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

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 ,)

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

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.

"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 ;)

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.

BITE BACK (Biting article part 2)

Hello everyone.
In the first part of this article we looked at biting, its uses and effects in a general term. In this part I'd like to look with more detail into biting in combat as a valid and powerful weapon, animal mannerism linkages, physiological and psychological results both in the biter and the bitten. I hope to illustrate better, some types of biting and will post a clip giving some examples. So that said lets first look at targets " uummm  yummy!"

Targets:
The target of intended biting are many and varied, and dependent on the location of the bite the results both physical and mental can be very different. Some will cause blood loss some are intended to remove flesh some will hold in place or immobilize a limb and some will be to elicit a known response a set up which can be acted upon; but all regardless of desired effect will cause pain! I'll discuss some of them now. Bites to the face , lips and earlobes will cause profuse blood loss due to the amount of small vessels which are closest to the surface of the skin on the face and the pain will be sharpest there because of increased nerve endings on the face too. The nose a large target, (on some people larger than others ;) located where it is centrally on the face, makes for a great target. It  is well supplied with blood vessels and nerve endings If clamped down on and torn sideways or downward using the muscles of not only the jaws but your neck and shoulders will remove chunks of it. The reaction will be to push you away or to pull away, which will aid in the removal of  it, this then as with any flesh removed must be spat back at the target for several reasons. Firstly you do not want to risk choking on it in the life and death struggle and secondly the effect psychologically on him is greatly exasperated this will leave him open for follow up or a chance for escape, having your nose torn off will probably take the fight right out of him and at least really spoil his night.
The lips and cheek also make a great target here you want to use the teeth furthest in the corner of your mouth past the canines) in a grating side to side pattern, this will cause intense pain and these targets will bleed a lot, remember to try and secure the adversary head to aid in the biting control and to help monitor his reactions (He'll be screaming and struggling like a eel and it will also aid in destabilization of his balance feeding nicely  into a Puter Kapala's (Head Turning) etc.In fact if the bite is in place and held while the Puter Kapala is performed his body weight whilst falling will help remove say and ear Food for thought! LOL.

Other targets for pain are the nipples and chest and flesh at the sides and base of the neck the forehead is a harder target but with torn blood loss will be heavy and will run into the eyes giving you a blinding tool now hes being torn to bits and he cant even see it coming utilising this terror will aid the defeat for sure.
The last target is the neck. here you can cause fatal damage to your opponent attacking from the side say from a glancing headbutt into the large muscles a deep powerful bite here will penetrate into the carotid region causing death VERY quickly as the result of great bloodloss if the carotid region and the vessels there- in are not damaged the Vegas nerve will be and he will loose the ability to support his head upright. The Vegas nerve also controls blood pressure through the carotid sinus receptor, so is a wonderful life and death target again LIFE AND DEATH not Beer spillage ok! And while none of us have the right to take life neither does your attacker! Think about this? With all these bites they are to be used ONLY when your life is threatened and really threatened! Not just because someone looked funny at your misses, but real life and death stuff.
While the fundamental law is the protection of your life there are ramifications to our actions both legal and moral.

