ANIMAL MAGIC Part 2(a)

Stealth and Cunning
(Ular Sendok and Ular Sawar)

Since the dawn of time the image of the snake as inspired both fear and respect, exalted by some peoples and demonized by others, no animal as left the same indelible mark on the human psyche as the snake.

Hello again
In my last article I went into great detail on animal mannerisms in general and covered also the Harimau mannerisms so has to not repeat myself; I would suggest readers who haven’t read that article "Tooth and Claw"
posted Nov 1st to do so, for a greater detail on my take on animal mannerisms in general.

This month I want to talk about the Ular or snake mannerisms of the style, these are the Sendok which is the Cobra and Sawar which is the Python.

Like these mannerisms, snakes themselves can be divided into two types Venomous and non-venomous or "Constrictors"
While no animal is more important than another the Ular systems are a expressed a lot throughout the system and indeed many of the movements from the Jurus are influenced by the Snake and a lot of what makes are style look and feel the way it does, is in no small part down to an expression of these “tricky” “sneaky” serpentine movements.

I would like to deal with these animals and mannerisms separately in regards to tactics and training methodology as while there are some, similarities there are enough differences to warrant separate detail.

Due to the length of this article I will deal with the Sendok first and in a couple of weeks post the Sawa.

Sendok

The Cobra is characterized by sudden, quick, direct or upward rising movements, the element of Fire can be seen clearly expressed in its movements.
Like its namesake the Cobra, which is defensive by nature (Apart from hunting for food) its movements are mostly counter-offensive, but no less deadly. Through body angling, re-direction and glancing parries a cobra stylist can deliver a barrage of viscous and fatal blows from a unseen angle to vital targets, namely the throat and eyes.
Its venom, although not the deadliest, if left untreated will cause death due to cardiac arrest or lung failure within 60 mins depending on the species, and the seer amount injected; the Indian King Cobra for example will kill a man depending on age within 40-60 mins.
We do not possess fangs and venom, but by use of the Snake fist we can deliver, haematoma’s or deep level damage (internal bleeding) which mimics the effect of the cobras venom, braking down tissue and flesh; anyone who’s seen the gruesome effects
of a Rattlesnake bite will testify to the result eventually the neurotoxin reaches the nerves of the diaphragm and stops its function causing asphyxiation and or cardiac arrest.
Snakes have very poor eyesight, no outer ear and a poorly developed inner ear and can only ear sound when their jaws are on the ground, and without limbs, one would think, that as a predatory animal their disadvanges would have meant that they would simply die-out, but yet they have adapted and developed to become without doubt the most successful predator in the nature (Apart from Man)
Their extraordinary sensory skills and adaptations have meant that apart from the Antarctic and Ireland they can be found everywhere in the world they have mastered movement on the ground, under-ground, up trees, across deserts, the seas and one type of snake in Malaysia can even glide through the air! They where around 100 million years, before we climbed down from the trees, an amazing achievement.

All snakes "smell" the air and this is their primary sense.
The air is full of all kinds of molecules, dust, pollen, and animal scents of all kinds, due to an organ called the "Jacobson’s organ" the snake tongue, flicks out and collects these molecules these scents are then picked up by this organ and the information sent to the snakes brain.
The fact that its tongue is forked or split into two, is so that it can receive this information in stereo; pinpointing the target, its eyes used only at VERY close range, some more sophisticated snakes like the Vipids and some constrictors for example, have heat sensitive pits under the mouth to detect fluctuations in temperature to aid in target location, some Vipids can detect a changes in temperature of a thousand of a degree!

So what can we learn from this beautiful and deadly animal?

*Sensitivity

I don’t mean getting in tune with your” inner woman" this is the type of sensitivity developed from tactile sensitivity.
Like one develops through sensitivity drills similar to Wing Chuns Chi-Sau are practiced in this style, right and left leads as there is no lead to a limbless snake!
the development for tactile sensitivity is essential for fighting especially at the "Zero" range of this mannerism.

A deadly blow could be thrown in the blink of an eye and only a developed tactile sensitivity will save you at this range allowing you to feel the blow before the eye picks up the movement.
Any hand drills which remain in constant contact are good for this skill, there are so many good ones found within Cimande, Kelid is one example but there are several, whether from other Silat styles or from hand drills from other arts. The Filipino Kali drill Higut- Hubud sometimes known as “Hubud Lubud” are also other great for this as one can add in the element of spontaneity adding in punches, locks counter locks, throws, weapons going into ground work it’s a great all rounder. Chi-Sau already mentioned also Taiji-Chuans (Taichi Chuans) “Pushing Hands” drill, also good for this type of sensitivity, once you have the muscle memory start playing with these drills working to blind-folded and ”feel” the movements and the energy.
Also useful are leg Chi-Sau type drills to gain leg sensitivity

