This is a conversation that I recently had with a student who trains in pencak silat with me. He is not local so we only get together approximately two times a year. The rest is via email, video, my books, and anything else we think will help.
I thought this was valuable enough that I asked him if I could reprint it on the blog.
**
STUDENT: So, I just read your post and I total get what you're saying. I'm not sure if you know this, but my martial arts career has been all about moving around and learning a real thin layer of a lot of different things.
ME: Learning a "thin" layer of a bunch of different things is one way of going about it. It's the spoon fed method. The idea is that if the system you are studying seems to have shortcomings or doesn't apparently answer your questions; you move to another system that does. Problem is, you can easily end up with no "connective tissue" in the end, no system or idea that holds it together, just a bunch of random elements that may or may not tie together or operate with each other.
Unfortunately, it doesn't develop YOUR understanding of how you CAN make the art YOURS by learning how to address unaddressed things or things you think aren't addressed. In my own experience, i have seen this art, PSP, continue to address things I never even knew it addressed. How? By sitting here and looking at a problem and looking and looking and then 6 months down the road learning how something that I didn't even consider actually addressed it. The advantage is, in the end, you have an understanding of something that goes way beyond techniques and into principles AND you learn to be adaptable in your understanding of the system. The principles can be used and adapted to a situation on the fly. Something you may never have done before -- seen before -- (because you truly understand movement principles, leverage principles, autonomics, etc.) becomes spontaneous and relational. Meaning = it just happens and it works.
FYI - A LOT is addressed in the jurus-jurus beyond the obvious elements of the system that are broken out.
STUDENT: Like you, I had some teachers who just amazed me with their skill and they had thing about them that was different and just stood out. About three years ago I started to have a mentality change because I started thinking about what those teachers had in common. And what I found was that they had very deep roots in a core art that they had studied for years. It's not that they weren't open to new things, but their roots were the very core of what they learned and they had a natural tendency to adapt new ideas and situations based on that strong core. I realized that while I'm a decent martial artist, I didn't have any roots that went very deep.
ME: The roots themselves aren't all that important IMO. However, the skills to look at a thing, way beyond when it's interesting, beyond when it's boring, and keep coming back and studying it, grow something else in you. Deep rooted understanding. When I was in college I had two different teachers do this to me. For one semester in my photo class, everyone in the room was required to take photos of the same street corner. We had to shoot and develop 3 rolls of film a week plus photos for the critique. It was a long semester but in the end, most people had gotten their best work, out of years of shooting, from that one simple assignment.
You went through stages,
first it was exciting,
then it was challenging,
then it was boring/tired,
then you hated it,
then you got angry,
then you gave in,
then it got interesting/learning,
then it got good.
I had exactly the same type of thing done for an assignment to paint a single 5x7 postcard for an entire semester. One post card, over and over until you got it right.
Both of those pieces I still like. They aren't earth shattering to anyone else, but they moved me SOOOO far down the development chain in one semester that I love them just because of what I learned while doing them.
I used to do a Spirit Test that was based on this concept for people that I didn't think REALLY understood what martial arts was about. It was essentially me beating up on a person for as long as necessary to get to them to the end of that list I just went through. Some of the aspects on the list were a bit different. They never got bored per se, but they did get tired. Could take 2 or 3 hours. Most people were about 1.5 hours.
Even now, for me, I cycle back through this list pretty regularly. That is the learning cycle.
STUDENT: Even though I'm a black belt, I feel that what I do falls into the category you described in your post, ever-changing. Unfortunately, my teacher fell into the "traditional teaching is evil" scam. I decided that I wanted to find one art and pursue it regardless of how I "felt" about certain things. No art covers it all, and there are always issues that crop up that just feel weird.
ME: To be honest, there are things about PSP that I'm not thrilled about. Things I don't particularly like. BUT over the years, I've seen confirmation after confirmation that some of the things I don't like, are necessary and or useful. Even for those things that I don't think are jaw dropping, there are other people who have appreciated them or benefitted from them. The point of a system isn't just for me, it's for everyone to find something useful in. I may not ever fully use PSP in combat, but that doesn't mean someone else won't, AND more IMPORTANTLY, that it's not teaching me something of bigger value by developing an attribute or a principle. PSP was never meant to be techniques based. We have them of course because you have to have some way to start the conversation, but it's ALWAYS been about developing our own personal attributes. Nothing else. For instance, I sometimes do movements that are similar to the way we do the Ales in class, during fighting, but they may not look exactly like them.
