"Girls Can’t and Shouldn’t Do Martial Arts": Sulaiman Sharif Explodes Gender Myth in "50 Martial Arts Myths"

New York, NY (Vocus/PRWEB) January 20, 2010 -- While many parents still persist in the belief that martial arts are for boys, the truth is that girls are actually better students than boys. So says Seni Gayong Black Warrior Sulaiman Sharif in his surprising new book, “50 Martial Arts Myths.”

The 220-page, softcover book – which can be purchased from Amazon – is now available to libraries and bookstores via Ingram and Baker & Taylor.“50 Martial Arts Myths” debunks common misconceptions about the world’s fighting systems.

In fact, if it weren’t for the social pressures that drive many girls away from martial arts during puberty, we would see many, many more female martial arts masters. “According to stories handed down over generations, Wing Chun, a Chinese martial art practiced by movie legend Bruce Lee, among others, was named after a young woman named Wing Chun, who in turn learned the martial art from another woman, a nun named Ng Moy,” explains Sulaiman, the highest-ranking black belt in the Malay Warrior Art of Seni Gayong Int. USA. “This is just one example of the long association of girls and women with the martial arts.

“My experience as a teacher, and a teacher of teachers, has shown me that girls are generally more willing to learn martial arts the right way than boys -- and less likely to take shortcuts that focus on how to ‘beat people up,’” Sulaiman says. “In fact, if it weren’t for the social pressures that drive many girls away from martial arts during puberty, we would see many, many more female martial arts masters.”

From the secrets of the Shaolin Temple to the tales of unstoppable one-touch death moves, myths and misconceptions about the martial arts have been perpetuated for centuries -- and proliferate today on Internet forums, among Ultimate Fighting Championship fans, and even at children’s karate classes. “50 Martial Arts Myths” separates fact from fiction and reveals the true story of disciplined fighting skills.

Sulaiman is an expert to whom the world’s leading martial arts teachers turn when they seek guidance. A teacher’s instructor, he was personally selected by Silat Gayong’s founder, the late Dato’ Meor Abdul Rahman, to propagate the fighting system around the world. He taught in Europe and the United States for two decades before returning to Malaysia after founding Gayong International USA, which he leads today. His 45 years of experience in the martial arts have allowed him to teach Silat Seni Gayong to martial artists from dozens of disciplines including krav maga, kung fu, tae kwon do and karate.

Published by New Media Entertainment, Ltd., “50 Martial Arts Myths” is available for $29.95 via Amazon, and to libraries and bookstores via Ingram and Baker & Taylor.

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Book Review: Panduan Pukulan Tujuh Hari

In my previous posts, I highlighted some concern from two buyers who failed to receive their copies of PANDUAN PUKULAN TUJUH HARI and were quite distressed that the merchant involved did not reply to their inquiries. Today, I received a review on the title by one of the buyers. Read his comments below.

Dear Nadzrin,

After an almost 2 month wait, the book finally arrived at my mailbox, thanks to your aggressive approach of highlighting the issue on the web. You are right, poor customer service. Allow me to provide a short review of this book. I'll refer this book as PTH. Some of my personal comments about this book...

I think the publisher of PTH could have produced something better than this. I mean, the book looks like a cheap menu for some cheap restaurant. It does not follow any publication standards. No ISDN. No publisher. No company address, except for the web address. It uses thin color papers as covers. It has about 10 printed pages with no table of contents and no indexes. Small fonts were used. What an economical way to produce books. I would suggest the author to venture into the eBook business for cost savvy way to produce books.

What's interesting is that it looks like someone's printed research notes, but without the references. It's more like a collection of short 'how to' articles rather than a book. From a unique angle, looks more like a lost secret guide from warriors of gone days! ;-)

At first glance, this book reminded me of concepts I once read from Jeet Kune Do books. The book covers the topic mentioned in the advertisement in a very simple and straight manner, which adds to the concept of the author's PTH . In my opinion, most of the content and combat philosophy is of no surprise to intermediate level pesilat from 'Pukulan' aliran (Sendeng or maybe Lian as example).

Anyone familiar to Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do will straight away recognize some of these tactics from the guide. First, Progressive Indirect Attack (PIA). Attacking one part of the opponent's body followed by attacking another part as a means of creating an opening and Attack By Combinations (ABC). This is using multiple rapid attacks as a means of using volume of attack to overcoming the opponent. The author mentioned few of these examples in the PTH book step by step, which is a good point.

There's not much technique in the book. My opinion is that the author's target audience is not someone with no martial arts background. Explanations require some martial arts background (not necessarily silat) to visualize. He might want it to be as a concept to build your techniques around. The reader has to look for other techniques to fit the concept themselves.

In the book the author did not clearly explain what PTH is and where the term comes from but he briefly stressed the importance of 'simplicity'. So, my guess is the author is trying to convey PTH as simple fighting concept or tactic using simple but effective techniques.

My personal opinion is it looks more like a subset from Tao of Jeet Kune Do with better Bahasa Melayu explanation and interpretation with some street psychology plus few petua. Sendeng veterans would agree there's a lot more to Tujuh Hari than mentioned in the book.

I would say that people who are looking for basics of 'petua menyerang' might find the tips quite useful. Recommended if you don't mind paying RM 20 for this kind of knowledge.

Plus points: Good tips if you want to learn theories ot effective timing in launching attacks or intercepting them.

Minus points: The appearance, limite content, quality of visuals used and printing material. No citations to substantiate theories.

Interesting: More and more people are interested in using the term Pukulan Tujuh Hari nowadays.

Sincerely,
Peluru Perak