Thursday 16 May 2013










Hello Again!

Its been far to long since we last spoke (almost a year now)
and its with a sad heart that I’m writing my last public blog on the subject of Pencak Silat!

This may come as a shock to many of you who have supported my work for long time now, but after some deep thought, self reflection... and some huge changes in my personal life
I’ve decided that I will no longer pen my thoughts aloud on the subject of Silat.

In my time I`ve trained with some amazingly skilled persilats and Gurus... and some shit ones (You know who I mean), made some awesome friendships... and some shit ones  and have gotten ....very disheartened to say the least at the state of Pencak Silat as its portrayed and taught publicly here in the UK. Religion, politics, ego, money, lineage, internal backstabbing and in-fighting all these things ruin the arts that I love and I want no more part of that. A lot of gurus out there with the fat bellies and fatter wallets to match need to really think long and hard about what there “Teaching” and what there charging their students for. How some of them sleep at night with the shit they pass of as Silat amazes me, students paying over-inflated fees for something that frankly would get them killed outside of the matted dojo!

 With the exception of my brothers Alvin and Johnny, and friends Chris P, Kim, Vinnie, Eddie, Max, Chris C  and VERY few others, UK public Silat is a joke! and it breaks my heart to write it but its true. Most students are living in a land of “make believe” playing pirates or something.

Plus with the state of things in the world today and the continued "War on Privacy" I foresee a time where it will be illegal to even study fighting arts here in the UK of any worth. Anyone who can fight his way out of a paper bag will be rounded up and taken away! The State and the “darkness” behind already know enough of what I study.
I`ve had articles censored and taken down, Haters but mostly knobs and I’m now a little more careful about the information I put out there and who see's it.

I will still continue to study REAL Pencak Silat and always will, but I will now also put more time and energy into other "Tribal arts" free of the dogma and bullshit Silat in UK is quite frankly drowning in!

I will be continuing to blog on Google + in a very closed circle and my students (What few I have left) will be there too.

Anyone who as liked my ramblings and insights and expressions of REAL Silat over the years and who still wants to stay in touch can email me personally at paranormal.simpson@gmail.com and I'll add them to the Google + circle or come find me on Facebook.

Another half decent Silat player / Guru left with no other option than to melt away into the background, for fear of drowning in the bollocks of "Pulut Silat"

Terima Kasih

 Sion-marc Simpson

Saturday 4 August 2012

Sting in the Tail part 1


(Kala, Kalajengking, Alakdan, Vrischika)
Hello everyone, long time no post LOL. This time around I wanted to share with you all an insight into one of my favourite animal mannerisms the Kala or Scorpion.

We'll look a little at the scorpion and its biology and anatomy, its psychology and hunting and defencive habits and we'll also look at how that relates to the tools we as martial artists have and can use in real world combat.
The Scorpion martial material is all but lost now in a lot of Indonesia and as to whether it ever existed in Malaysia is debatable and is the realm of the scholar the best source of surviving Scorpion material Ive found comes from the Myanmar (Burmese) Bando systems in their various forms.actually it was Bando that I was first exposed to the Scorpion system. A teacher I studied with for a while also exposed me to some African and Khmer arts which also included Scorpion techniques.
Also Ive personally added mannerisms and techniques gleaned from my own expression from watching studying my own scorpions, in the way they hunt and fight.

It is my opinion that as Scorpions are so widespread throughout the jungles of Asia that all the indigenous people would once have used aspects and mannerisms of the scorpion in their fighting arts

Anatomy:
The Scorpion is an arthropod and part of the arachnid family of animals an ancient creature, it is almost entirely armoured and armed with a fearsome array of weapons two powerful claws Pedipalps used to hold prey whist it is eaten or if a struggle ensues it utilises its trademark tail metasoma tipped with a venomous barb or Telson to inject a powerful neurotoxin to paralysis the prey so it can be summarily eaten.
As far as behaviour the scorpion is a naturally defencive animal spending most of the day hidden in borrows or under logs etc but at night the scorpion is a ruthless predator feeding on small inverts but in some cases small lizards and mice will be taken.The scorpion as very sensitive hairs on its feet and on the outside of its claws which can pick up the slightest vibration of prey moving past, through the ground itself.
Once startled the scorpion will about face turning on a dime to face its threat head on, with tail and claws raised in a threatening manner if that doesn't intimidate the threat the scorpion will pull in its mouth and head parts cover itself with its large claws and lower its tail so as to form an almost tessellating armoured target an amazing animal.

