The Britsh Silat association is home to styles such as Silat Lincah, Pancasila Gayong Harimau, Pukulan Madura Pusaka Sapu Jagat.....

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Silat has existed in South East Asia for several hundred years. It was originally described as Pertikaman, which means to stab. This is because Silat is known as a keris art, and this is a stabbing weapon. It has been known as Silat only relatively recently.

It is said to have originated in Indonesia during the Majapahit Empire. It spread to Malaysia and the southern Philippines, and then through the area. It is said that 2 brothers founded silat- Sang Persanta Nala, and Sang Adi Putra. I am told they disagreed on some issues, so to prevent the disagreement becoming serious, Sang Adi Putra left, and went to live in Malaysia. There he lived in Mount Ophir- gunung Ledang, and there he taught the greatest exponents of Malaysian silat. 5 brothers-

Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Lekir, Hang Lekiu, and Hang Kasturi, became chief bodyguards to the Sultan of Melaka- at the time, the most powerful ruler in the region. During the wedding ceremony of the marriage between the Sultan of Melaka, and the daughter of the Majapahit emperor, Hang Tuah was insulted and challenged. The champion of the emperor, said that he knew the Melaka men could dance, but didn't believe they could fight. To make it easier for them, they tried to get Tuah drunk and also drugged him. But Tuah STILL beat the Javanese champion, and his cousin, another fighter of great repute in Java. This to the Malaysians has settled the debate as to which is better Malaysian or Indonesian Silat. I am often asked which is better. The answer I give is that Malaysian silat is better ….for ME. I like it. Hang Tuah was the older of the brothers and so was given the power and position, but it is widely accepted that Hang Jebat was the better fighter. Many styles in Malaysia follow Hang Tuah because he was loyal to the sultan over his brother, and beat Jebat. We however don’t follow Jebat because he was the better fighter but because he behaved with great honour and loyalty towards his brother, even to the point of allowing Tuah to kill him. He was willing to die fighting against injustice and in defence of his friend.

What are the differences between Malaysian and Indonesian Silat?

I can only speak from my experiences and these may not be how other people see things. That is ok. This is my website so we have my version!!! When Sang Adi Putra left Java he did so for philosophical differences. Indonesian silat is very animistic- styles incorporate movements or principles from macan/ harimau (tiger), or Buaya( crocodile), monyet(monkey) or cobra or python, crane etc. Malaysian silat has none of these. Certainly Lincah has none. When I asked about this, the reply I received was that we do not have the claws of the tiger and the beak of the crane. God made us master of the animals. We should look to fight like humans because that’s what we are. I liked that. It doesn’t make others wrong, its just not suitable for me. In terms of technique there are differences in regions- Javanese silat tends to have a similar rhythm and style of movement. West Sumatran silat- silek tuo, harimau etc all seem to move the same as well. Having spent several days watching them in Sumatra, I cannot tell the differences even though they vehemently protest that there are.

Indonesia has a particular style of history. Indonesian silat tends to rewrite it’s history for expediency. For example on of the most senior Setia Hati teachers in Europe and possibly in the world has been written out of it’s history because he taught people who were not S.H. members, and then committed the ultimate sin. He taught them the correct art.

In Indonesia it was apparently illegal to write in an alphabet different to our own, so Chinese, Japanese and Korean scripts cannot be used. Indonesia does not recognise these countries arts, but what it has done is absorb them into it’s own. As a result of this you will find many kung fu systems in Indonesian silat. One of the ways you can see this is with the salute- fist in open hand. In Malaysia this sort of silat is referred to as Silat kuntao. American practitioners hype this form of art as a blend that is superior to the composite parts. It is usually treated with derision by both silat and kung fu stylists.

