The Missing Half of Martial Arts

It is nearly impossible to find a people on this planet who have not been exposed to war, either directly or indirectly. In the Western world, the two world wars, Viet Nam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq have left tremendous impact on the lives and culture of everyone there.

Similarly, Malaysia has had its taste of smaller-scale, lower technology battles since time unrecorded and our psyche is imprinted with the clan wars of Nusantara, the coming of the Portuguese, Dutch, English and, for a short time, the Japanese. Such a contrast, it is; Malaysia has never collectively undergone the horror of a truly modern war.

We've never had images of napalm, gas, missiles, tanks, M-16 (nor Steyr) gunfire burned into the backs of our brains, nor in our pop culture. Malaysian war movies are generally baulked at, because there's so few material to redescribe.

This leads us to the problem plaguing Silat today. It has been divorced from its root: war.

For many, many years, we've read visiting foreigners comment on the ineffectiveness of our silat styles, and how they have degraded into shallow versions of their former selves. And for those many years too, we've defended it with statements such as: "You don't understand our culture" or "We have deadly techniques that we can't practice".

Seeing the deadliness of silat with my own eyes, I am among those who defend its effectiveness.

Unfortunately, I'm also forced to admit that there are styles that are freeze framed onto the spot and have discarded the age-old philosophy of silat that I was brought up with: mengaji (studying), mengamal (applying), mengkaji (delving), mengajar (teaching), menyebar (disseminating), mewaris (inheriting), menyambung (extending) and mengaji (studying again).

Fortunately, for most styles, the effectiveness of silat doesn't disappear because methods and techniques are replaced by others. It happens when teachers and students lose the context of the teachings themselves.

I have been told by so many teachers that the younger generation don't understand the real applications of what is taught to them. They marvel at the counters and recounters of a fight exchange. They practice for long, drawn out demonstrations and they adjust the syllabi to ensure they can continue learning unending techniques they will never apply. Being part of the generation who didn't understand, I of course didn't get what these masters were saying.

Once upon a time, studying silat meant studying to masterhood. It never meant studying to instructorhood, or practitionerhood. It meant, that within 100 days of going the distance 8 gruelling hours a day, you would have discovered how to control every movement, spiritual, mental or physical. Your mastery of the system taught by the master was complete. Your next task? Go and find another master and master HIS system.

But how was all this possible? Today, hundreds of thousands of students in Malaysia are run through their syllabi, learning, memorising, performing, testing and memorising again. Eight hundred hours would never be enough for any of them, and for many, it isn't.

That's because silat was not taught by rote memory. It was taught through guided discovery. It was taught using simple, but not simplistic formulas called by various names: Petua, Sifir, Rahsia etc that provided the student an algorithm to process the mass of information that besieged him.

However, at a deeper level, behind everything that was intellectual, there was the instinctual. There was the most basic of basic necessities that has given birth to everything man has ever created. The one instinct that Allah has put into man to allow him to not just live, but prosper, and that is: survival.

True. So many silat styles today teach techniques that are deadly, but a deadly technique creates not a deadly fighter. Only the will to succeed, the drive to persevere, the instinct to survive is what provides context for the methods and buah we learn.

It is in the heat of survival that most effective martial arts are born. Unfortunately, survival is only the first phase of development, followed soon after by comfort and finally by prosperity. It is when these silat styles reach prosperity that they find it most difficult to maintain the quality of students.

When all they can think of is the quantity of participation and fees, of glamour and press releases, of power and politics, that is when the mighty shall fall. We have seen so many walk that path. We can only wonder who will be next.

Is Amok part of Silat?

Despite Malaysia being heavily promoted as a tolerant multicultural, multireligious country, there are obvious undertones of tension among the younger generation, mostly fuelled by the racial politics and current issues that plague our headlines daily. It's a boiling cauldron of emotion that's waiting to blow over.

As I trawled through the political and religious internet forums on the Malaysian scene, I notice a particular trend of young Melayu threatening their perceived enemies with going amuk. They talk about blood parties like it's 1969, warning of uncontrollable rage. More worrying, is the trend of these statements coming blogs that are silat-themed or where the blogger is known to be a silat exponent.

It creates the impression that amuk is part of silat culture, when it in fact is diametrically opposed to it. The original meaning of amuk for Melayu is the sudden and unexpected burst of emotion that bypasses all reason. The pengamuk (person who runs amuck) will lash out at family, friends and just about anyone they can get their hands on because of a perceived dishonour or injustice.

The earliest recorded incidence of amuk in Malaysia is the well-known scene where Hang Tuah kills a pengamuk with an axe, cementing the difference between the conception behind silat and amuk, control and sanity.

Every silat style I have studied has always stressed on the idea of always being in the driver's seat, of beringat, of having that presence of mind. Amuk is nothing more than surrendering your mind to a berserker rage where nothing, no one is sacred. It is not part of silat.

What then, is? Adab (manners) of war.

The most powerful learning learning a pendekar can gain is by rereading the manner in which the Holy Messenger Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and his Companions (May Allah Be Pleased With Them) conducted their battles with the Quraish.

During a battle in the path of Allâh, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib ... found himself face to face with a kafir who attacked him violently. They were both brave and powerful men, but the kafir was no match for 'Ali, who soon was sitting astride his chest, ready to finish him off.

"I invite you to bear witness that there is no god except Allâh, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allâh," said Ali. "Accept Islam, and your life will be spared." "Never!" panted the kafir.

'Ali lifted his sword and was just about to plunge it into his enemy, when the kafir spat defiantly in his face. Much to the kafir's surprise, Ali immediately jumped away from his enemy and lowered his sword. "Go away!" said 'Ali, "I cannot kill you now."

"Why did you do that?" asked the kafir. "You could have killed me easily." "I was fighting you purely to seek the pleasure of Allâh," replied Ali, "but when you spat in my face, your insult made me angry and if I had killed you in anger, it would have taken me to the Hell Fire - so I had no choice but to let you go. To kill someone in anger or out of desire for revenge is not bravery, but the act of a coward."

This incident highlights that a pesilat has the responsibility to himself and his faith to be internally and externally consistent. The adab of war is outlined clearly in Islam and we should follow it as closely as possible.

Of abilities and possibilities

The late Ustaz Hanafi Haji Ahmad had a talent for couching life learnings in the most beautiful of verses. Among his more famous expressions are captured in his pantun which I've documented here: http://silat-melayu.blogspot.com/2008/05/pantun-silat-cekak.html

However, he also had the penchant for coining controversial proverbs. Controversial because they used the basest of language to deliver the most fundamental of messages.

For those of us who studied any of the Silat Cekak variants from his lineage would most probably have heard some of these. In some, they mirrored paraphrased ayatul Qur'an or Ahadith, in others, recognisable nasihat from the Auliaullah of old and others still, original spouts of wisdom of his own crafting.

Throughout my short life on earth, I've found that during the direst of moments, his pearls of power gave me strength to continue my battles against my nafs and to use my head instead of my heart when deciding on the most crucial of matters.

This is my favourite, transmitted to me by my teacher Tuan Guru Md Radzi Haji Hanafi:

"Nabi saja kita tak boleh jadi. Lain, semua boleh"

There's nothing you can't be. Only the door to propethood has been closed by Allah. Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was the last Prophet and Messenger. The meaning is straightforward and motivational. If ever I feel that I can't go on, I remember this and, like a key that opens a door, I remember all the ayat and ahadith that attest to its truth.

