We practise the Kura-Kura system at eastwest studios. My understanding is that it is a Kucing derivative, and is a system that is fought mainly on the back (so you look like a turtle on a shell). We use it as part of the overall Kucing training, as we do with the Harimau, as all Silat postures should lead naturally to the next without a break in flow. It's a very interesting part of the ground work, and one of my favorites.
Kura-kura Peace to all, Dear Wali, I'm surprised to know that you guys are doing Silat Kura-Kura in the UK! Who was your guru? Where did you learn it? Because even in Malaysia, it's hard to find their practioners cause it's believed by the silat community here (especially in KL) that it's a near-extinct art. Sad but true. Maybe one day malaysians have to go to uk to learn kura-kura peace
Greetins Amirul, We are very fortunate to be learning from a Pendekar called Steve Benitez. His silat skill and knowledge is truly a blesssing to us here. He has trained classical silat since a very young age, and makes regular trips to Indonesia to maintain his connection with South East Asia and his Gurus over there. It seems that the people over there aren't interested in the hard training that these classical systems demand, and the old arts are slowly dying away, and becoming harder to find! There is a full profile, and photos at http://www.eastwestsstudios.com/gallery Regards Wali
Tiger in malay is Harimau, and Kuntao/kuntau is a Hokkien term meaning fist way This is used widely in malaysia to discribe Chinese arts. Over the years in malaysia silat and chinese arts have been mixed and borrowed from each other. Although there are still pure forms of each art.
Kuntau in Silat Kuntau Tekpi Peace to all, I agree that the term 'kuntau' is widely used in Malaysia to indicate that the art has chinese influences. There are also silat 'perguruan' that uses the term 'kuntau' to denote hardness and 'straight-to-the-point' method used by them. The silat that i train in, Silat 'Kuntau' Tekpi, is one of them. According to the elders in the district of Baling, in the state of Kedah, the original name (or more precisely the name given by outsiders to the art, because in the old days there were no specific names given to silat styles) was 'Silat Menela'. This silat was given a proper name during the time of the late Pak Guru Zainol Abidin Endut (the second generation inheritor of the art) as 'Silat Tekpi'. Then, with the new law that requires all silat perguruan to register as an organization by the Malaysian government, the son of Pak Guru Zainol, Cikgu Sani, who inherited this art even before Pak Guru Zainol died due to illness, had to find a suitable organizational name due to the fact that there are various other silat perguruan in Malaysia at the time that also used the name 'Silat Tekpi' but didn't have any similarities nor lineage to his style. After thinking it through, Cikgu Sani opted to add 'kuntau' to the name because; 1) he didn't want to loose the name 'tekpi' 2) for the people of Kedah, 'kuntau' in the MA context denotes both hard and fast, which in Cikgu Sani's wisdom, is a suitable term to depict his silat. Thus the organization 'Pertubuhan Seni Silat Kuntau Tekpi Malaysia' was born (sorry, don't remember the date). Ironically, our logo to this day does not have the term 'kuntau' in it and among the practioners of the style, we prefer to just call our style Silat Tekpi. Diligentmantis,if i'm not mistaken, i read in another topic that you said you are going to visit Malaysia soon. Are you still coming? peace
yes i will be in malaysia ( Kuching Sarawak) last week of may I will be in west malaysia sometime in june.
June? good! Peace to all, How long will you be in West Malaysia? Will you be staying in KL? Cause if you are and have time, i can recommend to you a place where you'll find a lot of answers to your Silat questions. Ever heard of the magazine, Seni Beladiri? How about Silat Keris Lok 9? Their office is a 'paradise' for silat lovers or enthusiasts like you and me. (i myself have not visited them yet, but some of my Silat Tekpi friends have) peace
Greetings! In the style that I study, Inti Ombak Pencak Silat, there are different sub-styles within it based on animals. From what I can remember offhand: Tiger Crane Snake Dragon Monkey Anteater. In our system, we study all animal forms and then adopt the one that fits our own methods the best. While I am relatively new to this system, coming from Modern Arnis before this, I hoped for Tiger or Dragon, and was shocked when my teacher excitedly told me my movements were "straight anteater" and that it was rare. I have a new interest in Anteaters now, to say the least! LOL.
Hmm never heard of any style having 'anteater' forms, can you tell me a little bit what is specific for this style?
From what little bit I have been told, as really I have had three weeks with exposure to Anteater, as the Animal curriculum comes later in IOPS framework, is that there is a lot of head shielding, elbow attacks and rolling motions with the hand. I wish I could explain this better with words as I have no visuals to give example of, but I can try. One example my instructor was giving in response to say, a right cross, was to do a block check, step diagonal to the offside, and the counter would be a knife hand motion straight to the eyes of the opponent, with the fingers leading. Natural course of action for the opponent would be for the head to roll back. As this is happening, step forward and through, so the bottom portion of your knife hand (knife hand may not be the correct terminology, my Army is coming out, lol) is making contact with their face. You would then roll the knife hand down and drop your weight, causing the body to drop. I hope that helps! As I learn more I will be happy to share!
Popular Indonesian Silat, used by royal warriors of Indonesian empire in the early times 1. Silat Harimau ( Tiger ) - Minangkabau, West Sumatra ( Malay Silat ) 2. Silat Merpati Putih ( White Dove ) - Yogyakarta, Central Java ( Javanese Silat )