Animal Mannerism:
As anyone who knows me will be aware that animal mannerism or the lack of them in Pencak Silat gets right under my skin (To put it mildly) The aboriginal peoples of not only South East Asia but the world over where animistic living in and at one with the animals and spirits of nature and their ancestors. Animal spirits where venerated and the animals who where their brothers and sisters where studied initially to simply learn better hunting habits tracking the finding of water etc later an animal might give ideas through observation to aid in getting one up on a warring tribe or whatever.Now whatever your belief or religious doctrine this example cannot be dined. Animal movements, postures displaying, body language, hunting habits and fighting techniques where not just beneficial to our ancient ancestors but of great value to today's fifth ape us! Originally these animal habits where part of the native fighting arts of Indonesia and all of South East Asia they are what gives the arts I've studied at least its heart and soul and their removal by the newer religions that have entered the islands and the Malay peninsular have robbed them of this. But for now at least I will try and stay on subject.
Biting is used in the arts and animal mannerisms I pass on and we find that the biting varies from mannerism or attitude.so lets look at a few examples. In the Tiger mannerisms we find a lot of biting, A lot of the biting is aggressive and intentional ie, used for attacking rather than a defensive reaction. Like a tiger tearing into its prey the bites are used actively and demonstratively to cause maximum terror in the attacker. the sight of a raving man moving and stalking like a tiger his face dripping with your buddies blood is enough to put most people of there beer and regret trying to take your life! intense? well the idea is not to simply copy the bear movements of say a tiger of ape like in other Chinese arts lets say, we are aiming to become the tiger or snake or bird  for that moment that we are in that state we are an observer of the event and another part of us takes over, traditionally this would be animal possession  but again thats for another article.
As the tiger works on the low line the biting targets are also on a lower line whilst the neck and face are the fatal result of the leep just as in a real attack of a tiger or other large cat,  the tendons of the knees, ankles and even the groin are all fair game,; especially in a grappling scenario.(Not for the octagon of course, but this is real fighting not sport)

The other mannerisms to make use of biting are the snake  Ular Sendok and more so the Ular Sawa and the Monyet or Monkey, the bird mannerisms do not really utilize the bite preferring strikes with the beaks and wings; so we will focus here on the snake especially the Ular Sawa or Python mannerism. Whilst the bite of a Reticulated Python or Asian Rock Python both native to the regions where Pencak Silat was born are not venomous, they do if the prey item is not to huge (A humans have been killed by Reticulated Pythons in at least one reported case in Indonesia!) lead to death. Here the  python locks onto the target with strongly recurved teeth couple hundred of them in to rows! and within about 8 seconds the target is unable to breath the pressure so great that the blood and the heart stop, for sure bones shatter and necks can be completely dislocated but the prey is not crushed as some claim, then the prey is swallowed whole and in some cases alive! We utilize the bite to a target to setup for a choke or neck dislocation back break either while passing a limb in a locking situation or to the trapezoids muscles and back of neck to hold attacker still temporarily whilst the constriction is completed. Again not for a "Tapout" or submission but a ballistic break or choke, neck crank to kill! not for a trophy or title. Its hard to concentrate on the encircling choking arm whilst your ear his being torn off!

As for the Monyet or monkey the monkey is the greatest imitator and it imitates all the other animals and as such all bites are valid whether they be Harimau or Python based just the attitude is little different one note is that monkey and apes in the wild will bite the fingers of an aggressor, so imagine the added effect of a wrist lock throw as the fingertip comes away as the throw is applied, nice!!
So graphic as it may be I hope to have given you more detail of biting and how its validity as a weapon should not be underestimated. For a far more in depth series of article on biting I would recommend the following link Guru Phil Dunlap Kachin/ Bando/ Thaing system
Scroll  down just past half way and his articles on biting are far more in depth than space allows me here but for serious practitioners of Pencak Silat its a most read.

So to close, biting  is effective, decisive, demonstrative and brutal to be sure, but again as an added disclaimer it should ONLY be used when all else fails and you feel your life or that of your loved ones is in mortal danger. Hopefully the clip will give you some examples and for any questions or clarification please drop me an email or find me on Facebook and ask away
(Disclaimer this clip was made after two hour hard class so excuse the hair and sweat!)

Again for instruction in the traditional arts of West Javanese Pencak Silat in and around Nottingham give me a call.
Until then take care everyone, Play hard and train safe, oh and no nightmares ok ;)

VIDEO LINK

Biting ideas

Cool Clip of Month

Hey Guys n Girls.
Here's the next cool clip, this is of my good friend and training brother Guru Max Greene.
To those that would know the Kari influence is really plain using buah from Kari Juru Dua. Its a great clip from a great guy. I would highly recommend anyone wanting to learn Pencak Silat/ Silat concepts and martial arts in general; up that way go check him out.
Shout out to Guru Max, see you soon bro ;)
Fractal fighting arts
Heres the Clip