Seven years ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to helm Malaysia's premier martial arts magazine (which then became its only MA magazine soon enough) and the experiences I gained there enriched my life and continue to enrich it still.

Unfortunately, life didn't seem to be progressing for me. My family had been moving around for years, renting others people's homes. I was looking to settle down, but didn't have the finances to do so. So, life's hardships forced me to move on for the sake of finding greener pastures. I left the magazine, but not the world of martial arts writing. I continue that love here on this blog.

I moved on to something wholly unfamiliar and scary, marketing and corporate training in fitness. When that proved unpromising in the long term, I made my way to something equally unfamiliar, public relations. An error in judgement saw me part ways with the PR firm, a mistake I regret to this day, but has served as a costly lesson to me.

Even though that provided me the opportunity to do freelance work and run my own business, it also proved to me that I wasn't ready for it. I fell into a deep depression and woke up every day not knowing how the next day would play out.

Had I knew then the truth that Allah never leaves His Servants when they are most in need, I would taken what happened next more seriously. I was given the chance to meet an amazing human being by the name of cikgu Jeff Davidson, a Silat Kuntau Tekpi instructor from the USA. With nothing more than chat messages, we supported each other during our common blue periods.

This was the time when Ustaz Hanafi's words rang true for me, day after day. It gave me the impetus to move forward and after six months, I landed a job that paid almost 50% more than the previous one, doing something scarier, corporate training in documentation. Five months later, barely out of financial strife, I got married.

Two years later, a large consultancy firm called me up and asked if I would like to be part of their regional training centre team. A few months later, my daughter was born. In short, what I thought was impossible three years ago has already happened.

As I look back on those few short years, I realise that there was nothing to worry about, as long as I believed that I could be what I wanted to be. Ustaz Hanafi's words weren't my amulet, but they sure as well might have been.

So, to all those friends out there who have yet to make it, believe me, every man has his day, and I believe it will come for you too. Salam persilatan. Ila ruhi al marhum al mudarris Hanafi ibn Ahmad. Al Fatihah.

Of dreams and seminars

The TekpiWorks 2008 Seminar has seen a lot of response with interested participants contacting me from all over Malaysia, and even one from Singapura thus far.

The whole thing took an interesting twist a couple of days ago when a would-be participant called me (you're probably reading this blog right now) and told me of a strange coincidence.

The night before he called me, he claimed to have dreamt of the late founder of the silat style he's currently affiliated to. This style was one of the variants that stemmed from Allahyarham Mahaguru Yahya Said's (Pak Yah) teachings.

In the dream, the founder advised him to study the tekpi in order to complete his education in the style. To do that, the founder told him to track down Yahya Said's heir.

Imagine his shock the very next day, when he reads of the TekpiWorks Seminar being conducted by guru Pak Jaafar, Pak Yah's own nephew, who coincidentally claims to have inherited his knowledge from the old man himself.

That phone call wasn't just eerie for the caller, but for me as well. I told him how hesitant I was to even post the article but Allah works in ways we can never understand. After the call ended, I was left dumbfounded. The coincidence of the dream and the blog post was uncanny.

Sometimes, a small decision can make a big impact to another person's life. But, as much as we would like to think that we only do what we want, it was then I realised how little power we have in our lives, and how much Allah truly owns us.

TekpiWorks Seminar 2008

I considered keeping this post to myself, chiefly because I was jealous that anyone other than me would know it. However I feel, the greater good must be allowed to happen.

For the last several years, a mentor of mine, ustaz Abdul Hakim Abdul Rashid, a well-respected silat lover from Gurun, Kedah has constantly taunted me with his discovery of a great silat master up north. His famed line of "Mai Gurun" (come to Gurun!) always makes me envious of those who actually do take up his offer.

However, a recent sms from him just before Aidilfitri was the greatest taunt of all.

"Selamat Hari Raya. Mai Gurun. Guru tua nak perturun mainan 24 jenis senjata. Age 85. Anak saudara Yahya Said. Ada mainan 4 jenis tekpi. Guru P.Ramlee. Ada bukti dan saksi. Ada 12 jenis ikatan tanjak. Ada simpan mainan dan tekpi Panglima Nayan. Sundang Dato Maharaja Lela. Cindai dan lain-lain. Low profile. Mai le sebelum dia mati."

"Happy Aidilftri. Come to Gurun! An old master wants to impart 24 weaponplays. He's 85 years old. Nephew of Yahya Said. Learn 4 methods of tekpi play. He is P.Ramlee's teacher. There are evidence and witnesses to this. Learn 12 ways of tying your headgear. He possesses the method and tekpi of Panglima Nayan and the Sundang of Dato Maharaja Lela, cindai and others. He's very low profile. Come visit before he dies."

Everyone knows my affinity for anything related to Mahaguru Yahya Said's (more fondly remembered as Pak Yah) arts, even those slightly related to it, including Silat Kuntau Tekpi.

Add that to the fact that ustaz Hakim mentions that this old master, guru Jaafar, once asked Pak Yah to teach him Silat Kalimah, but all Pak Yah did was give him an exercise to perform, which apparently allowed him to extrapolate the whole of Silat Kalimah on his own. Interesting? Very! Now you know why I wanted to keep this all to myself.

But then ustaz Hakim's sms which came late last night forced me to change my mind.

"Assalamualaikum. Minta tolong. War-warkan iaitu Pertubuhan Seni Silat Harimau Bentara Garang dengan kerjasama guru tua Pak Jaafar menganjurkan Seminar Mainan Tekpi. Pada 29-30 November 2008. Fees RM200. Pak Jaafar ialah anak saudara pada Pak Yahya Said."

"Assalamualaikum. I require your assistance. Please advertise that Pertubuhan Seni Silat Harimau Bentara Garang with the cooperation of Guru Tua Pak Jaafar is organising a TekpiWorks Seminar on the 29th and 30th November 2008. The fees are RM200. Pak Jaafar is the nephew of Pak Yahya Said."

For more information, please sms me at +6016 3085 789 (Nadzrin) or email webmaster@silatmelayu.com.

An Aidilfitri Visit

Over the last one week, emails, SMSs, chats, phone calls and wall comments were exchanged by a group of friends we call the Bukit Mas team, a group of silat-mad folk who bounce around looking for masters to study from. Together.

The gamut of communication was to arrange a trip to visit several of our masters for Aidilfitri.

I know, I know, Aidilfitri lasts for only a day in Makkah and most of the world, but this is Malaysia, where we love a celebration and will absorb as much fun from it before it passes. Therefore, Aidilfitri lasts a month over here.

Unfortunately, only 3 of the original 9 members of the team could make it as we live closer to our masters. We had no contact with one, another is in Sarawak, 2 are in Johor and another one simply too far away to make it in time. Our ninth member, Mahrizal, passed away several years ago. May Allah bless his soul and relieve him of his burdens in the hereafter.

Several days before, I represented the group to arrange a visit to guru Dahlan Karim's (Silat Setiabakti) house. I called him again just as I was leaving the office at 6pm, and he confirmed that we should be arriving at his home at 8pm. We normally wouldn't visit him that early, but he had a 9.30pm class last night and we didn't want to impose on him.