Mannerism:
As a mannerism, we can take the reactive and aggressive defencive nature of the scorpion as a mindset should we run into confrontation. Like the scorpion we as humans in a "civilised" society do not seek out trouble and we are happy to be aloud to busy get on with our own lives but should we be faced with a situation we cannot get out of and violence is the only option left open to use we can be aggressive and direct in our defencive reaction to the foe as we know the best form of defence is attack and as long as you abide by the use of reasonable force and you feel like your life or that of your family or friends is in grave danger then react like the scorpion.As scorpions are obviously devoid of cognitive thought they react instinctively to a stimulus, whether it be a feeding response or a defencive response to a threat, there is no thinking, no "well this guy is really scary and holding a weapon, and what about the legal ramifications of XYZ, if he doest this specific technique coming from this specific angle on this certain day of the week" or whatever.. basically all the things that would get you killed if your life depended on it and a real trap a lot of martial artists fall prey too. no. the Scorpion reacts to the stimulus with lightning speed and then stops and goes about its business as if nothing happened.That said scorpions know instinctively when to run and hide and wouldn't fall prey to things like pride or huberous another flaw of many fighters. When its time to split... split!
Scorpions are very direct in their attacks seeking to rely on their armoured assault to crash through the threat utilising its claws to immobilise and tear its prey while it engages its classic over head stinger to en-venomate the target which is then eaten alive and torn to bits. Ive often feed my Scorpions and watched in fascination as the insects are picked up smashed down on the sides of tank or floor and pulled apart little limbs scattered around the place like a scene from Starship Troppers or something its great..... (yes I know I'm sick and need to get out more!)  LOL



Martial Tools:
Obviously we don't have a armoured carapace eight legs huge claws and a large tail tipped with a venomous barb, we`re human right?, well we do have certain tools at are our disposal, which we can use to mimic the attributes of the scorpion.

The Armour:
To mimic the lack of a chitin armoured body the scorpion stylist will use the elbows and knees in a couple of ways. Firstly the elbows are used in a wedge like manner to help deflect oncoming blows to the upper body as it drives forward, not to unlike the way the beak is used in the Garuda sub stystems, seen most recently in the Keysi material.  My Pukulan Cimande brothers will know this as "The Principle of Body armour". Using various shields to cover the upper body whilst the knees cover the lower levels. Our attacker throwing in blows will find them impaled and deflected in such a way that we give the impression of being armoured.
Secondly the elbows and knees are used defensively to impale oncoming blows, but these are not used with the same mentality of say Kali or Escrima the MO is that of driving forward relentlessly, not of staying in a knife range and Gubting-ing blows as they come in. Obviously once the scorpion stylist as gotten to close range the elbows and knees are used directly as weapons to the opponent in a more conventional manner , but that said still with the forward moving emtherysis.

The Claws:
As we mentioned the scorpion will use the claws to immobilise its prey and to pull it limb from limb.
the claws are used in a pinching and squeezing manner to various nerve centres and plexus`s of the limbs and body to cause deep pain in the limbs this is the scorpion players way of trapping by using the foes nervous system against him. These pincher like attacks can be used offensively too to the clavicle region or the windpipe and groin followed almost always by a strike to finish the confrontation with a direct downward type nerve strike which if so desired could be fatal think of this as the tail being employed in a direct downward arch to inject neurotoxin into the prey to paralyse whilst the claws and teeth finish the job.
The knuckles are also used either to pinch at the skin, or nerve bundles or to strike them like the extended knuckle punches used in classical Chinese and Japanese arts.



 The Tail and Sting:
The material and expression we use in the utilisation of the tail are not like those used in some of the more "theatrical" Kung-Fu styles and movies where crazy flexibility allow for the legs the express the downward arch of the tail strike. We use a far more practical and pragmatic delivery system of the arm to mimic the deadly sting. With this we have much more control and accuracy to deliver the strike with the fingers angled like the Telson of the scorpion to the dangerous nerves plexus`s of the neck throat and clavicle regions. Also should we miss and or the opponent doesn't stand still and let us deliver a very impressive over the headkick, were not caught on one leg bent over backwards like something from Cynthia Rothrock scene ,)
(Showing my age there I know LOL.)

The Teeth:
Lastly for this article the teeth are used offensively to bite off parts of the opponents face and neck and or to hold them still, through pain compliance whist the sting or punching elbow is utilised.