Silat Clip of the Month

Hello again.
Back again with my selection of cool clip of the month. One thing about my selections I select not on popularity or who as more students or who as the biggest business (Sorry group of clubs) But on who I think is generaly the real deal and viewers can see that I only select Gurus of true talent who have given back. Not just to their students but to the culture where these arts originated. This leads me into why this months clip is of my good friend Guru Eric Kruk. He is without doubt one of the last true Harimau gurus. What? but theres loads of teachers teaching Harimau,, right? wrong theres hundreds who claim to but theres MANY paper tigers out there and Eric is one of the last of the true Tigers. His skills are matched only by his generousity to those people in Indonesia he as helped with his orphanage visits he as a great group of guys and does a lot to give back to the culture and people we take from.
A big man a true Harimau. Heres to Guru Eric gods bless my friend.
Guru Eric Kruks Website

Guru Eric Kruk

BITE BACK! Biting Article Part (1)

Hello again guys. Wanted to start first real article again after my short hiatus with an article on the use of biting in the martial arts and in real world combat. Biting is something that a lot of people including martial artists find repulsive and hence don’t work biting techniques or to work defences for them, this is understandable nowadays with our knowledge of blood born and transmitted diseases and with prolific drug abuse etc, but to anyone who’s had a well placed bite put on them can attest they work!

For documented proof of the effectiveness of a good bite one can follow this Link to the 1997 Tyson / Hollyfield fight in which after a few dodgy head butts from Hollyfield Tyson purposely bite off a part of Hollyfields right ear. Now this is a BIG professional fighter used to being dealt rounds and rounds worth of powerful blows real punishment to the face, left screaming like a spanked child from a bite.

Primal Fear:

There’s something hard coded in our DNA some ancient past memory a primeval fear against being bitten or eaten, something that causes such a deep visual response that the victim goes into a state of sheer terror, especially when the culprit spits back in his face the flesh he’s just bitten off! The stylist will then use it to aid his animal transformation seeing  blood and eating his prey and be triggered deeper into his own mannerism. This is were we leave the tournament sport “fighting” way behind, this is not the mindset of “it matters not who wins or losses, but how you play the game” in the mind of the victim he’s no being eaten by a tiger not whether he comes out of this with taking on or two on the chin or getting a black eye’ in is view he’s being torn apart and this is the psychological edge we want as a practitioner of animal based Pencak Silat as all Silat and in fact all of the oldest tribal martial arts around the world once where!

This may seem unsavory with some of you and some of you of the more “artistic” persuasions may look on this as unnecessarily savage or barbaric but this is not for kambangan or for performance this is life and death! if your life or that of your loved ones depended on tearing a shred out of someone’s face, cheek of neck to save your life what would you do, what would you wish, as his knife sinks into your body? you had worked… the art of biting?

Disclaimer:

I will now state for the record that I don’t advocate at all, in the use of uninterrupted biting or intelligent biting unless you honestly feel your life of that of your loved ones is in imminent danger. If someone bumps into you in the pub don’t dive on him and tear his cheek off ok!

Biting off more than you can chew:

 But anyone can bite, right? Where the art in that? Well actually biting correctly is about technique and sensitivity the Filipino art of Kino Mutai is a fairly newish art that deals with the “dirtier” side of what works bities, nerve pinches, eye gouges etc I’ve had the pleasure (unsure if it could be called that) at least the brouses and teeth marks to attest to the brutal simplicity and thorough effectiveness of these techniques.

If one was to just bite someone, our teeth would careen off the surface and this would actually give the opponent the signal that we’re biting now its serious and we’d be in trouble, big trouble it takes actual practice to bite correctly what Tuhon Paul Vanak calls “uninterrupted biting” where the limb or target to be bit is held secure; think like rear naked choke for example and then bite to the neck or ear unable to simply just pull away while you tear repeatedly backwards and forwards blood pours, pain courses through him while he forgets the fact your choking the life out of him and you will get the idea.