We did a virtual roll-call. Who would be attending? Myself. Cikgu Norazlan Wahid of Silat Kuntau Tekpi (and also administrator and co-founder of SilatMelayu.Com - yes... there are plans to rehabilitate that site) and cikgu Zainudin Ismail, whom we call 'ustaz' because of his penchant for religious coffee table talk (which we love, by the way).

Tagging along, is the mercurial cikgu Firdaus, whom we call Maulana for his facial similarity to the sheikhs of old and cikgu Yazid Abdul Rani and family of Lian Padukan Pak Mat Kedidi, who would be meeting us there.

I left Putrajaya a little after 6, made my way through the mad traffic and heavy rain along the MRR2 and managed to land at Surau Al-Taqwa in Keramat (where I studied Silat Kuntau Tekpi) an hour later. After Maghrib, I intended to stop by my instructor's house, but it was dark inside, and I didn't want to be late. It was already 7.30pm.

I called cikgu Norazlan, whom I call 'Coach' and requested that he begin making his way to cikgu Dahlan's house while I rush over to ustaz's house to pick him up. The traffic was worse than I thought. It was already 8 when ustaz jumped in my car. At least, Coach and Maulana would be there early.

It took us another half hour of wading through cars and water only to be shocked by a phone call by Maulana asking for cikgu Dahlan's address! They weren't even there yet! In all the confusion, I got lost and it took the two of us another 30 minutes to find his house. It was now 9pm.

Cikgu Dahlan was gracious as ever. He invited us in. Coach and Maulana were already there, browsing through the dozens of Silat Setiabakti books cikgu Dahlan had written, but had yet to publish. As we entered into his humble double-storey terraced home, signages, logos and weapons hung on the wall greeted us, the Setiabakti brand adorning all of them.

Cikgu Fuad, SENI BELADIRI's current editor, was also present to visit cikgu Dahlan.

"I'm getting old," cikgu Dahlan told us over a bowl of sumptuous noodles. "I worry that no one wants to continue studying silat," he confided to us. "But I will continue doing what I'm doing to keep this art alive."

"Quick, simple and effective," he declares, as he quotes Setiabakti's motto.

"That's why I can produce instructors in a short time. The system that I've spent years to build is now complete. Anyone who wants to be an instructor, I welcome wholeheartedly," he baited us.

Just then, his student, Tengku Musa, walks in. "Nadzrin, right?" he asks me and we greet each other. We recognised each other immediately. Tengku Musa is the elusive TM of http://gayanglima.blogspot.com/ and http://silat.tv/.

Tengku Musa recently appeared in SENI BELADIRI magazine with his master, Pak Atan "Air Batu", master of Silat Gayang Lima. Tengku Musa was given permission by cikgu Dahlan to teach Gayang Lima under the auspices of the Akademi Silat Setiabakti in the bangsal he built. The roofed gelanggang cost him RM18,000 to build and includes basic amenities like electricity (by generator), running water and male and female toilets.

"I'm open to anyone who wants to use the gelanggang to teach their styles. I pity those masters who depend on an open air gelanggang. When it rains, they're forced to cancel their class. I built the bangsal for that reason," he sighed.

"Now, I don't hold anything back. If anyone wants to come and learn, I will teach. I'll show them the most effective techniques, nothing kept. Come one day," he said excitedly.

Coach suddenly asked cikgu Dahlan, "Are there no more gendang classes?"

"None. The kids aren't interested. I paid for the lessons," he replied with a sad smile as we chatted over cups of black coffee.

To be continued...

All in Silat?

I got an interesting SMS (that's a text message to you Americans) yesterday from a young friend of mine. It read:

"In the knowledge of silat, is there an 'amalan' (spiritual practise) to have the girl that we love, love us back sincerely and honestly, followed by marriage and be together until the hereafter? Is there an 'amalan' to have her express what she keeps hidden and what she truly feels? How does one remove doubt in what she feels?"

I expect my international readers should be scratching their heads right about now. Allow me to try explaining. The Melayu view their culture as an integrated whole, religion, customs, dress, martial arts, all included. For many, it's difficult to draw the line between them.

Young Melayu are socialised in this culture through various different channels. Parents, the masjids, old folk in the villages, etc. However, the strongest and most organised channel is Silat. If you asked a traditional Melayu what silat is, be prepared to get a definition that covers every single thing under the sun.

Manners, customs, dress, religion, philosophy, spirituality, medicine, magic, music, dance, weapons, combat, life. Long time practitioners of Oriental and Japanese martial arts will recognise this concept. It exists the same way in Silat. So, don't be surprised that my young friend actually asked that question.

I was just surprised it came from a city boy in an SMS over my handphone. Then it hit me. This is exactly how I began. A city boy with searching for his lost heritage, and I found my first footing in Silat. This is true for so many of us now in Malaysia. Cut off from our roots by the rise of globalisation, we are forced to find dependable channels to help us rediscover them.

Ironically, the many things I found in Silat are hardly what I found in it, but through it. I am no where near my journey's end, but I feel that I have passed that stage where Silat is an all-encompassing field of study. It is to me, now, a key to open those other doors. Doubtless, those young Melayu who are taking their first steps in Silat would still view it the way I did.

No problem there. Just make sure you don't miss the point.

As to my young friend, I told him no, there isn't such amalan in Silat. But there is in Islam.

Difference between Silat Cekak Hanafi and Silat Melayu Keris Lok 9

Silat Cekak Hanafi and Silat Melayu Keris Lok 9 are both well-known silat styles in Malaysia. Although Cekak Hanafi has the numbers due to its strong grassroots support from the government, local schools and higher learning institutions, Lok 9 has become increasingly popular through SENI BELADIRI magazine, both of whom share a founder, guru Azlan Ghanie.

When I first studied Silat Cekak Hanafi, I found it a very systematic and an energy-economical style. It can generally be classified as a buah-based system which trains direct applications through set techniques. It was quite a shock then when I took up Silat Melayu Keris Lok 9, a very traditional, very amiable style that was more principle-based than buah-focused.

Setting aside the principle that all martial arts are fundamentally the same, Cekak stands apart (sometimes purposely) from the majority of Silat Melayu because its combat principles and ethics are different.

Lok 9 allows for Tipu Helah (trickery) while Cekak employs none of it. Cekak subscribes to a Tapak 2 footwork while Lok 9 employs all Tapaks 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Cekak ready stances are always high and square to the opponent, but Lok 9 stances vary according to the situation and relative position of the opponent.

Cekak is essentially buah-based, which means they start off with preset multipurpose and modular techniques during the Buah Asas, Buah Jatuh and Buah Potong stages. These are drilled into students to guide them into decompiling the techniques into smaller modules that can be reassembled during combat. The stage where they find this freedom is called Buah Umum.

Lok 9 on the other hand starts with physical reeducation of the body to train fluid responses, originally through Tari and Kembangan, but in recent years, through Senaman Tua instead, which was derived from the aforesaid Tari and traditional dynamic and static exercises.

Students come away understanding how to generate kinetic energy and transfer that into limbs for various purposes: kuncian, pukulan, buangan, langkahan, etc.

Once the body has this vocabulary, then they move into the forms called Loks which build upon one another in terms of difficulty. The Loks are progressively expanded derivatives of the Sembah Perguruan, a Kembangan taught at the very beginning of their studies, thus the claim that the whole art is already taught in the beginning.

