The Art of Dumog

While we are waiting for the esteemed owner of this informative blog to return to his post, I thought I might share with my Malaysian friends a bit of what I practice martial arts-wise...

I began training in Indonesian, Filipino, and African martial arts in 1987. My introduction to the world of Silat Melayu came only a few short years ago under the auspices of Cikgu Omar Hakim in Silat Kuntau Tekpi. My brother Nadzrin has also been guiding me (very carefully) in the teachings of Silat Abjad. My other brother- Ustaz al Muhammad of Silat Telapak Nusantara- is another powerful guiding influence for me in Silat and inner knowledge.

I have studied the Pekiti-Tirsia system of Kali (Filipino Martial Arts) under Grandmaster Leo T. Gaje Jr. since about 1999. While Pekiti-Tirsia is primarily a weapons-based system, it contains an empty-hand method of indigenous grappling techniques popularly known as Dumog. Below is an article describing certain elements of Dumog from the writings of Grandmaster Gaje. I welcome your comments and/or questions. Enjoy!

From Grandmaster Gaje:

"The training methods of the Pangamut (hand-to-hand combat) concentrates on the toughening of the fingernails and the palm. At the initial stage, the Dumoguero prepares a ganta of (Katumbal) red-hot pepper, all ripened and are placed in a bucket. Both open hands are dip inside the bucket were the hot pepper are to be squeezed until all the juices are separated. Then both hands are transferred into another bucket filled with sand.

Once the hands are dip into the sand, the arm must sink up to the elbow level. The process of dipping is to thrust the hand into the bucket hitting the fined sand so vigorously that for continuous thrust the hands are toughened and toughened. After few minutes, the same hands are dipped into the bucket filled with pepper juices until the hands are numbed not to feel any pain. The pepper juice sinks into the tip of the fingernails and to the skin of the forearms. This is done every other day up to 49 days. The philosophy of this training is for the hand to have protection against poison.

The poisons are taken from the venom of a walo-walo water snake, Poison from Atipalo, poison from Ewi-ewi, poison from Lagot-not (a poisonous tree). The Dumuguero boils the coconut oil, and once the coconut oil is cooked it is transferred into a small bucket to be mixed with the poison. This is mixed while the oil is still hot. After few minutes the hands are dip into the bucket of oil and poison. Then the Dumoguero remove his hands from the bucket and air dry his hands ready to be used for combat.

During the fight the Dumoguero concentrates his attacks by thrusting his fingers into the mouth or eyes of the opponent. Once the fingers touches the mouth or the eyes, then there will be a change of the opponent movements, that means that the poison is working. Then after couple of minutes the enemy will feel dizzy complaining for headaches. From then the opponent cannot continue the fight and he is being brought to a place where he can rest. Then after few hours, or few days, there is news that the man dies caused by heart attack or some illness caused by some spirits.

The other method is to apply the poison by inserting the Atipalo’s teeth in between the fingers. Once contact is made, the Dumoguero use the teeth of the Atipalo to scratch the opponent’s hand or skin and immediately the opponent will have a tremendous pain and feverish causing paralysis of the spinal column more than enough for a victim to die either instantly or couple of hours.

The Dumoguero is a very tricky fighter. A open hand slap of the Dumoguero into any parts of the body will cause sudden chill and dizziness that causes serious vomiting and diarrhea if no herbal medicine that will be applied from a special medicinal tree, the victim will die. The hands of the Dumogueros are filled with poison.

The Dumoguero also performs a certain traditional ritual to re-enforce his power and strength. Doing the advanced rituals, the spiritual power of the Dumoguero is effective against an enemy during combat. The Dumoguero can weakened the opponent by reducing the strength of the enemy causing him not to stand or walk.

The use of the poison hand is not limited only for Dumog encounter but also being practiced in cases of personal challenges. If someone became a victim of the poison hand he suddenly dies, of an unknown cause but most of the time it is blamed to heart attacks.

The Dumog/Pangamut movements are done in simulation as movement of the snake about to catch the prey. The wavy motion is also a reflection of the wave of the sea. The hands are moved in parallel movements, vertical movements and reverse vertical motions crossing and counter crossing the body. Any grabbing to the body by one hand or two hands immediately it is countered by one hand while the other hand is thrusting the eyes and the mouth of the opponent. A smart Dumoguero is always prepared to counter against thrust to the eyes or to the mouth. To combine the Dumog techniques and the Pangamut using all the dirty tricks, fighting the Dumoguero will always bring death. That is why the presence of the Dumoguero during family trouble or community fight will reduce the possibility of a serious confrontation."