J.C : What will happen to Silat if it becomes popular like JKD
G.L : That’s one of the things I want to achieve with silat . I want silat to be seen as an art, and martial arts to be seen as an art. Martial arts at the moment do not seem to have much respect from the street fighters. Silat doesn’t have much respect from ignorant martial artists, they think it’s too dancey and soft. But then you have Cass Magda who says if he was in a real fight he would use silat. So if a world-reknowned martial artist would use silat by choice in a fight then it must have some validity as a fighting art. The fact that kick boxers don’t see it is neither here nor there, it’s because they don’t understand it.

J.C : There is some debate about weapons and the kerambit and its origins. Can you expand on this? G.L : I went round Jakarta looking for a kerambit, also around Thailand and Sumatra and nobody knew what I was talking about. In Singapore and Malaysia everybody you ask cocks their litttle finger and flicks their wrist. So they all understand what it is. Every silat style in Malaysia knows what it is. In Singapore they are banned, so if you can find it in Malaysia but not in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, what does that tell you about its origin? It has to be a Malaysian weapon, if not originally then at least now. However in recent years there seem to be many more silat players who know what a kerambit is when 10 years ago no-one did. there seem to be lots of so called experts in it who also didnt know what it was a while ago..

J.C : How much is the spiritual side of silat actually practiced?
G.L : There are a lot of people who use the mantras and chants. In Malaysia the spiritual side has increased with the resurgence of Muslim fundementalism. In the west I don’t think there are many people who actively practice the spiritual side. There are a few that I know who are very able

J.C : Are there people using it for healing and bad purposes?
G.L : I’ve apparently cursed someone down the phone, which is news to me, as I was actually on a plane at the time. I have apparently threatened people, and apparently been beaten up, both of which are also news to me. There are people who use the dark side and people who use the healing, but the latter don’t get talked about because it’s less newsworthy. Because of the JKD all the information around silat is sensational, it’s the deadliest martial art and it has this other stuff that can kill you from miles away.

J.C : What if people want to learn the spiritual side only
G.L : Don’t come and see me! Because it’s special to me I won’t teach it to just anybody. You have to gain trust before being taught that. There are a lot of people who are searching for something, they have a void in their lives and they think the spiritual part is what they are looking for to fill this emptiness. It’s one of the things that might bring people to silat.

J.C : It’s been said that silat lincah is a style of silat that is only taught to primary school children and is not effective as a martial art, what do you say to that?
G.L : It’s always nice to hear an un-informed opinion. I know who you are talking about. These people haven’t seen me and are very unlikely to have seen my style. So they are not in a position to make an authoritative statement about the subject. Lincah has a reputation which I understand it has earned. I don’t need their validation of my style. For them to earn any credibility, the best thing they can do is to see for themselves. If they then slate me, at least they have some experience of what I do- no insight, but at least it is better than what they have at the moment.-no idea at all.

Lincah is a very personal thing- every lincah practitioner I have met practices the art differently. One or my teachers Basir is hard, like rock, in his movement. Not stiff you understand, but hard. Ali Jantan is soft and fluid; Johari Jantan- my main teacher is imbetween the two. So let these people see MY silat.

J.C : Do you have anything else lined up for the future?
G.L : I have a few things in the pipeline. Because I’m busy at work I have had difficulty dedicating time to these. I will let you know when I have it ready OK?

J.C : Glenn, thanks very much for this interview, before we finish is there anything else you wish to add ? G.L : Learn from the source, learn it right, drill it, then practice some more: make it automatic, believe it, and don’t take substitutes.