Kicks

Discussion in 'Silat' started by dbc254, Dec 24, 2003.

  1. dbc254

    dbc254 New Member

    I keep hearing that the kicks of Silat are WAY different from those of Chinese,Japanese or Korean styles, but I can find NO information on them at all. No text, no photos, not even a line drawing. Can anyone clarify
     
  2. OneWingedAngel

    OneWingedAngel New Member

    I've only been doing Silat Serak for a little less than a year, but from what I understand, Serak has few kicks at all. The focus is more on physics and understanding how the body works. After all, the founder of Serak was crippled, he couldn't exactly do a bunch of fancy high kicks.

    As for non-Serak Silat systems(which is almost all of them), I can't say, but the ones more popular in the States(Hari Mau, Manda Muda, etc,) also do not stress kicking. Not to say they don't do it, just they are not featured. I was not aware they were anything special.
     
  3. ICT

    ICT Shaolin Malay Silat

    It's not so much that they are WAY different in looks but that they are different in execution and principle.

    If you don't understand Silat then I probably can't explain to you what I mean. All I can say is there different!

    Sorry to be so vague but maybe now you have a little understanding of what people meant.

    Sincerely,
    Teacher: Eddie Ivester
     
  4. Bobster

    Bobster Valued Member

    Hi everybody;

    I wouldn't say the kicks in silat are so unusual, so much as they way we set them up is. Most styles (pugilism-based, other than Silat) promote a type of "weave through a barrage of strikes to eventually strike the body or head with one shot" kind of thing. This is a pretty standard tactic to get from long to close range.
    You see it time and again, people kicking & punching from the outside zone, where only the fist or foot can land.

    In Silat, similar to FMA, we have a tendency to attack any incoming force (fist or foot) in the first place, instead of blocking it. This is one of the ideas we make an entry off of. Usually, after the initial strike & entry, we will try to set ourselves up to the oblique angle of the attacking limb, so the attacker has to reach across his body, or change position altogether to draw a bead on us. From HERE we will kick, and the close proximity allows for a higher degree of damage, especially if we can nail the inside of the opposite knee.

    This is ONE theory, of course there are dozens more. However, I think it's pretty representative of the general Silat attitude. Sorry if I got a little wordy there, it's difficult to explain without visuals. My fellow Pesilats should know what I mean, though.

    Bobbe Edmonds
     

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