They are then partnered into two-man kembangan akin to full body Chi Sao to train sensitivity. This gets progressively faster and from simply indicated strikes, lead into connecting ones.

This will lead into technique interpretation, where the teacher spars with a student and when a technique is born of the interaction, everyone else in the class has to imitate it, then extrapolate it into their own application depending on variations in size, speed and angle of attack of their partners.

For practicality sake and due to the short attention span of modern man, all three of the above phases are done sequentially in every session, which builds skill and allows weaker students to train with higher skilled ones in random pair ups.

Cekak never trains in the use of weapons as a principle (being prepared for the worst situation, no weapons available) while Lok 9 trains in the Keris and all weaponwork: kerambit, badik, tumbuk lada, sundang, pedang, etc are simply extrapolations of the Keris work.

Words of wisdom

Today, I thought I'd share with you some words of wisdom from those people who have influenced my life in silat the most. They have shaped my outlook and helped my decisions and in many ways, have made me what I am today. Along with my family, they are my other fathers, and I'm sure my late father would approve. Here are my favourite sayings of my masters and their masters before them.

1. Mahaguru Yahya Said - Silat Kalimah

"Berlapik Berlantai Bentang Tikar Tiga Helai Cari Seorang Cerdik, Seorang Pandai, Seorang Juara Di Tengah Balai Ke Gunung Sama Didaki, Ke Lurah Sama Dituruni Berat Sama Dijunjung Ringan Sama Dijinjing Hati Gajah Sama Dilapah, Hati Tuma Sama Dicecah Ayam Ditambat Mesti Diberi Makan"

Translation: "A Covered Floor , Spread Out Three Carpets Find An Intelligent Man, A Skillful Man and a Champion In The Middle of the Court To The Mountains We Climb Together, To The Valleys We Descend Together The Heavy Load We Lift Together, The Light Load We Carry Together An Elephant's Heart We Cleave Together, A Flea's Heart We Dip Together A Tied Rooster Has To Be Fed."

Meaning: It talks about unity, community and leadership. The Melayu say: never sleep on a bare floor, so having three carpets indicates formality and norms in a community. The three qualities of a leader or leaders: intelligence, skill and a champion are the bare minimum needed to ensure positive growth. A rooster is a proud champion in his own right, but if you select him as your leader (i.e. tying him down), his livelihood is your responsibility.

2. Guru Eusoff Ali (Pak Johari) - Silat Kalimah

"Hang ingat Allah bagi semua kat hang saja ka? Aku pun Dia ada kasi..."

Translation: "Do you really think Allah gave you everything? He gave me some too..." (basically what he likes to say to an opponent at a face off).

3. Ustaz Hanafi Haji Ahmad - Silat Cekak

"Pakai Tak Pakai, Tak Pakai"

Meaning: Counter the enemy's movements by following his movement's, not opposing them. What he uses (pakai), you don't use (tak pakai), and what he uses (tak pakai), you use (pakai).

4. Tuan Guru Md Radzi Haji Hanafi - Silat Cekak Hanafi

"Belajar silat mulanya dari jam kunci, lama-lama jadi jam digital"

Translation: Learning silat begins from being a wind up clock but later ending up as a digital clock.

5. Guru Jamaludin Shahadan - Silat Sendeng Haji Hamid

"Senjata makan tuan, maksudnya tuan tak reti guna senjata"

Translation: A weapon that hurts its owner means the owner isn't competent to wield the weapon! Full story here http://silat-melayu.blogspot.com/200...akan-tuan.html

6. Ustaz Ahmad Che Din - Silat Abjad

"Berkorbanlah, jangan sampai terkorban sekali"

Transation: You may sacrifice, just don't be sacrificed.

Meaning: Do what you need to achieve your objectives but keep in control and ensure you can continue the battle and not die meaninglessly.

7. Guru Azlan Ghanie - Silat Melayu Keris Lok 9

"Biar dia tidak tahu kita menjirus air ke atas dia, tahu-tahu saja dia dah basah"

Translation: It's unnecessary for him to know when we pour water over him, all that matters is that he gets wet.

Meaning: A student doesn't need to know the process he needs to go through to learn, nor know what the master intends to teach him. All that matters is that he gains knowledge.

Beach Training

Silat Seni Gayong practitioners undergoing a khatam keris ceremony on the beach.

In 2003, I joined a journalistic excursion with SENI BELADIRI magazine to the beautiful state of Kelantan. We were there to interview guru Pak Su Noor of Silat Terlak Empat and guru Awi of Silat Jawi. The group we assembled were all Silat Melayu Keris Lok 9 practitioners who studied with guru Azlan Ghanie, also the magazine's publisher.

Although we spent our first night there at a hotel, we later decided on staying at a beachside dorm at Pantai Cahaya Bulan (formerly Pantai Cinta Berahi), better known as PCB. Being a group of silat-mad practitioners, it wasn't long before someone suggested we practice some forms on the beach under the moonlight.

We decided not to practice close to shore, where the sand was packed hard by the water, but further up the incline, where the sand was loose. It was an amazing experience. Moonlight sparring was very different. The sand kept moving under our feet and made it difficult to keep mobile. Practicing arts that depend heavily on footwork means that the more you move, you more energy the sand saps away from you.

Soon enough, our feet started hurting badly. It dawned on us that this was probably why beach training was such an important aspect of silat to those masters who had access to it in the past. If you want to put power into your legs, but can't pay for a personal trainer nor a gym membership, a sandy beach is probably your cheapest option. Oh, if you're doing this in Malaysia, keep a can of bug spray handy.

Although all of us were studying Lok 9 at the time, we were blessed by having members who had varied backgrounds in the arts. There were practitioners of Cimande, Gayong, Cekak, Sendeng, Lincah, Gayong Maarifat and who knows what else.

Thus, after we got bored of doing Lok 9 forms, we began taking turns leading the group, doing forms from various different styles. Combat-wise, I suddenly appreciated the simple buah of Silat Cekak Hanafi and Silat Kuntau Tekpi. You lost a lot less energy by not evading too much.

But I have to say, if strong legs is what you want to get out of your free beach training, Sendeng forms have got to be the toughest. It's bad enough to have to constantly balance on a single-line fencing-style low stance, but you have to shuffle instead of step, and that takes smooth balance transfer. The worst parts are the kicks, which are delivered from those same low stances.

You can imagine then, my horror when I read in the news recently that the Asian Beach Games, first ever to be held in Bali, is actually going to happen. What started out in my mind as a laughable event became a serious undertaking, with several countries committing athletes, including Malaysian and, of course, Vietnam.

I'm not laughing anymore, and I regret I ever did.

To all the athletes who will face each other on the hot, burning, shifting sands of Bali, I envy you not. This will be the toughest test ever for your skills. Make us proud and any medals you bring home will be well deserved. Then, and only then can you kick off your shoes and soak your feet into a tub of hot water for the next couple of weeks. Good luck!

The Beach Pencak Silat event will be held from the 18th to 21st and 23rd October 2008. For more information, click here.

Spiritual Authenticity: An introduction

Malaysia sits at the nexus of some very interesting commercial lines. I say interesting, because not only does the society acknowledge and condone their existence, but in a way, so does the government.