Closing
So in closing we`ve looked at the basics of the scorpions anatomy and mentality as applied to psychology and real world combat / defence and some of the main tools used to mimic and punish a potential threat.
In the next article on the Kala we`ll look at some picture examples of various scorpion strikes and some pics and clips of some basic applications and Langkas or footwork and stepping of this fascinating and deadly animal. Till then, play hard and train safe ,)



Tuesday 27 December 2011

Fighting for Lives 2011 Karambit and Matjan / Pamacan Workshop



Hey guys.
Thought about time I posted some of my own clips on here.
As you know I was honored, yet again to be asked to teach alongside Guru Max Green of fractalfightingarts.com at this years Fighting for Lives weekend up in Dundee Scotland.
My half of the weekend was on Pamacan and Matjan (Upright and mid level Harimau) and the deadly Karambit. posted here is clip of a Pamacan technique from the day and a few Karambit ones from class day before the workshop.

Enjoy ;)
Pamacan Technique with options (Kala and Buaya)
Karambit Class ideas
Karambit class ideas 2

Silat Cool Clip of the month


Hello everyone.
This clip is of my good friend Guru Max Green of Fractal Fighting Arts.
Not only is he a very skilled Persilat and teacher but a great man with a deep knowledge of many styles of West Javanese Pencak Silat and good pal to boot.

Im posting two clips here, the first is labeled "Become the art" which speaks volumes of the depth one should go to to fully claim an incite into Pencak Silat. Pencak was once described as an old priceless Swiz clock. If you take the back off one of these and peer inside at the complex mechanism to the complex array of cogs and wheels which work together to become the clock. you take out one of those cogs you dont have a clock you have just a cog its only in its entirity that its a clock; this is the same with Pencak Silat.
Second is from Max's Dublin workshop giving great example of Perisai Setia (Faithful Shield) and general Silat structures. For more information on Guru Max please visit fractalfightingarts.com

Anyway enough rambling heres Max in action ; )
Silat "Become the art"
Faithful Shield

Saturday 17 December 2011

Fighting For Lives 2011 (Lowline Matjan and Kerambit Workshop)


Hey guys.
As you are probably aware I co-teacher at a workshop in aid of  Fighting For Lives Children's Charity weekend of Nov 13th.

The event was in Dundee Scotland the turnout was great, everyone had a awesome day. The material I covered was Lowline Matjan and Lowline Karambit I had a wonderful time.
I wanted to use this venue to say a big thank you to Max for teaching with me on the day to everyone who attended and help raise money for children who really need our help; we're blessed in that, we can train in what we enjoy and still raise money for such a worthy course. Guru Max is a fine persilat and it was an honor to teach and train alongside him. I would highly recommend anyone in Scotland wanting to train in Pencak Silat to visit his website Fractal Fighting Arts.

The latest amount raised worldwide on the day was (And Im sure Bro Parv will correct me if I'm wrong) was circa 6300 Euros and pledges are still coming in.
Anyone wanting to know more about the charity and the amazing work they do to visit the website above and if you want to donate there's a button there. And to all the other instructors around the world I'm sure Parvez would joining me in saying a huge thanks you for all your hard work.
Thank you.




Thursday 15 December 2011

"Blogwalking" ??



Hello everyone before I post my latest articles and clips Id like to talk a little about a phenomenon previously unknown to me called "Blogwalking"
Ive noticed over the past few months that an increasing amount of spam left from people Blogwalking was being left in my Chatbox. This was meant for fans and followers to leave constructive comments regarding Pencak Silat and to communcate ideas and concepts not for strangers to come and leave spam and links to their sites.

To those blogwalkers all I can say is FUCK OFF! leave your shit somewhere else.... please ;)



Sunday 6 November 2011

Silat Weekend Workshop in aid of World Fighting for Lives Weekend


Hello again everyone.
Firstly guys my apologise for the silence but back on track with lots of cool material to share.
I wanted to kick of the second incarnation, with a big shout out to my brother Parvez founder of Fighting for Lives. This is a charity which hosts martial art events worldwide co-ordinated to the same date every year, that said, anyone can donate on the Fighting for Lives Website by clicking on the "Donate" tab on left hand side.
Its an honoured to be asked again to co-teach an event and also an honour to be part of a worldwide community which regardless of martial art style, nationality or culture can come together to gives real needy children a fighting chance. Please look at some of the videos and articles there to see the real good Parv and all those teaching and donating have achived. 
this charity is unique in that there are no administration or other hidden fees and EVERY penny is collected and taken in "situ" to those whom need it the most.





Theres still time to join the community and if you contact Parvez directly he can direct you from there our numbers are growing every year, despite the atemps of some to discredit the venture and those who do not train in anything can donate anyway.
So please help Parvez and myself raise as much as we can for them and help give street children worldwide  a Fighting Chance in Life!

Terima kasih

Siôn-marc.