237 IPT Silat Exponents To Fight It Out In DPM Cup

KULAI, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- The Deputy Prime Minister Cup International Silat championships has attracted 237 silat exponents studying in Higher Learning Institutions (IPT) from four countries.

The inaugural championships featuring 29 IPT teams and 12 junior teams, started on Tuesday at the IOI Mall and comprised students from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Head of secretariat for the Championships, Azli Puddin said from the 237, 146 would feature in the men's events while 91 compete in the women's category.

Brunei Silat Team Leave For Southeast Asian Tourney

Bandar Seri Begawan - The national pencak silat team left the Brunei International Airport in Berakas yesterday to gauge their skills at the 2nd Southeast Asian Silat Championship 2010.

Ten men and three women will represent the Sultanate at the seven-day tournament, which is being held in Vietnam from August 4-10.

"We intend to use the competition as a warm-up for next year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games," said Pg Hj Abd Karim Pg Hj Metassan, team manager and vice-president of Brunei Darussalam National Pencak Silat Association (Persib).

Focus on Malay martial arts

Warm welcome: Wan Ali greeting Mawan (second from right) while RSS secretary-general Mohammad Haneef Ali (left) and the ministry’s acting permanent secretary Hamdan Sharbini look on in Kuching.

Some 400 silat masters from all over Sarawak will converge at Stadium Perpaduan for the 4th Silat Convention from Sept 28 to 30.

Rumpun Silat Sarawak (RSS) president Datuk Wan Ali Tuanku Yubi said the convention was aimed at promoting Malay martial arts and getting the teachers updated on silat’s latest developments.

“The idea is to get the teachers to learn new techniques and familiarise themselves with updates in martial arts which they could incorporate in their lessons,” he said during a courtesy call on Social Development and Urbanisation Minister Datuk Seri William Mawan Ikom in Kuching yesterday.

A total of six working papers will be presented and deliberated upon at the convention to be attended by some 5,000 people.

Among the paper presenters will be Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg and Special Adviser in the Chief Minister’s Office Tan Sri Adenan Satem.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who is the RSS patron, is scheduled to officiate at the event’s opening.

Mawan said his ministry was supportive of silat’s development in Sarawak because it had cultural and social significance.

“We will help coordinate the convention as it is part of our social outreach programme. Our silat exponents have done us proud by winning a gold, two silver and five bronze at the recent Sukma,” he added.

RSS has 11 regional branches and 23,000 members.

Written by VANES DEVINDRAN
Photo by ANDRE OLIVEIRO
Sourced from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/14/sarawak/6657916&sec=sarawak

Lowest Participation In Belait Pencak Silat Competition This Year

Kuala Belait - Competition for the traditional martial arts of pencak silat in the Belait District to mark His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's 64th birthday celebrations was held at the Kuala Belait Municipal Hall yesterday afternoon.

Chairman Haji Zabidi bin Ali who has been organising the contest for over a decade said he had recorded the lowest participation in the competition so far, with only eight people taking part.

Haji Zabidi said the exclusion of two popular silat categories had contributed to this low participation.

Guru Nizam Unveils Online Silat Martial Arts Training Course For Beginners

Guru Nizam Unveils Online Silat Martial Arts Training Course For Beginners Who Want to Discover How to Tap Into The Energy of The Primal Forces of Nature.

A silat martial arts expert has created an online video package aimed at teaching beginners how to master the basics of the ancient Malaysian practise within just a few days.

Black-belt Guru Nizam, chief coach for Malaysia’s Pusat Cemerlang Silat (PCS), a silat centre of excellence set up in 2002, claims his step-by-step video training program reveals secrets that have been closely guarded by martial arts exponents down the centuries.

Silat Kalam - The Brooklyn Monk learns silat

Guru Mazlan man stood in a neutral stance, hands at his side, feet side by side, a natural and relaxed stance, which is the starting point of all Silat Kalam movements. I threw a punch at his face. He blocked my punching arm, knocking it skyward. Next, he drove his knee into the tendons at the back of my knee joint. He was only going at a quarter speed, but the pain was incredible. After 50 years of martial art practice, the Guru was perfect. In every movement, I could feel his bones cutting through my flesh and digging into my nerves.

He placed his shin bone against the back of my knee and leaned forward. I had no choice but to fall down, on one knee. Next, he stomped down hard on my calf muscle which was flat on the ground. Then he backhanded me in the face, and I fell backward. My body was completely locked. My own natural skeletal structure had betrayed me. The only way I could stand back up was if the Guru removed his foot from my calf muscle and then reached a hand down, to help me stand.