Persilat is run by Indonesians to promote their art. Studying a Malaysian art I was obviously popular. Initially, I am told, it appeared that I was the guy to whom everyone wanted to talk. The general idea is that you befriend a person from another country, and have him speak for you if you have no voice on the larger forum, or add his voice to yours to increase your influence. The benefit for them is in status and influence. After a while though, the Indonesians in Europe realised that they could not coerce, bribe or manipulate me. Suddenly they became a whole lot less friendly. The principle of dealing with these people is to make them look good. Fortunately I possess none of the necessary qualities, and Persilat found people in Britain eminently more willing.

Responsibility

Two people for whom I have the utmost respect, have been jailed for speaking out against corruption.. When Maha Guru Silat Lincah is arrested for hitting a policeman who is stopping him from visiting his family, before going in to the police to be arrested for denouncing Malaysia’s government officials, the story is front page news. One silat person in London told me that he would embarrass me by telling everyone this “little known” fact- if I carried on promoting my silat. The blackmail only works if the story can do damage to me. It cannot.

If your intention is to berguru, to be a guru silat, then you have to accept the responsibility that goes with that. That means speaking the truth, not just your version of it, and ensuring that your behaviour is completely and utterly beyond reproach..

All sport is about excellence: About been the best you can be. Martial arts however take that further - to a spiritual psychological moral or psycho social level. The aim is for you to be the best you can be for your society not just your chosen event.

In the badge for the BSA there is the symbol of the keris in fire. This is meant to symbolise the student being tempered in the fire of training. Steel must experience the blacksmith’s furnace in order to make the transition from mere iron to steel. Simply watching the fire will make no difference to the iron. In the same way with training you can watch the techniques, and I have seen many people just sit and take notes, but they do not get off their backsides and train. Doing that will achieve nothing for your development as a martial artist or as a human being. This could be why streetfighters regard Martial artists as powder puff fighters, and why so many people are armchair exponents of the arts. Excellence requires dedication, perseverance, commitment, tenacity, understanding, intent, and effort. I for example had two people attend my instructor course who told me they trained 5 times a week, and really worked in each session. When I saw them they were overweight and out of condition, and exhibited none of the qualities required to excel. They did not complete the course.

Jak Othman, the first silat instructor to teach openly in Britain, used to say that when he teaches a technique it is like throwing a wet tennis ball against the wall. The student (the wall) gets the imprint of the ball- (the technique), but he gets the ball back. Instructors only impart a fraction of the teaching- it is through your own practice that the finer points of the technique and the art are brought out and brought to life. In an article that Mike Finn wrote as an insight into aikido, he talks about how the different master established their styles of aikido. He says that they did not just dream them up, but went through full training with their master, and they only made the step to this when both master and student considered it to be right. Compare that now to the various teachers of the eclectic styles of martial art who have done seminars or have yellow belt grades, and claim to teach an art, or who have created their own. An ex-student of mine has threatened myself and other instructors with law suits and police to cover the fact that he is not qualified to teach our arts. I used to teach silat in Northern Ireland during the troubles, and wanted through teaching to bring both sides in the conflict together. It is one of my life’s disappointments that I failed because of the actions of one egotistical self interested party.

The student can only become a master through the work he does, and the commitment he puts into that work. I have said to my students that I expect to be paid for teaching them- aside from hall fees. I expect them to pay, but they have a choice; they can either pay me money or they can pay me with effort. I do not need the money: I would prefer the effort.

Two things seem to attract people to silat. The first is it’s reputation as a deadly martial art, the second is what is referred to as the spiritual side -the batin.

Spirituality is a path to god and relates to sacred matters. There is an attachment to religious values that implies standards of behaviour- human values. In my style there are several tenets- humility honour respect dignity loyalty brotherhood friendship. Using the principles that we learn in the gelanggang or training hall, we should apply these values to our daily life. Martial arts have a philosophy that is not found in sports such as football and rugby. It has an element that relies on the practitioner being fully in touch with themselves. It is more important to be a person who is good kind honest gentle and compassionate and who happens to practise martial arts, than to be a person with perfect technique but no integrity and humility.

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