Pencak Silat

Why is this art not taught more openly?

There's a lot of history behind that. One of my instrutors is Indonesian. Pentjac Silat (and all spellings) is comprised of many different arts. For many of the Indonesian's they have a very long background of real secrecy behind them, such as you have to wait for a group member to die to get a chance to join a group.

There is not one answer and in part that is changing today as times change, but only in part. For many of the PS groups it remains a secret.

Then you have the Dutch(Holland) connection. After participating in the war aginst the Japanese in WWII, the Indonesians began a much more intense effort to rid themselves of the Dutch.

So it's only natural that those who returned to Holland shared what they had studied. I imagine there are similaties and differences between the groups, even among the groups that will teach openly.

BTW, in many of the Indonesian arts there is also a strong linkage to 'magical' practices. Not my cup of tea, and it may just be a form of self-hypnotism. But there are groups with very differing traditions.

My instructor used to interject his tjimande training between karate, but in time separated the instruction (some time after I stopped trianing with him).

Yeah it still is quite a secretive art. Have you ever tried to find books on it?! Not too many that are available in English.

In some ways I can't blame Silat groups for not teaching more openly. You only have to look at the state most mainstream martial arts are in.

I have heard of magick too. Guru in Ireland told me it was akin to "zoning out". It sounded a bit like tunnel vision to me, i.e. focusing on what was at hand, not being distracted by unimportant things. He was talking about the trance side of Silat though. It's a cultural thing I suppose.

Hi,

There are a few books, Draeger's on the Indonesian arts might be the more interesting. But the books I've seen so far don't touch the tip of the training.

I think the fairest rule on Siliat is you'll only get it if you find the right instructor, and that can be a journey.

I found this site featuring Victor's (and my) tjimande instructor and some short video clips.
http://www.silat-video.com/

Someone mentioned that it was like no other art they've practiced. I can agree with that. Vague similarities here and there... the biggest difference to me was the initial idea of the directions of attack. In every art I've studied, it seemed as if you were standing in the center of a compass, and defending from all the cardinal directions (north, south, northeast, etc). Not that you would stand still and let anyone circle you, but you get my drift. In silat, your opponent represents the center of the compass and you move around him. The way my instructor moves around me so easily makes me feel as though I am rooted there, though, stuck in the middle of that damn compass...

Hi Boomer,

You may want to add that Sutrisno Sensei is far faster in person than on those clips.

Indeed. I assumed that people would take them for what they are, training videos, not a demonstration of skill. A minute glance of his speed can be determined by looking at the video clip with the knife techniques.

Prizewriter asked me to comment on the Pencak Silat thread.

The reason why Pencak Silat is rather popular in the Netherlands is for the colonial history Holland and Indonesia have share.

There is still a large Indonesian community in the Netherlands, who have still strong cultual ties with Indonesia. In every city there is likely to be found a Pencak Silat school.

Our Karate school has a friendly relation ship with a Pencak Silat school Perguruan Pencak Silat Pamor Badai who teach a the same gym. The gave a demonstration at our 30th annerversairy in may 2004. It was a nice experience.
They had a truely acrobattical, animal like style of movement.
Their legs must be like rock because of the demanding low stances.

You must also know that there are extremly many styles of the Pencak Silat, because of the many islands Indonesia has. I was once told that almost every tribe had it's own system / style.

I can't say that Pencak Silat is as popular as karate in the USA. In the Netherland Karate is little better known, but as sais, you could find a Pencak Silat school in almost every city.

Thanks Ives!!!

Malaysia has a common border/culture with Indonesia, and so silat is very much a part of the cultural/MA life here.

The word 'silat' is like the word 'kung fu', it is a generic term for MA and the various systems just add whatever adjectives to it to distinguish themselves.

It is still a secretive art around here (especially in the rural areas of the country) as some religious/spiritual teachings are involved, which gives rise to the magical part; maybe less so now than before, perhaps the spiritual part is now seen as 'old-fashioned' in this computer age.

You mentioned the karambit. It is actually more a Malaysian weapon than Indonesian. The Indonesian version, being longer, is more often called 'lawi ayam' (lawi=spike, ayam=chicken)

I've done some training with the karambit, and in a dark alley-way, it is a most useful weapon to have. It is fast, not easily noticed as it hides in the palm of the hand and because of the ring around the index finger, virtually impossible to dislodge, unlike the knife.

Salam,
I am from Indonesia, the origin country where silat come from. I am learning insyaAllah the Real Cimande from the true silat founder in UK. My friend had talked with Steven in Hendon that he should't claim that he teaches Cimande. The real Cimande is certified by the Pencak Silat Federation in UK. You can contact me if you have any inquiry about Pencak Silat Cimande. We are going to establish our lesson soon so there will be no miss leading training of Cimande and its phylosophy anymore.

Who is your friend... Use names and don't hide behind the internet.

The Cimande taught at EWS is traditional Cimande, from a traditional teacher from the village of Mahmud.

Go ahead and establish a "real" school, and feel free to share with the world. At the end of the day, claims and talk are easy to make, but you still must produce the silat at the end of the day... Maybe you can post some of it in the web for all to marvel at...

Alternatively, come down to EWS and see the Cimande for yourself, before trying to claim exclusivity to a system that is widespread amosts many teachers and schools in Indonesia.

Making claims on the internet is easy... backing them up in reality is quite a different matter.

Previous post should have said from Ciawi, and not Mahmud.