This was Silat Kalam, an art designed to completely subdue an attacker, but never to be used as an attack.
“I breathe because of God. I drink because of God. I eat because of God. I practice Silat because of God.” This is a portion of the mantra which Guru Mazlan Man had the students recite on a daily basis. He explained his philosophy this way. “We must remember that we only do things because of God. And if we only do things because of God, we will not do bad things. You cannot say, I steal because of God.”

Pencak silat benefitting from increased popularity

Ruly Kurniawan clenched his fists, swinging his left hand to the right while keeping his feet planted on the ground during a practice session of Indonesian traditional martial art pencak silat in South Jakarta’s Jagakarsa subdistrict.

The 15-year old took a brief time-out, then repeated his movements several times to perfect his balance.

Ten men spent Monday night performing pencak silat combinations at the H. Hasbullah Traditional Beksi School of Pencak Silat, one of the city’s oldest pencak silat schools.

“At first, it was difficult to master all of the stances. But because I have kept on practicing for two years, now I can perform 12 routines,” he said.

Ruly admitted preserving local culture was the main motivation that had driven him to take up the martial art.

Wahyudi Tejo S. shared a similar reason for enrolling at the pencak silat school.

“I’d like to develop the Betawi culture. Apart from that, I want to master pencak silat,” the 21-year old man said.

Five years of studying at the school, he said, had helped channel his fighting spirit into a positive force.

“I used to be very naughty and loved drinking. I even failed to graduate from senior high school because of my ill-tempered character. Being a Beksi fighter has helped me to leave behind those bad habits,” he said, referring to the Beksi style of pencak silat.

Muhali Yahya, the chairman of the school, said scores of people, both young and old, had registered at the school’s 27 branches across the capital.

The company has schools in Rawa Belong in West Jakarta, Pancoran in South Jakarta and Kemayoran in Central Jakarta.

Since 2005, the school in Jagakarsa has received about 150 students, 72 of whom were street children, Muhali said.

“Many young people are enthusiastic to learn the style. Therefore, we run classes for children and women in Jagakarsa,” the 43-year old man said.

Beksi, he said, was a style of martial art that originated in Tangerang, Banten, in 1828. It was introduced to Jakartans by Chinese fighter Lee Chenk Oek in the 1950s.

Muhali said that Beksi consisted of four defensive styles. “The style aims to teach how one can defend against attacks from all directions,” he said.

He said Beksi was a “hard” fighting style that required fighters to land quick and strong strikes on their rivals.

Another pencak silat style, called Si Bunder, utilizes mind reading techniques to predict an opponent’s attacks.

“Learning Si Bunder is quite difficult because it teaches fighters to read an opponent’s mind to know which side they will attack from,” said Babe Nung, a senior coach.

Si Bunder, he continued, required “never ending stance development”. “We always come up with new movements and it may take up to five years to master all 17 stances.”

Unlike the Beksi style, there are not many records chronicling Si Bunder’s history. “We do not have any schools or specific training attire. We do not classify our student fighters into beginner, intermediate or advanced. We simply practice in accordance with the necessities,” Babe said.

He said that although hundreds of students had dabbled in Si Bunder, few had chosen to pursue it to an advanced level, preferring instead to learn the basics and incorporate them into other styles.

“Most of them leave the style once they have gotten what they really need. They do not want to develop and preserve it,” he said.

The 50-year old man said he was selective in choosing his students.

“Now I have 30 pupils, all of whom are devoted to continuing to develop Si Bunder,” he said.

He holds practices four times a week in Kuningan, South Jakarta, and in Menteng Park, Central Jakarta.

For Babe, pencak silat serves not only as a means of self-protection but also as a source of personal pride and confidence. “It is possible for a fighter to quit altogether if he loses a fight simply because his pride has been damaged,” he said.

According to the City Culture and Tourism Agency, the city has about 300 traditional pencak silat styles, including Bayang Gerak Lodaya, Sabeni, Sipecut, Bandrong and Syah Bandar.

Some are recognized by the Indonesian Pencak Silat Association and the Indonesia Traditional Silat Conservers and Lovers Forum.

Written by Eny Wulandari
Sourced from http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/06/17/pencak-silat-benefitting-increased-popularity.html