Silat
WHAT IS SILAT?
Silat, also known as Gayung, Gayong,
Seni Silat, Bergayung,
is an umbrella term used to describe the martial art forms
practiced throughout the Malay Archipelago. Silat is a
combative art of fighting and survival and it has been
evolved in Indonesia and Malaysia civilizations for centuries
into social culture and tradition. During the colonization
era, both in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam
as British colonies and in Indonesia as Dutch colonies,
practitioners (locally known as pesilat) used the martial
art as a form to liberate from foreign authorities.
The distinctive forms of silat with other Asian martial
arts, such as kung fu, tae kwon do or karate, lie on
the cultural aspect. Silat is not only for combative
purposes. When accompanied with traditional instruments,
such as kendang, silat transforms into a folk dance.
In Minangkabau area (the West Sumatra province of Indonesia),
silat was the oldest men's tradition known as silek
and it is one of the components to perform the Minangkabau
folk dance of randai.
In Malaysia, one form of silat known of silat pulut
also shows the harmonic silat styles as a dance accompanied
by traditional instruments, making it into performance
art.
A silat form in West Java province of Indonesia, known
as pencak, is usually accompanied with
music, notably by the traditional Sundanese suling instrument.
All ethnics and cultures in archipelago has its own
silat's clothing.
History
Silat spread throughout the Malay Archipelago since
the seventh century AD, but its origin is still uncertain.
However, silat has been acknowledged as a genuine Malay
art. When Islam was spread throughout the archipelago
in the fourteenth century, it was taught alongside with
silat. Besides as a combative art and cultural folk
dance, silat then became a spiritual training.
Silat was gradually refined into the specialized property
of sultans, panglima (prime-minister) and pendekar (warriors)
during the Malacca Sultanate, Majapahit and Srivijaya
empires. It was the time when silat spread through Malay
peninsula, Java, Bali, Sulawesi and Borneo. Malays,
in particular in Malay peninsula, considers the legendary
story of Hang Tuah of the fourteenth century as the
father of silat.
During post colonization era, silat has been evolved
into formal martial arts; it is now officially included
as part of the sport game, particularly during the Southeast
Asian Games.
What does the word silat mean?
The origins of the word ‘silat’ itself are
uncertain and most hypotheses link it to any similar
sounding word. One theory says it come from sekilat
which means “as (fast as) lightning”, another
suggests that it comes from “Si Elat”, the
name given to the practitioner where elat carries the
meaning of efforts to confuse, deceive, trick the opponent.
A similar term,‘ilat’, means an accident,
a misfortune or a calamity.
Practice, forms and aspects
Silat education focuses on the development of the person
internally and externally which will enable the formation
of a community that embodies discipline, morals, patriotism,
self identity and citizenship which can contribute towards
the development of thinking and the forces of race,
religion and country.
A student is first and foremost taught how to defend himself
or herself. This is done in stages where the students
learn the basics, such as langkah or steps (how to step,
where to step) and techniques. Then she or he is taught
how to attack before being attacked, in self preservation.
Along with the body, one uses weapons, such as dagger,
sword, machete (golok), knife and walking stick.
The students practice:
• Jurus, which is a set of movements
made up of strikes, blocks and maneuvers. It teaches how
to combine movements, langkah, tapak and to practice them
in their strikes, blocks and fighting stances (sikap pasang).
• Bunga (flower) or seni is an
integral part of Silat. The aesthetic movements teach
the student grace, fluidity of movements and in some cases
is a hidden form of practice for certain techniques.
Beladiri, self-defence that is taught by all styles
of Silat.
• Tempur, that basically means
a battle, duel or fight between two pesilat but it can
also be expanded to mean a battle or fight in general,
disregarding the number of participants.
The seni or art form in Silat is an integral part of
it as it serves to distinguish one style from another
and Silat from all other martial arts. The seni aspect,
also known as bunga or tari is the aesthetic form of
Silat. It is portrayed through slow, graceful movements
performed for aesthetic value but rooted in an essential
principal of Silat, which is trickery and deception.
Silat has its spiritual aspect; the aim of the practitioner
is to free oneself of worldly conceptions and realize
that our reality is an illusion. This was originally
based on the meditative practices of Hinduism, Buddhism,
Kejawen and local forms of animism which is still evident
in the older styles today. The later introduction of
Islam brought influences of Muslim philosophy. Nowadays,
spirituality in silat is largely based on tasawwuf (knowledge
of Islamic esoteric teaching). In this way, the exponent
learns to respect life and his surroundings and see
it as a gift from God.
/source: wikipedia/
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