01 August 2008

Sad day for silat?

I got a very disturbing phone call this morning. One of my masters, a highly respected campaigner of silat with powerful media and political connections, is considering stepping down from his role for the second time.

This means that the silat world in Malaysia will suffer a great blow (although those who don't favour him will disagree) and might decline once again as it did in the 1990s. He tells me that the current political situation in Malaysia has caused him to reconsider his efforts for the last 10 years, which he claims have not seen much results in changing the landscape of silat (We disagree).

He says his decision will be made soon. I pray that it will be in our favour. I shudder to think what would happen if it isn't.

Original Article by Mohd Nadzrin Wahab

6 comments:

GLOBAL ABJAD BLOG said...

Salam

I think I can guess who the Guru is but I ain't saying anything. Indeed he has done so much for Silat and hopefully we can do something for him as well. I wish I can sign a petition for him not to leave but bro. Nadzrin knows him better.

Anyway, there are still many great things need to be discovered or rediscovered and these new things are not really new..it's ancient and it's been with our forefathers for centuries.

I'm referring to specifically how religion, race, political views, ideologies and running a nation (and not forgetting Silat or Martial Arts) can be in harmony and not conflicting one another.

But if they are not properly streamlined to complement one another..it would be a chaos!

If I may say :

"Tak lekang dek panas, tak basah dek hujan"

in summary, the interpretation would be (not translation) - whatever happens to you, you are still you, nothing will change except your age.

Thus, there is no reason for the Guru to step down just because of the nature of politics...somehow, people at large will get immune to the situation and life goes on.

Whatever people trying to change or modify in the name of modernization, then it could only lead to two things - destruction or evolution.

Wassalaam.

Panglima said...

Nak buat macam mana kalau kepentingan politik memlebihi kepentingan memperkembangkan seni silat.Inilah yang akan terjadi kepada kepada pertubuhan jikalau orang orang yang berada di dalam nya mempunyai motif yang lain untuk berada di dalam sebuah persatguan.Memang menyedihkan.

Mr feckry said...

sorry i`m late for this comment. if i'm not mistake sendeng founder is kiyai salleh batu pahat.

Mohd Nadzrin Wahab said...

Salam hormat Sir Feckry,

I assume this comment was meant for the post preceding this one. As I understand it, Kiyai Salleh did not found Sendeng. He taught his variation to Haji Abdul Hamid Hamzah.

No one knows who founded Sendeng. According to our friends in Sulawesi and pencak silat researcher Dr Jean-Marc deGraves, Sendeng originated in Kalimantan.

It found its way to Sulawesi and was further developed by the Bugis people. Sendeng is still well and alive in Sulawesi today and is one of the styles protected under the Gerak Ilham banner.

Salam persilatan,

N.H. Tay said...

Assalamualaikum.

First time being here. A great blog on Silat i must say. i'm linking this blog to mine if you don't mind. May Allah bless you. :)

Salam Persilatan dari Selatan Tanah air.

MFAMR said...

It's a sad thing if it's true he's steeping down