STUDENT: From just the limited exposure of Silat that I had, I knew that I wanted Silat to be my core art. This is where PSP comes in. Honestly, the biggest draw, at first, was that I could play around with PSP with little commitment and see what it was about. But, in all seriousness, I totally fell in love with PSP. I don't always feel like doing it, and their are times when I really need to put more into it, but my goal is to keep at it and explore it for life. I'm aiming for roots, and I also realize that I don't want to be concerned about how long it takes me. As you said, it's about the pursuit. I've already been down the road of taking the easy stuff and moving on when I hit a point where I didn't want to be bothered to troubleshoot an issue.
ME: Yeah, exactly what I was getting at. Unfortunately, if you don't learn to troubleshoot, you'll never be able to really fight. It's a lot like web programming. You can't just do what the book says when you first learn it because there are always unique problems that you'll only encounter once you're in the middle of a real dev project. The classes, books, lessons, DVD's, etc. that you took for learning web dev. are only teaching you about the tools, principles and attributes of good programming. Real life troubleshooting is where you become an expert, someone who people look to for solving real issues. A system of martial arts is similar. It's not about having a cure all, guarantee for safety, it's about giving you the tools and principles and helping you develop the attributes of real-time problem solving.
STUDENT: Ok, that's a long point, but just wanted you to understand where I'm coming from. So, as for finding the material much more applicable, what I meant was that up until the level 6 materials I felt like I was still learning the basics. I knew all of the individual moves but I felt very much like everything I was doing was a one-step. But, when I started doing my actual test I realized that I was starting to put things together. I wasn't just moving around with Dan but I started to see my Gerakan and welcoming postures come into play because it felt right, like it belonged there. I think that was more because I needed to put the time in with real flesh and blood people which I need to put more effort into finding, no doubt.
ME: There is no substitute for training with people. There is no substitute for training with people. There is no substitute for training with people. It's like the location, location, location of starting a small business principle. In combative training, it's relationship, relationship, relationship.
It's not just practice like some say. That is why so much of PSP is based off a simple one-count attacker type drilling. Additionally, I have further thoughts on it. For instance, you should not be sparring. You can work up to sparring, but high pressure drilling is a better use of your time. The drilling allows you to develop higher level skills with the proper mechanics and having someone add more and more pressure, shows you where things break. Then you back off of them again until they are workable BUT just at the edge of your skill. You can do this by adding more and more into the mix or by changing the variables but staying within the confines of a drill so you really get a lot of reps, with high pressure, and adaptable variability.
Here's the thing about everything being one-step. That is a principle of the system. A lot of people don't like that or understand it BUT in fighting what do you think happens? In the fights I've been in, the situations (relationships) are changing constantly. The only thing that is sure is NOW. The next spot, next technique, next position may not be what you expect or may be gone altogether. You just don't know. You have to be able to complete a thing within a one or two beat time period.
That's why I'm always harping on it being about relationship and a one to one ratio (one of their movements/positions/attacks to one of mine). That's the only thing you can be sure of.
That's why I spend so much time developing the primary positions. Over the years, people have told me that they didn't understand or feel comfortable in any of the positions we have. They don't get it. It's not about jumping into a Masukan Kaki 3 or 4 or whatever. It's about recognizing it when it shows up - AND IT WILL. Look at any MA magazine photo series and you'll see all kinds of people unaware of their positions in relationship to the attacker (especially as a whole body from head to toe) BUT you can look at those same photos and see relationships or potential relationship from head to toe. BECAUSE of those RELATIONSHIPS you'll see many, many, potential techniques in just a quick look and that will grow for you as time goes on.
**Did you know that Pertempuran means Combat with Many? It's translated as Combat but it really means Combat with Many. Why then don't we spend more time doing multiple attack drills and all that? Because the premise of fighting MANY is the same as the premise of fighting ONE. Yes, there are a few tricks and ideas that you can implement and that we do practice here in FL but in a weekend you can learn those and have the rest of your life to perfect :)
STUDENT: If I have to put my finger on what was making me hesitant, though, I'd have to say that using the ales/masukan kaki as bridging devices really had me stumped. In combat, people move pretty fast. Many guys aren’t super committed with punches, but more quick jabs and kicks. So, how do I bridge the gap with someone who never commits with the big haymaker? Well, the level 6 elbow/hand berpasangan drills helped me to see how to limit the attackers targets. This means I have less to cover and frees up mental resources to handle those areas that I do need to cover. Which means I have a better chance of intercepting and bridging. I never saw that before this level because I didn't have that drill. I know it was there in the welcoming postures, but seeing it in the drill with some contact made all the difference for me.
