Silat: The Deadly Art of Indonesia and Malaysia
By Terry H. Gibson
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Eddie Jafri (above) was one of the first to teach pentjak silat in the United States, conducting clinics throughout the country in the 1970s and ’80s.
You are minding your own business, buying a newspaper at your local convenience store, when a belligerent drunk decides to take a punch at you simply because you met his stare for a second too long. What the drunk doesn’t know is that you are trained in the Indonesian martial art silat, and you are therefore able to move easily into close range where your big guns—the knees, elbows and head—can be brought into play. This range is referred to as the “battleground” by Indonesians.
Now that you’ve entered the battleground and are literally in the drunk’s face, you can begin the “tranquilizing process”—a vicious combination of elbows, knees, finger jabs, head butts and kicks to his groin, shins, thighs, eyes or any other vulnerable target. If he is still a threat after your initial salvo of blows, your combinations must continue. Can you sweep him to the ground? Can you elbow his spine? Can you stomp on one of his feet and force him off-balance? These are just a few of the possibilities available to an accomplished silat stylist.
What Is Silat?
Roughly speaking, silat means “skill for fighting.” There are hundreds of different styles of silat, most of which are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand and the southern Philippines. Common to all of these styles is a combat-oriented ideology and the use of weaponry.
In Indonesia, there exist hundreds of styles of pentjak silat, as well as many systems of kuntao, a form of Chinese boxing that bears many similarities to silat and is found primarily within the Chinese communities in Indonesia. There are also many systems that blend pentjak silat and kuntao. According to noted martial arts historian and author Donn Draeger, “Chinese fighting tactics have had positive influences on the development of pentjak silat.”
Malaysia is home to a style known as bersilat, which can be divided into two forms: pulut, a dancelike series of movements intended for public display, and buah, a realistic combat method never publicly displayed.
Bersilat is also found in the southern Philippines, as well as langkah silat, kuntao silat and kali silat.
Silat techniques vary greatly, from the low ground-fighting postures of harimau (tiger) silat to the high-flying throws of madi silat. One particularly vicious madi throw involves controlling your opponent’s head, leaping through the air, and using your body weight to yank him off his feet as your knee slams into his spinal column. A typical harimau takedown involves coming in low against an opponent’s punch, capturing his foot with your foot, and forcing his knee outward with a strike or grab to the inside knee to effect the takedown.
In Filipino silat, it is common to trap your opponent’s foot with your own foot while controlling his head and arm, then spin him in a circle. The opponent’s body rotates 360 degrees, but his knee and foot remain in place, causing severe injury.
The sheer number of silat styles allows practitioners a tremendous amount of variety, as well as a certain amount of freedom and self-expression. By researching a number of silat systems, you can add tremendous diversity to your combat arsenal.
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In this self-defense sequence, silat stylist Terry H. Gibson (left) scoops (1) his opponent’s jab and simultaneously traps (2) his foe’s other hand in place. Gibson is now free to deliver (3) an elbow to his opponent’s face. Gibson then grabs (4) his adversary’s hair with both hands and pulls (5) his head into a knee smash.
Weaponry
Virtually all silat styles, particularly Filipino silat, emphasize weapons training. In the areas where silat originated, carrying a weapon - usually one of the bladed variety - was for generations a fact of life for the general male populace. A silat practitioner will normally be skilled with a knife, stick, sword, staff, spear, rope, chain, whip, projectile weapons or a combination thereof.
The kris, with its wavy blade, is one of the most common weapons in Indonesia and Malaysia. Another wicked weapon found in Indonesia is the karambit (tiger’s claw), a short, curved blade used to hook into an opponent’s vital points. According to Draeger, the karambit is used in an upward, ripping manner to tear into the bowels of the victim.
Most silat systems emphasize low, quick kicks, primarily because of the likelihood the practitioner will be confronting an opponent armed with a bladed weapon. A good rule of thumb is to never try a kick against a knife-wielding opponent, unless the kick is delivered at close range and is used as a support technique.
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Defending against an opponent’s left jab, silat stylist Terry H. Gibson (left) parries (1) the blow and simultaneously strikes the biceps. Gibson blocks a right cross, countering (2) with an elbow to the biceps. Gibson then applies (3) an armbar maneuver, finishing (4) with an elbow smash to the spine.
