Are you a member of the PHILSILAT team? I notice you refer to your teacher as pendekar and he began his training 1998, is this usual in KPS Nusantara, to become a pedekar in 6 years? No disrespect intended, I just found it highly unusual.
I want to reemphasize that I do not doubt your teachers lineage or abilities, simply found it unusual and wish to be informed.
I'm not a member of the philsilat team, i've only been under his tutelage for the past 3 yrs. I don't know when he formally started although i think in kpsnusantara to do just that but to achieve you must train hard and that's what he did. Every person has different levels of learning, maybe he learned that fast, i mean 6 yrs. in silat is nothing compared when you're training your whole life.
My guru once said in an article something like 30 years .... but there are different kind of pendekars.
Hello Everyone! I'm a 'newbie' to this forum, and an east Detroiter (where I currently live) by way of Trinidad. I've studied Capoeira Angola, Shorin Ryu, and Silambam (Indian stickfighting) back home and I currently train in an ecclectic Silat system in the Detroit area. I really appreciate the multicultural aspect of SE Asain martial arts. Looking forward to benfitting from the wisdom of others here Kareema
Kareema, Welcome, Can you tell us a little about the form of silat that you practice? I am also interested to find out about the Indian stickfighting system you do as well, but perhaps you should post that in the weapons section.
Thanks for the warm welcome :love: The system I study is what I guess you could call a mixture of hard/soft as far as fighting techniques. The hard techniques are basically buahs with the joints (knuckles, wrists, elbows, knees) and bones (forearms, shins, headbutts) the soft techniques are joint locks which lead to breaks or throws. As my limited understand goes, the 'kombinasi' are examples on combining the buahs. Some we do sitting on the ground, some we do standing. My least favorite is the forearm conditioning :cry: I knew my black and blue forearms were bad when one of my co-workers who doesn't know anything about martial arts sat me down for a heart to heart talk about maybe going to a battered women's shelter! The footwork is interesting in that you are evading the opponent's attack and at the same time advancing toward him. In Shorin Ryu, we also moved in on the opponent, but the emphasis was on blocking the attack, not necessarily evading it. As far as the weapons we use, its the knife and staff. I also understand that there is a healing aspect to this art as well but I have not been privy to much of it as yet. Well, I realize thats probably about as generic a description as you could get, but as I said I'm just a beginner. If you guys have any specific questions, maybe I could be more descriptive, or I'll ask my Guru. I'm mostly here to learn! Bye 'till later, Kareema
Is there a name to the form of silat your training in, or does your teacher simply refer to it as "an eccletic silat system"?
Sorry Crucible! My Guru just refers to it as 'Silat Majapayit' or 'Kendang Silat' I know that there are heavy doses of Cimande as a principle system in our school. Ciao, Kareema
I'll hazard a guess and say that you train with Chris Malgeri in Madison Heights? If so, then what he's teaching is what he learned from Dan Inosanto and Herman Suwanda (and possibly others). It has heavy influence from Mande Muda Silat (which draws heavily from Cimande) and Pentjak Silat Serak, as well as others. Of course, if I'm wrong on who you train with then please disregard all of this and tell me your instructor's name. I try to keep somewhat current on FMA and Silat instructors - especially in the midwest (I live in Louisville, KY) - and Chris is the only guy I know in that area who would call what he does "Silat Majapahit" or "Kendang Silat." I know there's another guy up that way who teaches (or used to teach) Cimande Pusaka but I doubt he'd call what he teaches anything other than Cimande or Cimande Pusaka. Mike
Pesilat, I don't recognize the name you mentioned. My guru's name is Malik. I know his teacher is an American, I'll ask his name at next class - or whenever I get the student manual back from my husband (whichever comes first ) . Kareema
