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.