If you go to Kuala Lumpur, the tourist spot that everyone tells you you should visit is Petaling Street, or fondly known as Chinatown where knock offs abound: pirated handbags, wallets, watches, DVDs and what have you.

In all the government and non-government travel brochures, Petaling Street is touted as "the" place to get cheap goods, but stops short of revealing its ethical dilemma. The problem is, most of the goods aren't out and out pirated. They are overruns, meaning, they were produced at the same factory contracted to produce the originals. They are just as good as the real thing. And if there ever was an analogy that worked for plagiarism in silat, Petaling Street would be it.

Silat could properly be classified as Traditional Knowledge if we go by the definition here. Traditional Knowledge is deemed to belong to a community, but an issue arises when segments within that community cross-claim it to belong to a smaller group, a family or even an individual.

This was not always a problem. Long before there were 'schools' and 'styles', there was a master and a student. This minimum of a pair was the 'school' and what passed between them was the relationship.

From my surveys among silat masters, most of them agree that knowledge does not pass from them to their students, because they ultimately do not know what their student receives or understands. This is rooted in the sufi conception of knowledge, that when someone teaches something, it is not the facilitation skills of the teacher, nor the sheer intellect of the student that creates understanding. It is that Allah reveals this knowledge to both the teacher and his student at the same time with differing insights.

The master could, in his process of explaining a concept he studied, gain an updated enlightenment. Or, it is the student who gets it immediately, without the master having to say too much. This, especially in silat circles who are deeply influenced by Tariqat, is called "Haq Diri" or granted knowledge for one individual.

Because the master and student now have 'different' knowledge, and the master acknowledges the student as a master himself, they are now masters of different styles. Their own "Haq Diri".

When one studied with one's master, the master's duty was always to lead one on the right path of understanding, of seeing the universe in a holistic manner, which made Silat applicable in both wartime and peacetime. You'd use the same methodology to fight or debate, in diplomacy or marital facilitation, in economy or government and it was always your interpretation of the same basics.

Which means, whatever knowledge you learned was indisputably your right. This knowledge had good tendencies and would always guide its user towards good. However, in Islam, a right to something carries certain responsibilities, and it is understood that when abused or misused, can lead to the understanding being "repossessed" by Allah and in its place, false knowledge that resembles the original which guides its user, by virtue of the evil in his heart, towards evil.

A simple way of stating it is that the status of the knowledge changes from being "authorised" to "unauthorised".

Now, although this "authorisation" process happens spiritually, there are masters who claim to be intermediaries or are able to assess that his student has met the conditions for authorisation, in effect, becoming Allah's earthly authorised representative. For example, when a master grants masterhood to his student, he also places conditions, most of which are sourced from Islamic Law.

He is deemed to have lost his right to the knowledge his master facilitated if he kills without due reason, fornicates, commits adultery, steals, lies and so on. In one way, the conditions are also parameters to safeguard the sanctity of the knowledge.

We have to remember that this was a time when there was no style names, no uniforms and certainly no school colours. There was no plagiarism because there was no way to identify one from another. Everyone was graded on their skills in battle, or their wisdom in the village, not by how many students they have or what fancy techniques they employed.

They were valued more for their piety than their haughtiness. It was this humility that signalled the height of their skill and gave credence to their spiritual authenticity.

This method of authentication is practised by and an accepted part of many silat styles in Malaysia, and the modernisation of silat is threatening this age old tradition. Styles that are legally registered, are recognised by the government as organisations, and not as traditionally passed down schools.

This opens up opportunities for opportunists who see financial or material gain in leading his own version of a particular school. There have been cases where silat syllabi have been lifted wholesale and imported into another school under a different name.

Thus, in one way, law helps control the copyright of the master's knowledge, but it also robs him of many other rights, which he was granted under the spiritual authenticity system. Since there are very few things in culture that can be copyrighted, we are forced to accept it when dissenting factions split off from the main, and continue teaching the main art.

In extreme cases, offshoots actually manage to legally copyright their master's arts and claim them as their own.

Until the day that the law catches up with spiritual authentication, we will see more plagiarism of the efforts of masters who know nothing of the law and what it can and cannot protect.

Back in the black

It's been awhile since I posted anything insightful about silat on this blog. Work and family commitments have been keeping me away from writing. Add that to the fact that I haven't really been thinking much about silat in the last couple of months and there you have it, writer's block.

That doesn't mean that interesting things haven't been happening. I got a phone call last Thursday from Editions Didier Millet, publisher of the Encyclopedia of Malaysia. They are currently publishing a book about the traditional health systems of the Melayu, Chinese and Indian ethnicities.

For the Melayu section, they needed pictures of Silat Seni Gayong practitioners training next to a river. I immediately had them get in touch with Cikgu Jazwan Kahar of the Silat Seni Gayong Malaysia Taman Nirwana Wajadiri training centre. I await the published results with anticipation.

The very next day, a representative of the Museum Volunteers Malaysia group called to request that I deliver a short session on the Keris Melayu. My relationship with them began when they called several months ago for the very same reason.

Feeling hardly qualified, I recommended my good friend, Fazli Ibrahim, a keris collector and former New Straits Times journalist who wrote several articles on the keris. That resulted in two successful talks. However, the participants also wanted to know the combat applications of the keris and the design rationale, which the group requested I do. If all goes well, my session will happen somewhere in the next few months.

Still on the topic of the keris, I received an email recently from a keris collector in the USA. He believes that he owns a keris that was made circa 5th and 7th century intends to sell it to an interested buyer. He claims that the keris is currently being carbon dated by a local university and has since sent me photos of the blade. It certainly looks old, and I'll put these pictures up as soon as I get more information, including the results of the carbon dating.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see a two page spread in Harian Metro about Pak Guru Sani Zainol Abidin, the Guru Utama of Silat Kuntau Tekpi. Several days later, another article appeared where the writer recommended that Pak Guru Sani be appreciated with a medal for his contributions to the country. I intend to translate those articles and post them here as soon as possible.

Another piece of good news is that the master I referred to in this article has decided to stay with silat and continue his good work. Some people would of course know that I was talking of guru Azlan Ghanie, of Silat Melayu Keris Lok 9. I called him while I was in Illinois and he assured me that he has no desire to return to political journalism. Welcome back from all of us, and we hope you stay. For our sake. Speaking of appreciation, if anyone deserves it, he definitely does.

Also, my reluctance to comment on the recent Silat Cekak Hanafi leadership crisis seems to have ruffled some feathers. Let me make this clear. The people who need to know what I think of this already know and everyone knows what happened the last time the issue was made public. This blog does not belong to one perguruan and its crises. Therefore, unless I decide to create a personal blog, I intend to keep this one free of such matters. My opinion will not change hearts, and I certainly don't intend to.

However, I did make a few new friends online. One is Salzian, a self-confessed martial artist, whom I have had long interesting online chats with about silat. Another is Amir Talib, a Bruneian who is an advocate for Silat Chakak, the national silat style of Brunei. His website, Tribumi, was posted on this blog several weeks back. Thank you both for your friendship.

Well, back to the grindstone. Until I have something new for you all, keep safe. Salam persilatan,

Tradition vs Change: The Paradox of Silat?

Malaysia is home to a multitude of Silat styles both traditional and modern. The scale on which these two broad categories sit is, of course relative and difficult to define.

