Check out the videos in the right columb. http://homepage.mac.com/silatnyc/web_pages/what_is_silat.html
19thlohan, Please, please, please don't take this the wrong way, as I don't mean to upset you, but these people calling or associating this system with Silat does the art an injustice. I know this will upset people, but I am calling it how I see it. I know your title says "Not quite silat.." but they still call it Silat, and as a Silat practicioner, it makes me cringe to see this type of system branding itself with the Silat name. This system is oviously Chinese in origin, and many of the Chinese influences are very evident. I understand now why you associated Silat with Chinese martial arts in a different thread, but I assure you that real silat looks or moves nothing like these clips. I am posting a link, which I hope the moderators don't remove, as I am simply posting so that you can see the difference. I'm not one to advertise on this board. www.reelcombat.com The clips are controlled demonstrations (NOT pre-arranged, just executed with control) , but gives you an idea about the essence of the art. You may disagree with me, and that is fine. I am simply stating my own personal opinion. Cheers, Wali
I understand that this peticular system is lost in the middle somewhere. I have seen the site you linked to and other similar silat sites. This is also far from a pure chinese style as well. I wasn't sure which catagory to link it to and sinsce they call it silat I put it here.
I'd call it kuntao, which kinda does lend itself as much to the silat forum of MAP as the kung-fu forum. I notice that at least two of the people you say you took seminars with( Willem Detours & Roberto Torres) have a background in hybrid kuntao-silat styles(Willem- Kuntao-silat-Detours, Robert Torres- Vee-Kuntao-Arnis, Mustika-Kweetang) so its not surprising you ended up with the version of history that you did. Wish I could open up the clips from the computer I'm at right now, then I could give you my opinion on some of the clips. Wali, since I can't "see" what's on the reelcombat site could you tell me what the silat system shown is?
Crucible, you beat me to the punch. Clearly kuntao represents the bridge/melding pot between Chinese concepts and Indonesian ones. From the little bit that I saw of the originally posted videos they look like material that is also found in the Reeder's line. - Matt
Do you mean the silat system? It's Wali Songo silat. The head teacher is Steve Benitez, and teached in North West London. You can get more info on the Wali Songo silat at www.eastweststudios.com Hope this helps, and hope I interpreted your question correctly!!!!
Hi 19thlohan, I didn't mean to be critical, so I apologise if my post sounded harsh. It's hard to portray the tone of a message in writing sometimes! Silat is something I am very passionate about, and have seen so much BS out there giving this great art a bad name, that it makes me a little angry sometimes. I'm not a mod, and this was the right place to post it. All the best. Wali
Kuntao/kuntaw/kuntau has many meanings.... It can be pure chinese martial art, hybrid malay-chinese or silat ! In the Southern Philippines some silat systems adopted the kuntao name instead of silat for diverse reasons, and in Indonesia pure chinese systems (like ngo cho kun) were branded as silat because chinese forms of expressions were forbidden under the Suharto dictatorship after 1967 till his fall.
looks chinese with a little s.e.asian flavor. doesn't look like the kuntao silat i've seen in the philippines.
