Silat Between Progression And Tradition

The same way that 'karate' serves as a blanket term for a multitude of Okinawan-Japanese styles, so too does SILAT (Malaysia) denote an endless variety of fighting methods, many of which bear a striking resemblance to arts from foreign countries. Reports of karate-like, judo-like, aikido-like, savate-like, wing chun-like, boxing-like and God-knows-what-else-like arts are mostly not exaggerated for Silat Melayu is highly adaptive and has, in my mind, accepted more diverse foreign influences than any other martial art in the world. In Malaysia, the late Mahaguru Datuk Meor Abdul Rahman Uda Hashim's was known for his openness of the reception of karate and judo-like techiques into his Silat Gayong system without losing the entire Melayuness of the art. It was essentially a progressive philosophy, something nobody before Bruce Lee even considered saying loudly in the West. That was a Melayu art with Japanese influences. In Malaysia, the art is administrated by a few organisations including Pertubuhan Silat Seni Gayong Malaysia (PSSGM), Pertubuhan Silat Seni Pusaka Gayong Malaysia, Pertubuhan Seni Silat Gayong Warisan and PASAK in Singapore. It currently has a few offshoots and no surviving counterparts. Another interesting example is Silat Lian Padukan which is interestingly, a Yunnanese art with Melayu and Siamese influences. Unlike many kuntau masters who maintain that their art is Melayu all the while ignoring the origin of the name itself, Lian Padukan prides itself as being a Chinese adaptation of an Arab fist art with Melayu innovations.

Review : Silambam

Gangga Negara, one of the peninsula's oldest kingdoms, was eventually destroyed by Rajendra Chola I of the Tamil Chola empire. Today, most Malaysian Indians are Tamils, who influenced several Southeast Asian martial arts through silambam. This staff-based fighting style was already being practiced by the region's Indian community when Malacca Sultanate was founded at the beginning of the 15th century. During the 18th century silambam became more prevalent in the Malay Peninsula than in India, where it was banned by the British government. The bamboo staff is still one of silat's most fundamental weapons. The seventh century was the beginning of the Srivijaya civilization in Palembang, Sumatra and the influence of silat from the mainland Malay society was consolidated by Ninik Dato' Suri Diraja (1097–1198) to create silek (Minang silat) of Sumatra. Silambam is a weapon-based Dravidian martial art from Tamil Nadu in south India but also practised by the Tamil community of Sri Lanka and Malaysia. In Tamil, the word silambam refers to the bamboo staff which is the main weapon used in this style. Other weapons are also used such as the short staff (sedi kuchi or muchchaan), deer horn (maduvu), knife (kathi), sword (vaal), stick (kali or kaji), dagger (kuttuval), knuckle duster (kuttu katai), and whips with several flexible and metallic blades (surul pattai). Unarmed silambam, called kuttu varisai, utilizes stances and routines based on animal movements such as the snake, tiger, elephant and eagle forms.

Review : Pencak Silat Mutiara Panca Rasa

Pencak Silat founded : Approximately 1,000 years ago, came from the kingdom of “SIAK SRI INDRAPURA”. Pencak Silat is an Indonesian martial art and began originally as a weapons style of combat. Pencak Silat has borrowed much from its nearby neighbours of India and China, blending those fighting styles into their own. The result was a style containing kicking and striking techniques mixed with a variety of weapons techniques. Pencak Silat Amongst the thousands of Indonesian islands, there are hundreds of schools of Pentjak Silat, each with their own identity. Some of these also teach the arts of magic, healing and mystic powers. KING MAHMUD PASSED AWAY IN THE CARRYING (A FOLKLORE), A SHORTE STORY. RENARATED BY: THE DESCENDANT OF SIAK SRI INDRAPURA KINGDOM IN THE RIAU PROVINCE, PEKAN BARU, TENGKU FUAD ALZAKIYAT AZHAR, PROFESSOR AND THE FOUNDER OF SELF-DEFENCE SYSTEM “MUTIARA PANCA RASA” (THE PEARL OF FIVE SENSES). Around the 12 Century after the birth of Jesus Christ, the Islam religion spread into the Malacca Peninsula, Aceh, East Sumatra, Riau and other regions. So it happened, KING MAHMUD reigned the kingdom of SIAK SRI INDRAPURA. The Commanders of the Kingdom were two brothers who had a super natural power were; they were namely Commander MEGAT SRI RAMA (the older brother) who was Hinduism and Com-mander WAHAB (the younger brother) who was a Moslem. It was said, Sultan Mahmud (a Moslem), in his life was a king who had a super natural power, he was respected by his people and his enemies were afraid of him. The King was invulnerable to any weapon when his feet were on the ground. He was able to walk on the surface of a river, sea and he rode a tiger. Until nowadays, the Siak Sri Indrapura people call the said animal “Tengkes Tiger”.

Review : Harimurti

A traditional style developed in the palace grounds of Yogyakarta. It was first taught outside the palace by RM Harimurti (Raden Rio Tedjonegoro), and the school was formally organised by his student Suko Winadi. RM Harimurti, born in 1905, was a Hamengku Buwono VII’s grandson from GPH Tejokusumo and RAy Mangkorowati. He grew as a kid who was interested in learning olah kanuragan (art of body) from Java and also martial arts from abroad like Jujutsu, Karate, Shantung etc from Chinese and Japanese immigrants. When he was adult, he taught Pencak to the public in Pendopo Ndalem Tejokusuman. During that time, his martial art style was known as Pencak Tejokusuman. Dutch East-Indies Police was suspicious with his activity in teaching Pencak because he was also active to support Pergerakan (National Movement) Budi Oetomo. According to Bapak Suko Winadi, RM Harimurti used dance movement to cover his Pencak (martial arts) to avoid police’s suspicion. In 1932, he delegated his school to Bapak Suko Winadi, who formalized this school as PerPi (Persatuan Pencak Indonesia), which later changed its name to PERPI ( Perguruan Pencak Indonesia) and finaly known as PERPI Harimurti. Bapak Suko Winadi was also known as 2nd grandmaster of this school. Although he had delegated his school to Bapak Suko, RM Harimurti was not totally retired from his activity to teach pencak. Some times, he directly taught his students. RM Harimurti at the end of his years was well-known as Commander of Royal Jogjakarta Guardian Troop and also as medicine man or spiritual healer and paranormal. However, he always objected if people recognized him as paranormal or dukun.