| What is the historical background of Silat Lincah? |
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| Lincah formed about 40 years ago from another Malaysian system called Silat Tarah. Maha Guru Silat Lincah was given the position because he was willing to perform some tests of faith in his guru, where his peers would not. He could not keep the name Tarah because it was considered too aggressive for widespread use, so it was changed to Lincah. Tarah means to sever - as in cut off. Lincah means fast/aggressive, which is the principle of the style. |
What were the tests of faith that the Maha Guru Silat Lincah performed?
He was buried alive for 7or 8 hours.
Does Silat Tarah exist today?
To be honest I’m not sure. I believe it does, because Maha Guru was telling me that his senior in silat tarah was still around and teaching, but I have not come across it. I have also been told that lincah IS tarah, just the name is different, but I have been told to the contrary too. I think it is a small village style now.
What differentiates Silat Lincah from other systems of Silat?
There are differences between Indonesian and Malaysian systems, which are easy to demonstrate, differences in rhythm and structure and technique. For example, if you watch Javanese arts like cimande, Mande Muda, etc. they all have a dance element that looks similar to one another.
Additionally, many or most styles of silat are performed to music, and Lincah is not. It has little bunga, or dance and flowery techniques. There is little solo work, almost all training is done with a partner.
Even amongst Indonesian arts there are differences in the bunga, do Malaysian systems or Silat Lincah more closely resemble Sumatran or Minang systems of silat generally?
From what I have seen,and had explained, Sumatran/ Minang styles are soft, and yielding in their movement, and they play in slow motion a lot. Malaysian styles are different- Gayong Fatani is more like that, but gayong and Lincah are kinda flat out go for it styles.
If so, in what way?
The reason I liken Malaysian styles to Sumatran is the rhythm. Javanese silat has a movement that pauses on the beat, kinda pulses. Sumatran and Malaysian doesn’t but still uses the rhythm of the music. Traditionally lincah doesn’t use music, but some of the players like to dance, and sometimes the music is playing anyway so you just do it.
What is the specialty of Silat Lincah?
In Malaysia, silat is described as falling into one of three categories- tari, jatohan, or pukulan. All styles of silat have elements of all three in order to be considered silat, but they have them in varying amounts. Silat pulut, performed at weddings, is primarily a dance style, silat kunchi Melayu, is primarily a jatohan- locking or throwing style; lincah is primarily a pukulan style. It has some cute locks too, but its reputation is as a pukulan style. I view it as a keris style as my Maha Guru said.
Are you suggesting that there may be a fourth category for silat senjata Melayu?
No. the senjata is an extension of the 3 categories. You can lock with the weapons, you can strike with them, and dance with them.
What are the core principals of the system?
In Malaysia, the legend of Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat is well known. I am not sure how well it is known in Indonesian silat- even though there are streets named after them in Jakarta, I have rarely come across an Indonesian stylist who knows who they are. In Malaysia, most people follow Hang Tuah. He defeated his brother Jebat in a duel, ordered to do so by the sultan of Melaka. Our style follows Jebat. The reason for this stems for the reason for the duel which is for another place, but it is said Tuah showed blind loyalty to the Sultan, whereas Jebat showed loyalty to his brother, for which he paid the ultimate price. His saying was- it is better to follow no leader than to follow a bad one. Because of that, one principle of Lincah is that we will bend the knee to no man. When we salute, most/ all styles of silat do so with the hands in the prayer position. We do not. That is only used to Maha guru, high dignitaries, and royalty.
Technically, the principles of silat that I was taught are for small size people to overcome larger opponents. There is a lot of hitting to vital areas, “defanging the snake” ideas. I aim to move a fair bit, change line of attack, and go forward. This is another core principle.
What does the core curriculum consist of?
We have 5 forms in Europe- jurus. These are not present in the original Lincah system, and were created so that I could more easily teach some of the principles of movement combinations. Because the style of movement is so different to say karate I needed a vehicle to do this, teach some basics and build technique. People were always asking for things they can train on their own. They are long, but hopefully teach some flow and rhythm. We also have seven footwork drills. When I learned Lincah in Malaysia there was an average of 30 people in a class of varying abilities. When I started teaching, there was not another person in Europe that knew what I was trying to achieve, so I taught these drills to again enable me to get people to position themselves correctly.
There are seven buah – basic techniques in Lincah, and we teach 4-5 pecahan for each buah. These teach skill sets – both technique and body mechanics. I have chosen the ones we use because of these attributes. I teach them for the differing options they give. Once these are mastered, or as they are being mastered, we include them in the seni. I view seni as play fighting within delineated rules. That is how it operates in Lincah. We are training with rules to practice the buah and pecahan. The rules are simple don’ts. You move in set, one-person – pre-determined – attacks, and the other performs one of the pecahan. You combine them in varying ways. Once mastered, the rules reduce until in the gerak we are free fighting.
At various points, we also have tangapan [tangkapan] and kunchian [kuncian] which are set catches and locks.
How does your system prepare people in the 21st Century for combat/self-defense?
I am not sure I aim to do that, at least not at the start. I started as a traditionalist in traditional martial arts, because I knew no different. After I came across the JKD ideas, I embraced that and went eclectic. My first silat trainer used to say “We have what they have; the don’t have what we have”. Therefore, after a while I became a traditionalist again. That doesn’t mean I don’t change or develop. I have changed much of what I have taught to cater to the people I am teaching. Some of it is the inclusion of skills, training methods, etc. that I have learned through my job, some is the inclusion of other principles that originate elsewhere. I was teaching a JKD guy a while back and we were doing my most basic technique- step off-line, block and reverse punch, and he asked me how this would deal with someone who had a double knife? I had to explain that it wasn’t meant to – that it was to teach you to step off-line and punch at the same time. I don’t teach weapons till I know I am safe so to do. This is different from the Filipino idea. I don’t do guns. I have done, but we do knives machete etc. we train with both dummy and real blades. My students know I do this so they are comfortable when I pull a knife. I had a knife drawn on me once. The guy put it away and left. It isn‘t always going to work but I read the situation right.
Is spiritual or religious training a necessary component to your system? It is in Malaysia where there a high Muslim practices, but not here.