For more info and some excellent, (if not grizzly) training methods for biting please check out Tuhon Paul Vunaks “Streetsafe” series there excellent.

Bando is another South East Asian art that utilizes intelligent biting as well of countless forgotten aboriginal arts the world over.

So in closing remember fighting, real fighting, not ring shit; is not just about hands and feet.

In part 2 we will look at some video clips showing some visual examples, till then

Play safe, train hard

SILAT CLIP OF WEEK

Hey guys!
Apologies for lack of content of late Im sure if you follow this blog you will be aware of some changes in my personal Silat journey and to my teaching. As such the transitions have kept me busy and thus away from you all. Rest assured Im back with new content and hope to make the site bigger and better than ever.
Stay tuned

This weks clip is my good friend Guru Alvin who I had the real pleasure of meeting in person in London last week with Guru Parvez Alam Phd of Fighting for Lives Fighting for Lives

A totally awesome day and cant plug Alvin and his club enough one of the worlds finiest Persilats and his humility is even greater than his skill
For more information regarding Guru Alvin please see this link (His new website is still in construction but some great info etc here)  Silat open circle

Enjoy ;)
Guru Alvin Guinanao Silat Buka Lingkaran

Timpah Sebelah

Hey everyone. 
This article will cover the Timpah Sebelah its name is a little vague but means something like hitting with hammerfist and then backhand in an "X" or in our case a horizontal figure eight (This is one of the Cimande seated jurus and is often performed standing. Whilst it comes to us as Cimande students from this source, its movements are found in most Silat systems and for those doubting the adaptability and destructive power of its movements one only has to see what Guru Eddie Quin of Silat Fitrah, as done with these movements in his "Approach" series
"The Approach"

I won’t demonstrate this as Eddie does it far better than I could.

For more information on Guru Eddie Quin and the “The Approach” see http://www.the-approach.com/

I want to add here that Timpah SebeIah is a valid Cimande juru practiced in many styles of Silat and this article is not meant to plagiarise Guru Eddie or his work in “The Approach”.

I teach this juru in its formal setting at first to familiarise the students with its movement which needs to engage the whole body not just the arm to be most effective. Also I teach it like Guru Eddie with heavy blades to help with the hip engagement and shoulder conditioning and then move to wrist weights, Shaolin Rings and then double heavy lump hammers and double handed with heavy sledge hammer. Once student as gotten to this stage he will have the movement properly memorised into his muscle memory and his now ready to incrementally pressure test this, culminating with full contact sparring with protection of course ;)

Practitioners of Pukulan Cimande will notice that "our" Timpah sebelah juru is different in that we use a double handed single blow I personally have done and teach both, but find the Timpah sebelah practised my most other Cimande schools to be far more practical and versatile (just personal preference) and I teach this movement pattern out of the Kera besar (Great Ape or Orang-Utan) subsystem of the Monyet animal mannerism as I’m sure the ape like movement swinging arm movement is fairly obvious.

You'll notice from the clip that the beauty of the movement is that anywhere on the course of the figure eights path you will intercept it as it enters your "trapping window" and in fact the movement also works well against kicks. Also the movement makes an excellent entry method for smashing your way through an attackers limbs and with no change in movement you can close smash him to bits and with simple langkah apply a takedown all with the one simple pattern of movement. Also the way in which the movement engages the rest of the body means its forward energy (As you advance) smothers him and turns his axis such that he as very few options in counter, with the added bonus that the movement is very easy to learn and apply you have a winning combination. The only draw back if any is that the movement needs confidence to work effectively, using it in a tentative or passive way will not really work so trust in the “ Eights” drive forward and go Ape!

Why I study Pencak Silat!

Hello guys and girls.

Apologises for the lack of recent updates, I've very busy with work and outside constraints on my time, I've also been doing a lot of reflextion on my personal Silat journey and all this combined as kept me quiet but all back now and will keep you updated on any major changes should they arise.

