what is silat???

[leo]

until i came to this site i had never heard of silat but for some reason thought it was knife fighting :confused:

i looked at some of the pictures and realised it wasnt, so wha texactly is silat? is it effective? what is the main gaol eg. speed?

please explain this art to me, thanx

[Ular Sawa]

What a question Leo. Silat is a generic term used to describe the indigenous martial arts of Indonesia and also the region which includes Malaysia and the southern Phillipines. There are many different types of Silat just as there are many different types of Kung Fu or Karate. Naturally, each type
will have its own emphasis and character. Harimau from Sumatra focuses
on groundfighting for example. Cimande from Java is a highly agressive form of Silat. Silat in general has a lot of animal systems like Kung Fu.

Silat does have weapons and its got lots of them. Most of them are edged so that maybe the reason why you thought it was a knife fighting art.

Being effective tends to be a subjective matter but I'm pretty sure that's one thing that all of us who practice it would agree on. Yes it's very effective. :D

Check out the Silat thread for more information.

[leo]

thankyou