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.

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.