Those arts deemed to be modern and modernists are often seen to be diametrically opposed to the traditional and traditionalists. That there exists a paradox within each art is equally assumed. Whenever a style professes a change, either in their techniques, training methodology or pedagogy, there will often be heard a voice or two claiming that style as no longer traditional.

The addition of a punching bag in the training area, the absorption of a karate-like punch, or the use of English terminology within the syllabus can get blood raging. However, I believe that this is a problem with understanding the essence of Silat itself.

Today, without having any background in Silat or understanding Melayu culture, our youth are being fed an alien definition of the martial arts, that the way the Western world understands it. We believe that overt techniques make up Silat, that Buah 1 until Buah 65 is the totality of so-and-so Silat style, when in fact, there is something far deeper than this that defines Silat.

I believe that the very words 'tradition' and 'change' lock in an understanding that what is traditional has to be carved in stone forever. Instead of saying tradition vs change, my meaning would be closer to tradition equals change.

Silat is an expression of the Melayu thoughts and external culture within a combative framework. As fluid as these thoughts and culture are, so too is the expression. Much as snowflakes then, ultimately no two pesilat are alike, thus no two silat are alike. These combative norms exist in many forms and are held as cultural maxims that are passed along from generation to generation.

For many of the masters I've met, they call it Petua. Even though these masters studied from the same source, but they experienced different pressures. Some met different foreign styles that were far superior in certain aspects and were forced to reinterpret these Petua to counter against them.

This is different from the cobbling together of foreign techniques onto a core that was never built for them in the first place, creating an interspecies frankenstein. When these styles of a common root get together after such a long absence, they immediately recognise the inherent petua within each other, and are enriched by the sharing of experiences and innovative ways of applying parts of their style that had never occured to them before.

The only obstacles to this is are hard headed teacher/s who insist that their styles are already/ far more complete than the next one and needs no improvement. Otherwise, this idea of developing tradition has been going on for hundreds, if not thousands of years, before names, silsilah, uniforms and sport.

Silat stemmed from survival, and in order to survive, you had to change, but you always changed from what you had, not abandon it and adopt another. Adoption is to import wholesale without making changes, while adaptation depends strongly upon the present skill and inclination of the practitioner. 

For me, adoption means being tied to the premises of a particular style. It's taking the blocks from karate, and entering from kali and locks from silat and 'stringing' it together. It's seeing them as components.

Whereas adaptation looks at the objective of the method, it has a clear beginning and a clear end. When seen from this angle, 'stealing' techniques become easier, but they will never work the same as it originally did, because instead of modification, it is reinterpretation. These are the instances when they look at silat and say, "Hey, that looks like Shanghai Brown Bear Kung Fu's Double Barrel Twist Roll, but not really".

I don't doubt that there are intelligent martial artists who understand it this way but most often I see people studying variously different arts and frankensteining them together to make 'new' techniques. And this is where they look at silat and say, "Hey! That's exactly the same!". These are the irresponsible adoptions I speak of.

A progressive modernist is one who might not realise the value of things old and may be a generation or a context removed from the masters before him. Seeing more value in things he can grasp easier, he 'adopts' instead of adapts.

Ironically, it is the progressive modernist that causes the creation of the traditionalist as an aggressive response to defend what he sees as a cultural right to exist. His mistake? Freezing everything in place in order to define it as different from his enemy's idea of silat. None of these two have a place in my heart. 

I have met people who, at first glance, could be labelled 'traditionalist' but launch into an infectious discussion on the merits of a loaded revolver and a spanner in a silat fight.If anybody can reconcile the two brothers above, it would be them.

There are some quarters that recommend documentation to solve this problem of ill-definition. Unfortunately, irrespective of how much documentation silat undergoes in Malaysia, there is a dearth of technical records. Most books, magazines or random articles only describe the surrounding culture, the masters's biography, the history of the styles but very rarely the technical aspects of it. This is a sad but logical approach.

For those modernised silat with clear techniques and defined vocabularies, documentation is easy. Unfortunately, traditional silat in Malaysia is more often bereft of static techniques and wealthy with concepts and philosophies which guide adaptation better.

Once you try to crystallise one aspect of these silat, it locks the definition of that style to exclude other aspects, when in fact, silat is physically inclusive, not exclusive. Documentation in Malaysia is for reference, not preservation and started very late.

When we speak of authenticity, we run into another problem, self-documentation. Many styles now have younger professionals in their fold and they are the information gatekeepers to the world (via print or internet).

When both Silat Cekak and Silat Kalimah have books and websites claiming to be THE cultural inheritor of Mahaguru Yahya Said or Silat Seni Pusaka Gayong claiming that Mahaguru Datuk Meor Rahman approved of their denomination before he died whence Silat Seni Gayong Malaysia claims to have no knowledge of it (etc), the best you can do sometimes is just to document the disputes.

Training children

Teaching silat to children can be a chore, as many martial arts instructors already know. Their lack of acceptance of certain norms makes an adult instructor's life hell. One good thing though, is that children lack the mental barriers that adults have inadvertently placed on themselves.

Silat is about freedom of action, and children are the freest souls on the planet. A mental barrier such as: "I'm not sure I can do this" or "This looks difficult" tends to cripple the zest and energy of adults, but strangely, kids have no such qualms, which can be dangerous in many respects.

But, if we can learn to harness this curousity, energy and flexibility very early on, they will grow into much better pesilat than their older counterparts. The only difference between them, is experience.

A child has absoulely no past experience to speak of, thus, they have very little opportunity to have a Eureka moment the way most adults do. A wise man's words are often understood by the wise, and this takes years to develop within a pesilat. So, how do we go about passing on this knowledge to kids if we have nothing to draw upon? Maybe all we have to do is look to ourselves.

I remember being that kid studying silat when I was in school, and I remember the kinds of problems I gave my instructor (he's a guru utama of his own style now). I also remember why it was so boring to learn and what about studying silat made me so interested. It was the discovery, or lack of it.

As a child, discovery is important. I read somewhere that the foundation of happiness is discovery, of learning something that puts you in awe. The thing I most remember about studying silat as a child was discovering that my instructor could walk on thorns on the field and do backflips with ease. THAT was silat for me, not the jurus which pained me to repeat.

Children sometimes like to spar as a way to test themselves, prove that they have what it takes. More often, it's to emulate the 'martial arts' they see on television. One way of getting them to focus is to turn their learning into a contest, to see who can perform the jurus better, cleaner, prettier and pay attention to those who lag behind.

Get one of them to lead the class and rotate, so they understand what it feels like when their fellow students don't follow their orders. Sooner or later, they will all understand your frustration and toe the line.

Kids today are thinkers. They want to know WHY. Prove to them that by doing it the correct way, they can gain more leverage, or more balance, or more... etc and they will be more motivated to practice. Training children is a balancing act, for sure, but it's better to allow a child to learn the way they're used to, by playing.

