Reach for the stars but grab what you can

[Orang Jawa]

Preparation is an essential element in success. But it is not success itself. Regardless of preparation, you cannot win if you do not compete, you cannot prevail if you do not perform. Now matter how practiced, you cannot prevail if you do not perform. This is also so true in martial arts.

Many people assumed they can do alot of things with what they "think" they knows. Sadly, many so called mahagurus, gurus, etc. misguided their students to believe that silat can be use to solve everything....This is a trully false and dangerous. To my surprise most majority silat students from Asia believe they can do most of anything with their silat. Some organizations even volunteer their students to fight the war. Duh? :bang:

Silat is ilmu gerak badan or the art of body movements. no more and no less. The more you add to it, the more you deduct from it.
My worthless rambling,
Tristan

[Rebo Paing]

I agree Mas Tris, pesilat should keep the principle of K.I.S.S. Even from a physical perspective, the more complex the requirements, the harder it is to remain logical and the likelyhood of failure to achieve the aim in real situation.
Logic only happens thru experience ... flawed experience results in flawed logic!
I think people confuse cultural attachment that is sometimes co-exist with how some silat is taught with the actual silat or perguruan itself (where I use the definition of silat as generic MA).
That is why on silat forum there is so many discussion about the placement of spirituality within silat, silat is Islam or silat is non-religious etc. People are usually talking from totally different and individual perspectives, but I agree ... when you look at the science of movement which we happen to call silat ... it is gerak badan only. :D
To send people into combat zone based on silat and faith will result in death and misery! Unfortunately it is the way of the world now and people everywhere are doing similar. I read Australian pentacostal minister promising his congregation will go to Israel to help fight for Israel! Stupidity exists everywhere, and it is the flotsam that is rising because of decades of a sad path the world tread :cry: .

Salam
Krisno

[Bobster]

To send people into combat zone based on silat and faith will result in death and misery! Unfortunately it is the way of the world now and people everywhere are doing similar. I read Australian pentacostal minister promising his congregation will go to Israel to help fight for Israel! Stupidity exists everywhere, and it is the flotsam that is rising because of decades of a sad path the world tread

Well, it's nothing new. History is filled with examples of people rushing off to fight some "holy" cause, and they are brainwashed into believing some metaphysical thing will protect them. Filipinos call it "Anting-Anting", both the Malay and the Indos have a version of it, the Chinese throw out various chi-based kung fu styles (remember the boxer rebellion?) and of course, nothing beats choosing God himself for combat endorsement! (Christians, Muslims, Catholics, etc).

You know that old saying, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it"? I am pretty much convinced the world is doomed, because damned if we ever learn anything. We (America) made a boatload of mistakes in the FIRST Gulf War in the early 90's, and look where we are now? Back in the desert! History is not only repeting itself, it seems to be on a shorter time frame, with wholesale slaughter on heavy rotation. Somebody let me know when England starts "Crusades for the Holy Land, part II"

Sadly, many so called mahagurus, gurus, etc. misguided their students to believe that silat can be use to solve everything....This is a trully false and dangerous.

I believe this is usually caused by having only one thing in your life that brings happiness, or gives you a sense of self-worth. It's easy to be a big fish in a small pond, and if your MARTIAL skill is great, then of course you will be respected for it. But do you have a happy marriage? Are you successful in your career? Can you do something well that DOESN'T involve a Sapu? Pak Tristan, you're a combat veteran, in a war I was too young to remember, but by all accounts was one of the bloodiest & savage in the past few centuries. Aside from the fact it was the most embarrasing to America. You are also married, religious, an author of sorts, and a Silat practitioner. This, I think, gives you a well-rounded view of Silat's role in your overall life. But if all you had was "Pencak Silat training", and nothing else in life to balance it, you would probably believe Silat was the center of the universe. To this end, you can give your students a BALANCED education in Silat.

They can learn to take it seriously, and not so seriously, if that makes sense.

But a Guru who knows only the martial will fail with his students every time. This is because he has already failed with himself. He has not seen the other side of life, so to speak, and therefore cannot speak with authority on it because he has nothing to draw from. Thier words of wisdom are really nothing more than supposition, and the lack of balance in the Guru's life will reflect in his martial teaching as well.

I read somewhere once (I forget who the author was) "Before you go to someone to learn about life, make sure they know more about living than you do." Sound advice. You don't need a man who has been divorced three times giving you marital guidance.

Silat is ilmu gerak badan or the art of body movements. no more and no less.
WOO, do I ever agree with this! I've said it before, you can add WHATEVER philosophical or religious conatation to it that you want, it's not a denominational art! If it was, then you really COULD go into combat with it & not get hurt! Since many Silat practitioners die every day in the current world conflicts, let's just assume that God no more supports Silat as his chosen voice than he does anything else that's suceptible to gunfire. BUt I have a question Pak T, I am confused with the word "Ilmu", or at least your use of it. I have heard it used, also by Pak Bambang, as a reference to the spiritual, or the metaphysical. Other times, it's used in the context of "thinking" or "feeling". I wouldn't call Bahasa Indonesia a language of precision by any means (no offense, I've studied it for years, it's just got so many "borrowed" terms from other languages) but "Ilmu" is still a mystery to me.

When you say: ilmu gerak badan
Could I say: Gerak Badan Seni
Or: Gerak Badan Seni Budoya

...And mean the same thing? Actually, I would welcome advice from any native speaker on this.

Thanks!

[Rebo Paing]

Hi Bobster,

Ilmu can be translated as knowledge or science, meaning the nuts'n'bolts how it all hangs together, the mechanics of type of knowledge.
It can be knowledge about anything ... from the physical to the meta-physical. So the flavour of ilmu depends on what the subject of the knowledge is. For example ilmu kebal is the knowledge to acquire an impervious skin ... not exactly a science from a modern perspective, but certainly a science from the perspective of the ancient alchemist maybe. It's all about context!

Ilmu gerak badan would then be the science of moving the body, or the set of knowledge pertaining to body movement.

Seni gerak badan is the art of moving the body, expounding the artistic sense.

So while ilmu is the science, seni is the art, my perspective is that you can't have one without the other (and I often catch myself using the terms interchangeably in English, while it's a bit more difficult to do that in Indonesian). I recommend reading Pirsig's "Zen & the Art of Motorcylce Maintenance" ... it explains the fusion of art and science perfectly.

Budaya is culture ... seni dan budaya is art and culture ...
so you can say that Silat is an ilmu gerak badan from SE Asia, that has the unique features of the art and culture from its place of origin ....

Contoh:
Silat merupakan semacam ilmu gerak badan dari Asia Tenggara, yang memiliki ciri2 khas seni dan kebudayaan daerah2 aslinya.

Salam,
Krisno

[Orang Jawa]

Selamat Bobbe,
Thank you for your kind words :) And thanks for the clever explanation, I like it a lots.
I do agree with you, the history repeated themselves, we are as human being for unknown reason unable to prevented. CRS all over again. After Vietnam, we are saying never again! But yet we are doing it again and again....
Back to the topic. I do agree with Mas Krisno explanation the difference between Seni and Ilmu. Therefore, any students or prospect students should define their goal in learning silat. If you don't, then they will have the fuzzy goals. And nothing good can come from it.:) One more thing we must not forget. The arts does not make the man, the man makes the arts.
Tristan