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Silat Components
What comprises a good silat system? Following are some of the key components:
• Efficient entry system.
The style must have techniques that allow you to move quickly and efficiently into close range of your opponent. It must also include training methods that will hone your timing, precision and accuracy when employing those techniques.
• Effective follow-up techniques.
The system must have effective punching and kicking techniques. Heavy-duty techniques such as headbutts, knee smashes and elbow strikes must be highly developed. “Finishing” techniques are more effective if your opponent is properly “tranquilized.”
• Devastating finishing techniques.
After you have entered into close range and applied a “tranquilizing” technique to your opponent, the next step is to apply a “finishing” technique -throw, sweep, takedown, lock, choke - to end the confrontation. Locking maneuvers will break or render ineffective an opponent’s joint. Choking techniques will produce unconsciousness. Takedowns, throws or sweeps will slam the opponent into the ground or other objects with enough force to end a confrontation.
• Realistic weapons training.
Most silat systems emphasize weapons training at some point. This training will include realistic contact-oriented drills rather than forms practice and will greatly improve your reflexes, timing, accuracy, rhythm and precision. It’s amazing how quickly practitioners improve when facing a bladed weapon traveling at a high rate of speed.
Silat theory, then, is simple: Enter into close range of the opponent, apply a “tranquilizing” technique such as a punch or kick, and then “finish” the opponent off with a heavy-duty technique such as a lock, sweep, choke or throw.
When facing an opponent who attempts (1) a roundhouse kick, silat stylist Terry H. Gibson uses his knee to jam the kick at the shin, then counters (2) with a hard kick to his opponent’s knee joint.
Silat in the United States
Suryadi (Eddie) Jafri was one of the first to teach pentjak silat in the United States, conducting seminars throughout the country in the 1970s and ’80s before returning to Indonesia several years ago.
The well-respected Paul de Thouars teaches silat publicly at his Academy of Bukti Negara in Arcadia, California, and also conducts seminars across the United States each year.
Another fine instructor is mande muda pentjak silat stylist Herman Suwanda, who divides his time between Los Angeles and his home in Indonesia. Mande muda is a composite of 18 different silat systems.
Dan Inosanto of Los Angeles uses his weekly seminars as a forum to spread silat, as well as other martial arts. Inosanto has studied with de Thouars, Jafri and Suwanda in Indonesian pentjak silat. He has also worked with John LaCoste, who taught Inosanto kuntao silat, bersilat, kali and langkah silat of the southern Philippines. Inosanto also trained under Nik Mustapha in Malaysian bersilat.
There are actually only a few qualified silat instructors in the United States, and most of them are not easy to find. If, however, you have the good fortune to undertake the study of silat under a competent instructor, prepare yourself because you are in for an exciting, invigorating exploration into one of the world’s richest and most effective martial disciplines.
About the author: Terry H. Gibson is a Tutsa, Oklahoma-based martiat arts instructor who teaches various styles of silat, muay Thai and jeet kune do.
NOTE: This article first appeared in Black Belt Magazine, January 1993, pages 54-56. Please click on pictures for larger resolution. All pictures are are courtesy of Terry Gibson except the first of Eddie Jafri which is courtesy of David Steele.
This article posted in honor of Terry Gibson (March 28, 1953 - September 26, 1997). He would've been 62 today.
Please check out these related Silat entries in case you missed them:
- REVIEW: “Village of the Keris” DVD
- IN MEMORY OF: Pendekar Paul De Thouars (1930 - Sept 11, 2013)
- Bobbe Edmonds - Limb Destructions Vidclips
- Bobbe Edmonds - Mande Muda Vidclips
- Bobbe Edmonds - Penchak Silat Lecture Vidclips
- Bobbe Edmonds - Pecut Pencak Silat Lecture Vidclips
- Bobbe Edmonds - Perception in the Martial Arts
- Bobbe Edmonds - Posture, Structure, Stance and Mobility
- Some sarong notes from a Dan Inosanto seminar by JMAN
- Silat exponent Saiedah Said banned during the recent National Pencak Silat Championships
- NEWS: Malaysia looking to revive and preserve Silat
For another Terry Gibson article, please check:
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