Silat In Malaysian Print

There is a definite dearth of Silat and Silat-related books on the market, be it locally or internationally. Many people are surprised to learn that Malaysia, the 'Mecca of Martial Arts' (quote from sifu Nigel Sutton in his SENI BELADIRI column 'Under The Palm Trees'), has less than ten books on Silat on the market, most of them either out of print or simply forgotten. Fortunately, silat has a media to call its own in SENI BELADIRI, Malaysia's premier martial arts magazine that began its run in August 1997 and has to this day more than 90 issues under its belt. Owned, operated and published by Azlan Ghanie, the magazine is bilingual in content with most of its articles in the Malay language. Azlan, who is also the founder and Primary Trustee of Silat Melayu Keris Lok 9 has interviewed several hundred masters in silat and non-silat styles, making him one of the most knowledgable martial artist in Malaysia when it comes to arts other than his own. In 2001, a radical effort saw fruition when SILAT WARRIOR was published. The only all-English martial arts magazine in Malaysia, it was exported to the West but didn't take off. It ran for three issues. In fact, this was not his first effort at publishing a martial arts magazine. In 1989, the first issue of PENDEKAR hit the stands with the final interview with the late, great Datuk Meor Rahman of Silat Seni Gayong fame to ever appear in the pages or any martial arts magazine. Azlan conceived and edited the magazine before being taken ill a few years later. PENDEKAR ran until 1995 without Azlan at the helm. During SENI BELADIRI's run, two other publishers tried to follow in its footsteps. Unfortunately, neither of them garnered the kind of popularity among the local martial arts com-munity the way SB did. The mystical martial art magazine TANGKAS saw print in 2002 but ran for a few issues before being put out of its misery. Meantime, SENI SILAT WARISAN BANGSA (no relation to my website SILAT SENI WARISAN BANGSA hosting at http://silat.8m.com) put up a valiant fight, eventually making it past the ten issue mark, even though it was forced to publish bi-monthly instead of monthly. There were also several attempts at one offs such as SILAT, MEGAT and TERAWIS, all by Megat Ainuddin Megat Mohd Nordin, the head of Silat Penjurit Kepetangan and GEMPITA, by Ustaz Azam Zulkifli of Silat Gayong Maarifat. Bear in mind however, that the print run and circulations hardly touch anything Western World magazines such as BLACK BELT and COMBAT have achieved. With a reported 3.5 million pesilat within Malaysia, it is unfortunate that the circulations skim only about 0.1% and below of this potential. Therefore, where magazines barely dare to tread, would books survive extinction easily in Malaysia? In my quest to build a library made up of silat-related books, it turns out that you just have to know where to look. My search took me to Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka, the national vanguard of language and literature. It seems that their main objective is to publish as many books in Bahasa Melayu as possible and leave them to rot with no marketing push behind them. Most silat books in Malaysia are published by this body. From them I managed to glean gems like TEKNIK DALAM SENI SILAT MELAYU (Techniques In Malay Silat) by Anuar Wahab, SENI SILAT MELAYU DENGAN TUMPUAN KEPADA SENI SILAT SEKEBUN (Malay Silat With Special Attention Given To Seni Silat Sekebun) by Tuan Ismail Tuan Soh and SILAT OLAHRAGA (in Malay and English versions) by Anuar Wahab. Out of print are SILAT TERLAK NATA by Hamzah Ahmad and KERIS DAN SENJATA-SENJATA PENDEK (The Keris and Other Short Bladed Weapons) by Shahrom Yub, the docu-novel PANGLIMA SALLEH SELEMPANG MERAH (Panglima Salleh Of The Red Sash) by Zaharah Nawawi and the period novelisation retelling of Hang Tuah's legendary childhood, SAKSILA LEKIR by Dr Mohd Nasir Zainal Abidin. Happily though, most of the books I mentioned above will soon be available in their English versions online. One of them, Silat Olahraga is already offered online at http://silat.tv. Check it out for yourself. Recently, Malaysians were blessed with the publication of the first real book on Silat exercises in SENAMAN SILAT JIWA SIHAT UNTUK SEMUA (Silat Exercises And Self Health For All) by Megat Ainuddin Megat Mohd Nordin and Assoc Prof Nor Anita Megat Mohd Nordin. It is an interesting addition to anyone's silat library. Other than these, there are several books self published by respective Silat perguruan for internal consumption. Most of them go out of print almost immediately due to the specific audience targeting. Although similar in that sense, many of them serve different purposes; com-memoration, official text book, promotion, etc. I have some of them, others, I have only had fleeting glimpses of. Silat Cekak Malaysia has two books, a commemorative coffee table book, SENI SILAT CEKAK MALAYSIA DALAM SUKU ABAD (Quarter Century) and BUDAYA CEKAK, a collection of 21 seminar papers on the art. Silat Cekak Hanafi has one self-titled official text book while Silat Kalam provided detailed explanation into its philosophy and thinking in WADAH KE ARAH WAJA DIRI SEJATI (The Means Towards True Self Empowerment). Kegayungan Acheh Helang Putih also self published two books on practical self-defence, one of them simply titled SILAT. I also know of one combat training manual published by Silat Seni Pusaka Gayong and a book by Silat Seni Gayong Malaysia but have yet to acquire either of them. The Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society also collected 12 pieces on the Malay weapons and published it under the title THE KERIS AND OTHER MALAY WEAPONS (not to be confused with the Shahrom Yub publication). The last locally published book is a thin full coloured almost brochure-like SENI DALAM SENJATA MELAYU (The Aesthetics of Malay Weaponry) by Malaysian Handicrafts. From Malaysia, we step out slightly next door to Indonesia where all of the above books stand in awe of the masterpiece that left the keyboard of O'ong Maryono, which is PENCAK SILAT MERENTANG WAKTU (it has an English translation titled Pencak Silat In The Indonesian Archipelago), 414 pages of pure intimacy with Indonesian pencak silat. Finally, we have THE KRIS: MYSTIC WEAPON OF THE MALAY WORLD by Edward Frey. The book was published as part of an Images of Asia series by Oxford University Press in Singapore. These are the books I have come in contact with of which I have most.

Of articles and encylopedia

I got a nasty IM message the other day from my best friend (you can tell it's nasty because he started with "Woi!") berating me for being away from this blog for so long.

I told him, I haven't been away. I have, in fact been posting almost every other day, to which he replies, "Write something!" Ahhh... it took me a while to realise, that I haven't actually written anything of my own for a while, meaning my "An original article by Mohd Nadzrin Wahab" graphic hasn't been making an appearance.

Things have been pretty hectic, and since this is not a personal blog, but a blog about silat, I'm obliged to write only about silat, even though my opinions on politics, corporate training and the social sciences have been appearing elsewhere on the net.

Ever since my daughter arrived, my attention has been diverted somewhat and quite a few things have been put on hold indefinitely. There was a promise to study an ancient silat style from a guru I deeply respect, but haven't had the opportunity to fulfill (I will get there one day!)

I've also had several ideas for articles, and could probably write them on the fly, but desperately need to find the sources to support my reasoning. It's very dangerous to write anything about silat and culture without proper references, even anecdotal ones.

What shouldn't be difficult is fiction, thus the second thing I was berated on was the halting of the The Azure Keris series. Thing is, I told my friend, I'm not sure anyone was actually reading them since I never I got comments for those posts. I could actually just be wasting my time writing it. (And by the way, gushing comments from JD, Ustaz and Djambu don't count. They're just nice people).

So, if you want to see The Azure Keris continue, do give me your comments. What do you want to see, what do you hate about it, what cultural errors exist, etc. In any case, the series was a long time in the making and whether or not this blog existed, I had always wanted to write it, as a sort of tribute to my masters and those people who shared their knowledge with me. There was always a very clear end in mind with a definite fate for Pak Din and Saiful.

