03 September 2006

Jeff Davidson: The Lost Melayu

This is probably the most embarrassing entry I'm going to post on this blog. A good friend of mine, someone I have never met before but have had the pleasure of having inspired silat discussions with, has posted an entry about me on his blog.

Jeff Davidson, who writes at his blog Balisong Journal is a teacher of Silat Kuntau Tekpi in Michigan, America and has a long history in South East Asian martial arts and the sufi traditions. Known online as JD Tekpi and also likes to be called Jaafar ibn Daud, Jeff has shown great interest and admiration for silat. I have found him to be a careful proponent of the Melayu arts, and has tried to keep as true to the traditions they were founded upon. You can read his article on Silat Kuntau Tekpi at silatmelayu.com.

Jeff has, on several occasions, admitted himself to being a land displaced or a closet Melayu, due to his taste for our arts, our food and our women (just kidding). Here's hoping he'll actually make it to Malaysia to complete the transformation.

I have never ceased to learn something new from Jeff everytime we have our discussions and our lives have paralleled each other's within the last one year. To Jeff, thanks for the compliment. Here's mine in return, deficient as it may be.

See his post http://balisongplayer.blogspot.com/2006/09/silat-melayu-on-move.html

Original Article by Mohd Nadzrin Wahab

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