I would like to resume blogin with this weeks choice of Silat In respect of a great man I've meet on a couple of occasions, a man who more than many others deserves the title of "Pendekar" although he as never claimed it. So  whilst penning new articles on Kujang Buah, Animal trance work, Biting and Cimande Juru Timpah Sebelah(Figure Eight hitting) I give you this weeks choice I know many of you may have seen it but its so could I know you wont want to miss it ;)

I've not had chance to ask Guru Tua Chris for permission to feature here but knowing him and holding him in the respect I do I hope he doesn't mind to much. For more information regarding Silat Fitrah please contact chijparker@aol.com

 Silat Fitrah

What better advert for Pencak Silat!

Silat clip of the week

Hello guys heres this week clip its a long one but awesome the late Pendekar "Eddie" Jafri
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=290708661647834300&hl=en#

Enjoy guys ;)

Kujang: The Blade of Sunda (Part 1)

Hello again everyone.
Well I've been threatening you all with it for a long while, but it’s finally here, a full two perhaps three articles on my favourite weapon the Kujang. I would firstly like to dedicate this article to my first Kujang students Max and Matt (This ones for you guys); and to their Main teacher a highly skilled, wise generous man and a good friend. You know who you are!

My aim in this series is to give an informative and illustrative introduction to the kujang sometimes called Kudi (In Javanese) I wont stray into the academic "mine field" which is related to the history and the uses (or not) of the kujang there’s just to many people, with there own opinions, agendas etc to satisfy. I will include at the footer of this article, for those that want to "Go there" a list of links to some great articles relating more to the history and origins of the kujang. I’m not a scholar of classical Indonesian history and will leave that debate to fester on its own it’s done just fine before I was around and will no doubt continue long after I’m gone.

I want to focus on the uses of the kujang in our system of Pukulan Cimande, my expression of that system in Pencak Silat Seni-Sunda, its relevance as explained to me through that lineage, to the Sundanese people, and to its animal links etc. This is a beautiful ancient weapon and very overlooked as I will hope to show you. Article two will look at some drills and buah taken from our "Cutting drills" and Juru-juru.

 A Story :
Here is one old legend of the kujang It starts with King Prabu Siliwangi of  Pajajaran kingdom in the 12th century (Western calendar) and his two sons. The older son was Prince Radan Komondoko. The Younger son's name has been lost in history . The story goes that the elder son was sent into the Jungle to train with a master of ilmu(magick) Pencak Silat and he carried the blade that his father . King Silawngi had created to roughly resemble the shape of the island of Java, or Djawa Dwipa as it was formerly known at that time. Some also belive that the shape resembled the root and bulb of a plant and is a reminder to the farmer orgins of the Sunda people. Some say the name was Prabu Kudo Lalean of the King who invented this shape but I have not heard this from any of the old Masters who always told me the former name. Now back to the story . The elder son met the master in the jungle and this man had young daughter who over time became the adopted sister of Radan Komondoko. Decades later the younger son ventured into the same area and came across the now older daughter of Radan Komondoko's teacher. He became interested in her and was flirting with her when along came his older brother . He did not recognize his younger brother and believed he was disrespectful to his adopted sister so he challenged his own brother to a fight. The younger Brother had also been studying his Pencak Silat and Ilmu very diligently and the fight as legend tells it went on for days . When neither could win they decided to use weapons and each pulled there fathers Kujang . At once they realized they were brothers as these were at that time the only two kujangs in existence given to them by there father,  They were happy to see each other and joined forces with there knowledge together of Pencak Silat Kujang fighting and Ilmu. From that point on their methods became the inheritance of kujang in Some Pencak Silat schools.

This is a quaint story there are many involving the Kujang and its place in Sundanese collective consciousness, a story of lost brothers re-uniting to mirror the plans of any ruler to re-unite various tribes into a strong and unified nation. The kujang are often fashioned with the body of a tiger and or in scabbards resembling the tiger. I was told that the tiger was a symbol of the ancient Sundanese peoples to whom it had totemic significance, although is is probably no longer remembered this is the reason, which is now done this way through tradition , a tradition who’s origin as been forgotten or eroded by Islamification at a later date.