Other articles that I've planned are those concerning Islam, Pukulan Jarak Jauh, Silat Abjad, practical methods of the Keris, evolution of silat through the ages, kuntau and silat, etc. If you have any other ideas, do drop me a mail.

I've been having interesting discussions with Ustaz Saiful of Silat Telapak Nusantara and I wish, I wish, I wish I could publish them! But Jeff, now I know how you feel!

In any case, whoever misses the opportunity to study with Ustaz will have missed seeing true Silat Melayu in action. I have seen some silat claiming to be keris arts, but what Ustaz has in his home is amazingly authentic. Look for his videos on YouTube and you'll see what I mean.

For those who regularly reads the comments will know that a local film company is doing a documentary on silat, and I'm proud to say that guru Shamsudin SM Salim of the United States Gayong Federation is once again involved. They might be doing a piece on Gayong in Malaysia. I'll definitely keep you updated on that.

One piece of good news though, several months ago, I was approached by Editions Didier Millet, a publishing house specialising in high-end social studies books to write an entry on Silat for the Encyclopedia of Malaysia.

My editor called me last week to inform me that the official launching ceremony will be on the 18th of June 2008. I'm expected to attend the function, but might have to give it a miss, due to work contraints. I'd love to be there.

The book is now out in the market and they have sent me a copy, albeit to my former workplace. I have yet to see it personally. I'll put up some scans as soon as I get it.

But for now, my apologies again to all if you've expected to read anything original from me these last few weeks. I'll burn rubber as soon as my schedule frees up again. Promise. Until then, salam persilatan,

Mother of all Silat

Recently, I persuaded Ustaz Saiful Muhammad to publish his article Journeying In Silat: A Master's Monologue in this blog, the SMC Forum and his own website. He asked that I edit out a reference to Silat Bongsu being the 'mother of all martial arts', but I argued that it needed to stay in, because I wanted provoke a reaction from readers. No one wanted to take the bait, except in the SMC Forum, and that started his explanation on the actual meaning of the statement.

In fact, there's nothing inherently wrong with the statement itself. It just sounds too much like a brag. The problem is, depending on who is reading it, it's often confused with the 'best of all martial arts' statement or the 'my style is more authentic than yours' statement. Thus, the problem doesn't lie with the words, it lies with the reader.

Words are a human being's channel of communication. It is unfortunate that, unless you share similar experiences with another person, you will never be able to communicate with them using those words. Because of the variant differences between silat styles, no one can claim to have the exact same experience in studying. Therefore, what silat means to me, will not be the same to you.

For many people, the 'mother' is an event, an occurence, when they achieve that 'eureka' moment, when all strands of life suddenly merge into one, and they see what silat really is. In reality, their understanding has bypassed silat's original meaning at the lower level, that of a fighting form.

But silat has many levels of definition, depending on who is defining it. The paradox is that, there are so few people who attain the higher levels of silat and will publicly define it from their perspective, that the majority definition becomes the default. That means, it is the beginner students who tell you, "This is what silat means" when in fact, it should be the wizened masters who define it for them.

Democracy over truth, I'd say.

Ustaz Saiful defends his statement by saying, "The word mother of all this and that sound so good or great to others, in truth, in our style, it is just mean that the style is open for evolution process."

"It can easily be evolve personally according to practitioner understanding and experience. The versatility in it makes it easier to adapt practitioner’s own ability and necessity."

So what does it mean? If you're still reading, then you still might not get what he means. Look at it this way. 'Ibu' or 'mother' denotes that something gives birth to another being, but in itself does not become part of the new creature. It only gestates and helps bring it into the world. The new creature only slightly resembles the mother, but takes in many other influences from other people, events and things to become an individual.

Thus, the 'mother' of silat is something that allows an individual to make his or her own choices based on the wisdom and knowledge of the past accumulated by the mother and their mothers before that. They are still dependent upon the mother's DNA (the unchangeable aspect), but they need to imbibe food and knowledge from outside the mother in order to survive (the changeable aspects).

When a child stands next to her mother, the resemblance is easy to see, but so is the individuality. This is the reason silat people can recognise various aspects of silat in other hybrid or eclectic arts, (oh, you must have studied silat before) even though it has been subsumed within another style.

So, what is the mother of all silat? It is the knowledge, that is held tightly with ultimate sureness of its truth in the breast of its practitioner. It is the understanding of where you came from, your purpose in life; which is to survive (and the purpose you survive) and the development to keep surviving in order to achieve that purpose.

For Muslim pesilat, all this is a moot point. They would summarise the last 12 paragraphs into only one word: Islam.

Limits, real and imagined

In many martial arts, including silat, there are aggregated forms intended to provide a structure to the movements of the human body, to add physical and psychological limits to the person.

But the body already has a structure and its own limits. There are the bones, the joints, the muscles that connect them and their ranges of motion. Thus, what these forms really do is just add an artificial structure with artifical limits onto the practitioner. Which is why silat is well-known for its formlessless before form. Exploration and expression rather than recession and repetition.

The body should be allowed to move through all its possible articulations and record its own sureties of each limit and potential it possesses. Not only the body, but also the mind and the soul.

Guru Idris bin Alimuda of Silat Firasah often stresses the education of the mind before the body. It is considered normal in traditional styles for the master to reorient the thinking of the student, to remove misconceptions and prepare them for a more holistic view of reality.

To do the opposite (i.e. train the body first), would result in a useless outcome. The limits of the physical structure is further limited by what exists in the mind. Thus, the mind has to be reformed first before imparting physical techniques.

Without this prerequisite, physical training but be fruitless. The only products you get are robots.

Control

A martial artist goes through about the same progression throughout his life, pesilat or otherwise.

He starts out thinking of silat as a method of combat. Then as fair combat. Then he realises that fair combat can only exist in a social, physical, cultural and religious vacuum, which is impossible.

He realises that too many variables contribute to the outcome of a battle and seeks to master and control those other variables, either directly or by proxy.

And most often, he discovers that, he controls nothing, but exists as a dot on an intricate web of reality, insignificant, and stops struggling, acheiving exactly what he gave up trying to achieve in the first place.

Control.

Fear: A view

I admit, I'm a coward. Many people are surprised by my admission, and often assume I'm just being humble. Unfortunately, as many close friends know, humble I'm not. For many a year, I struggled with this complex, which drove and guided my self-development and the directions I decided to go in.

The late Ustaz Hanafi of Silat Cekak once asked, "Where does fear go when courage appears? And where does courage go when fear appears?" Although the matter was couched in question form, but I never found an answer for it.

Guru Azlan Ghanie runs a column in SENI BELADIRI magazine titled 'Berani Kerana Benar' which means Courage In Truth. The obverse of this would of course be Cowardice In Falsehood. I asked him once, how do we become courageous when we are in the wrong? He answered, "Apologise".

From a purely Islamic point of view, the concept of taqwa exists. When translated into English, it approximates Fear. However, the nuance is Godliness, not simply fear of Allah's displeasure and pining for His pleasure. Fearing Allah and only Allah forms the basis of the fearlessness of a Muslim.

"If you fear man, you harbour the illusion that you can instill fear in men. But if you fear Allah, you are under no such illusions. Do not contrive to instill fear and Allah will instill fear of you into the hearts of men."