*Speed

Snakes are FAST! very fast and combined with the above skill can make someone fast, appear even faster.
The fastest snake the Sawscale Viper.
It can go from coiled position opening its mouth, unfolding its fangs, lunging, biting and injecting venom to folding its fangs back again, closing its mouth, and returning to a coiled up position in 0.13 of a second!
The human eye cannot follow the strike, it is so swift. And with blows this deadly a stylist becomes an indomitable fighter. Training your snake blows and figure eights wearing wrist and ankle weights will really help build up speed. Cellular memory, from repeated repetition Boring! But, the best way to build instinctive speed.
Working with hanging paper drills at half power will help with focus, as will working with Candles, take a snake blow and with the candle placed SAFELY a few inches away punch it out, stay relaxed and focused as you get better at this drill try moving the candle away, I got this to about a foot or more at my best

*Accuracy

Snakes have a near 100% success rate with their strike and are intently focused, most Cobras will watch there prey intently and will follow its movement with it head even bobbing around from side to side to do so.
this is how so called "Snake charmers" perform they don’t hypnotize the snake or make it dance to music, snakes have no ears like we do, the vibration of the charmers foot tapping alerts it , and the snake thinking the charmers pipe is another snake raises up its hood, stands, fixes its eyes and follows it movements.
Again, combined with the above skills, a stylist can become even more deadly.
Working with hanging paper again and hanging small targets (I use cats toy balls) helps this, as does working with floor to ceiling ball and focus mitts with a coloured sticker on it, stay focused and relaxed when working on accuracy.

*Angulations

Snakes are very good at moving in any direction, "slippery as a snake" handlers tend to get bitten, when they relax after finishing handling the snake, the snake senses the "drop in guard" and bites when the target doesn’t expect it.
In this way being able to strike from any direction when our opponent least expects it. Playing with Weave and Sheer steps, and basic juru and langka footwork, also light sparring helps to get practice out of the flow.

*Footwork

As mentioned before the snakes ability to move at such speeds over any terrain without legs is amazing through the development of good footwork the practitioner can move with speed in multiple directions and different heights to either escape the aggressor, most snakes will try to escape a larger animal. Or to get in close to deliver its strike.
Again snakes fangs are very specialist and sensitive equipment, snakes are very conscious after the bite to withdraw their teeth without injury to themselves, so learning to utilize footwork to withdraw or dis-engage is also very useful.

*Relaxation
Without this, none of the other skills will work, snakes are NEVER tense!

*Fluidity
This is probably one the greatest lessons learned from the snake.
While honing the above skills separately are of benefit, it’s only in combination with relaxation that the mannerism comes alive.
With fluidity one can improve on all these skills mentioned, but with out it you could not, it helps our sensitivity as we can adhere to our opponent better when we are fluid and relaxed
it aids greatly angulations and speed of movement due to its relaxed and adaptable nature, speed of strike as, like a snake a fast relaxed strike has much more impact than a bludgeoning blow, whipping out like an actual snakes strike, requires relaxation.
Moving in mannerism is the best tool for this start slow, facing east , the direction on the circle of creation associated with the element of fire and the snake. Start to move like a snake free your mind and see what just “comes out”.

A quick note on conditioning of the snakefist, start incrementally by pushing the extended knuckles into fine grain sand, build up to wood, then softly tap them against wood working up to stone SLOWLY! be careful not to push in the position of the actual snake fist or you'll destroy the knuckle of your second (protruding) finger.
Condition the lower two knuckles seperatly from the upper two so your working on level-ish knuckles the lower two are worked in the same position as the snake fist but side on and upper two more front on (more like the actual snake head strike).
Once you have this, hold the same positions but from a push-up stress position, kneeing down and lowering your weight of the upper body on to the knuckles, working gradually up to a full press ups on the knuckles.

Remember to always keep your wrist aligned straight with the knuckles or you'll brake you wrists, this should remembered on the actual snake fist strike too again, to avoid potential damage to the wrist.


Snakes are beautiful and there’s so much as persilat’s that we can learn from them. Go out and really study Ular don’t just learn to mimic it to pass the next grading, take time to learn, study the animal you claim kinship with, go to Pet shops, Zoo’s talk to zoo keepers pet shop owners get on the net and get under the skin not just of the Cobra but all animals you study.
As I said in my last article an UNDERSTANDING of the creature from the heart is more important than a shed load of empty techniques.

I apologize again for the length of the article, but there’s so much I want to get out there, and please any feedback is always appreciated.

In a week or two I’ll post my favorite Sawa ;)

Play hard but train safe.