Designs:
While I made mention that I wouldnt be drawn into history and exact origns of the kujang as there are none at least definitive as yet We know that the kujang originated probably from an agricultual tool used for cutting grass and for tiling the soil a reminder to the Sundapeoples of their agricultural origns and this may give relevance to the notion that the blade originaly was modlled on the root or bulb of a plant. Some stories claim that the blade was forged after a vision of the island of Java and the stories continue.
There are a myrid of different kujang designs, but today they basicly come down to two main types with two distinct historical roots. The original kujangs or Proto-Kujang are found on stone relifs of great antiquity circa 4th-7th centurys AD (Western calenda)  the original "True" kujang where belived to be of Hindu or even Budhist origins, these are sometimes called Pusaka kujang due to their great age, these are distinqued my sutlties in the shapes but mostly by the number of holes found in and around the blade the oldest kujang have three holes which is said to relate to the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Latewr Islamic kings Imans etc wanting to spread Islam changed the blades shape made wider to resemble the Abrabic letter "Syin" and they changed the number of holes (sometimes filled with gold) from the Hindu trinity to five to represent , some belive the 5 pillars of Islam. In our system the number five equates to the four animal mannerisms and the fifth being "Raja Naga" the blend of the other four animals.

Lineage:
The Kujang I studied as come to me through my Sut Guru, Guru Besar Liam McDonald. Who studied directly under Pendekar Sanders, Pendekar Sanders in turn learnt his kujang directly from the late Pendekar "Eddie" Jafri and from Pendekar Mama Sukarma. In the system of Pukulan Cimande Combat (Guru Besar Liam McDonalds expression) of Pendekar Sanders style there are two main areas of kujang study. One is the 10 Kujang Jurus, given to Pendekar Sanders from Pendekar Jafri and secondly the Latihan Permangkasan "Cutting excersises / drills." I practiced the  the former for several years and now whilst I do teach beginners the kujang Jurus which contain some wonderful concepts and cleaver techniques I personally prefere the latihan permangkasan. The aim here as with all things is to learn and drill the kujang movements from the juru and then forget the framework and keep the concepts, my rational for prefering the latihan permangkasan is that they have a two man element to them so your working on things like ranging to hit a moving target and working with anothers energy etc and because they are less static, but its horses for courses learn the rules and forget the tools.

Talisman or Tool:
One major debate which as scholars and persilats at each others throats is the view that the kujang is'nt or never was used as a weapon! there is a very hard core group that claim that kujangs are only ever meant to be used in ritual. Its true that there is a powerful cultural link with the Sunda peoples and the kujang and yes it was used in rituals of fertility and as a tool to communicate with our ancestors, there are rituals for cleaning and feeding the kujang and yes it was used in talismanic manner very similar to the Javanese Keris; but it is in my mind and many other much high skilled persilats a weapon.
Thye Sunda where and still are at heart a practical and pragmatic peoples skilled warriors with strong agricultural roots streaching back for thosands of years. So would these people ONLY use items for ritual or would they "multi task" and use a sharp iron or bronze multi blades sharp tool as a weapon too? OF COURSE THEY WOULD AND DID AND DO STILL!

There is an element in Indonesia today that over emphasises the spiritual practices of Pencak Silat and its trappings telling us that kujang and Keris where just for status and ritual. Ok Im a "dumb white guy" trained by other white guys but they where taught by native Indonesians of imense skill many where native Sunda so did they have it wrong too? was Pendekar Jafri, Pendekar Mama Sukarma and even the greatest persilat of the last few decades Pendekar Herman Suwanda all wrong? all lying? "ummmm" proably not. Do people over press the spiiritual aspects of an art because they no longer know how to use the object anymore OH YES.

