many aspects, ONE of which is knife fighting. There is far more to silat than just the blade. It is an excellent art for empty hand fighting, but a good school and teacher will understand that the blade is just an extension of your body, and the body mechanics used when fighting with a blade are the same as when fighting without one. We train empty hand first. Develop alignment, posture, technique, timing, balance, etc... as these skills are as important, if not more, than just slashing a knife around. Only when the body can move, switch, parry, evade, etc... is the blade introduced. By that stage, the student will already have a good understanding of using the knife, as the mentioned training will naturally lead to this. Many people want to rush into things, which could potentially get them killed, while "playing knives" in a school. Try at least to have the basics in place, and the knife will take care of itself. There is a whole methodology for developing as a silat man, and if you want me to be honest with you, you need to learn a silat system, rather than a combination of this and that, with some silat bits thrown in. Hope this helps. BTW, where do you train?
Salaam, What a great reply Mas Wali! I have absolutely nothing better to add to your response other than to say: Silat is a culture, a way of thinking, a mentality, a way of feeling, a way of moving, a way of respecting your elders, a way of expressing yourself in life and to a lesser extent in fighting. If you merely cut and paste techniques you're not doing Silat, you're just copying techniques. There are some who think they know silat b/c they learned a takedown and a footsweep. Also the name Panatukan Silat makes no sense at all from a linguistic or cultural perspective sort of like Kung-Judo. :bang: Jawara
Rahayu, With all due respect ... in a cultural context silat panantukan is exactly how I would describe panantukan if I was speaking Javanese. Silat panantukan kui silate bongso Pilipna! ... and that is not incorrect. So what exactly is silat in your honourable definitions? It is hard to define, has no single definition. Let's not get stuffy about this Salam Krisno
Part of it is that you mentioned you train at an Inosanto Academy. Historically, they have blended FMA & Silat in some shape or form. Dan Inosanto found some synergy between the arts and blended them. He even created his own blend "Maphilindo".
Maphilindo (Malaysian/Filipino/indonesian) Silat was created to honor Guru Dan's many Silat instructors and be repesentative of their different styles. But he never called anything "Panantukan Silat", at least not in the years I've been studying those arts. This probably an overzealous mistake on someone else's part. Hormat, Serakmurid