And yes the kujang is a mystical object In the Kujang there are PusakaTayuhan comprising what is called "isi" or "Tua" or Magick in the blade.  The real Pusaka can take months or even years to create. It is normally constructed with layered metals called Pamor and is filled with "tua" or "isi (magickal power) by the maker using various methods of fasting and mantra repeated over the blade while it is being made. From the occult side, like the keris, another weapon used by the indo-malayan natives, the kujang was often consecrated with magickal power and familiar spirits attached for specific purposes, such as the protection against psychic attack. Because of the inherent power of the kujang in conjunction with the presence of its spirit guardians, the well-informed natives revere them as sacred objects. But they are also weapons! Old pre Islamic relifs depicted the use of Kerises and proto-Kujangs in combat. Also some of the folktales and historical events are clear that both weapons are used as weapons. Saying Keris and Kujang were just Talisman is the same as saying that wearing Katanas and Wakizashis are just symbols of the samurai, both weapons are not weapons but status badges.

Nowadays, the kujang is often decorated in homes as it is believed to bring about luck, protection, honor, etc. They are displayed in pairs on walls with the inner edge facing each other. There is a taboo, however--no one is to be photographed standing in-between them as this would somehow cause the death of that person within a year. Why this occurs is not known for certain, we might shrug it off as superstition, coincidence or synchronicity but behind every phenomenon cosmic laws and intelligences are at work; we just need to discover what those laws are and the mind-set of those metaphysical intelligences directing those laws to know the reason for the anomaly.

So hope you enjoyed the article and next part will cover more practical uses and some clips of kujang buah.
Till then train hard, play safe ;)

This Weeks Cool Clip

Hello guys and girls.
Heres this weeks clip its refreshing to see real people real martial artists doing what they love for the good of their people and for all fellow men.
The art of Silat is full of the "Money Gurus" making enormous profits from doing what they are supposed to be doing for love of the art, there clips are all over the net and social media sites.  So, this time I wanted to show the REAL heros of Silat and Kali! those working and training for love and for charity not to buy a new condo or flash car you know who you are. and I will purposely not give these individuals further exposer here on my small and humble piece of the net.
And to the "Money Gurus" out there, slowly getting richer higher profiled while driving other, lesser known but equally ( if not better) skilled gurus into the shadows for fear of harassment, abuse and straight out bullying, Your not as smart as you think, money doesn't buy intelligence or true peace and happiness it wont fill the hole in your heart, you know the one! Your actions are not un-noticed, others watch from the very shadows you pushed and prodded them into.

Respect to Fighting for Lives and all the other charitys fighting the real fight that matters, the war on poverty, hunger, sorrow, corruption, injustice the REAL WAR ON TERROR!
So to the clip THIS WEEKS REAL COOL CLIP

Respect and love to the guys in this clip, to all those suffering due to creed and injustice the world over.
One world one love one dream one heart.

Fighting for Lives (closed door event ) 24/10/2010 DUSA

Big and warm thanks to everyone who attended the Fighting for Lives closed door event on Sunday. I had a great time and relished the chance to work with the likes of Max, Chris, Matt and the others those working hard in the shadows to keep pure un-diluted Silat alive, without desire for fame and fortune, my heart and respects to you all for that ... so when can I come up again??? ;))))
For those wanting to know more about Fighting for Lives Charity and the wonderful work it does or for details of future events, please go to Fighting For Lives Home

Silat Clip of the Week

As some of you may or may not know, at the moment in my personel training Im heavily involved with the Monyet and Kera mannerisms of our art.
I thought that therefore I'd post a Monyet themed clip this week Guru Steve Gartin of the De-Thouars KunTao Silat system. This clip abilily shows the heartless and effective approach the monyet as to combat.

Enjoy Guru Steve Gartin
PS: Double Kujang article on the way very soon ;)

SILAT CLIP OF THE WEEK

Hey guys on a brighter note here's my choice of Silat clips of the week.

This week my good friend Alvin Guinanao in my humble opinion is one of the best Persialts around!
I've seen none match his speed and grace, truly a peerless fighter.

His YouTube Channel is Satria Fighting Arts
The Satria website is under re-construction but will post link once it returns.

My shout out to my brother Al, hope you all enjoy the clip ;)
Guru Alvin Guinanao