A lot of people don't make big haymakers in the martial arts. Most martial artists are afraid to get hit. In fact, the majority don't commit to their attacks. So what are you afraid of? :) Anyway, that's not my experience in the street so much.
Personally I rarely use the material on Level 6. It's more about stick and knife from my perspective. I'm going to give you some methods below that may work for you. They work for me.
Before I start though, as I read this, it sounds like your playing the part of a victim. PSP is THE ART of attacking the attacker. What if you commit to attack him instead? As he does his uncommitted attack, why don't you attack him? I'm only guessing here, but what I am reading between the lines is this (I've seen this problem A LOT), if he is an uncommitted attacker and you are having a problem with him, it's likely because YOU are uncommitted/afraid and you aren't using your ales - at least not correctly. My guess is that you are probably backing up and trying to use Ales. For an aggressive attacker, that can work well, but for someone who is uncommitted you have to either stand your ground or move forward. Attack the attacker. It's relational so if they aren't coming to you, you have to go to them.
Here are some ideas. This all assumes you are using Sliwa.
Option #1
Against someone who wants to dance around. First, cut off their angles using your gerakan. Second, leave them obvious targets using Sikap Pasang -- that's the point of them. Once they start to get confident in their safety (this doesn't mean letting them hit you, but letting them TRY to hit you and you NOT hitting back - just about three times is enough) counter it by attacking when they move in. Do it like you mean it and finish it. It's not a dance class. Don't plan to do this the same way if you fail the first time because they will be much wiser :)
Option #2
Make them commit. You can't actually make them commit. It's no different than any other relationship, BUT you can encourage them to either stay away, or commit. Just like an old boyfriend or girlfriend who wouldn't make a decision. You first start this process by making them stay away. Low stop kicks are a great starting method. Land a few of those on the same leg (I mean REALLY land them) and they will be hesitant to come in, and when they do, they'll try to do it faster and harder than the last time typically. At least that's been my experience. Everyone thinks it's about trying harder or being faster. If he doesn't come in, you'll have won the fight without fighting. If the girlfriend stayed away - then you knew. Same.
Option #3
Similarly, you can't make them commit, but instead of convincing them to stay away, you can stay away. Run away from them a bit until the get confident that they are safe in chasing you. Then go back to attacking the attacker.
**Over the course of sparring you may have to move in and out of these three options, but these are just options. I suggest you try them.
***MOSTLY, I suggest that you don't do too much sparring. Most sparring is light contact and it's about as far from real fighting as you can imagine. The difference between a good contact punch and the light touch, is at least a few inches of range, and if someone is fast or has longer arms, or whatever, you're going to find that it's going to mess with your confidence and your trust of the system but IT's NOT REAL.
****Additionally, if you go from basic drills to sparring, you're missing several key steps to the training process, along the way. Sparring is fine once you've got some of the basics of that type of fighting hammered out but it's NOT fighting.
STUDENT: Lastly, I do still have an issue with kicks. The stop kicks help, but I still can't quite see how to apply the all of this against lower body attacks.
ME: Aaahhh!!! I'm about to release an e-book (hopefully this weekend) that will have some insight into this for you. You have to remember the principles of the things being taught. I know it's hard to do that - especially when you don't drill these things but think about this. What is the purpose of the Ales that you've learned already? When someone attacks your stomach what do you do? (move it out of the way.) When someone attacks your head what do you? (Yep, move it out of the way.) What should the principle be then? Moving the target, without changing the range. If I wanted to defend against lower body attacks, how would I do that then? It's a bit easier from the knees down. Think about it - then when I get it done, get the e-book and see what I show in it and compare it to what you were just asking.
**Look it's not possible for me to answer every conceivable question situation or issue that could come up in a curriculum. It would just get crazy. This one is already big - even though primarily it was about reduction and removal of stuff. So, the only way is for it to be principle, and attribute based. These are things that can very easily be added on to your understanding but I need to know what questions you have. I wish I could just do a download in a matter of a day but it's not possible.
***Someone recently had similar issues and concerns but he handled them wrong. He based his decisions on what he knew of the system, of what was on the DVD's. That's my mistake as a teacher. If he had asked me these types of things, I would have been able to help, but instead he kept them to himself and came up with his own answers by looking outside of PSP. From my perspective he failed me as a student because it was not his responsibility to answer the tough questions. It's mine. He was not a teacher but acted like one by feeling like he should have all the answers. That was his mistake. I hope you won't make the some one.
****In the end, I hope to have a symposium of instructors who can get together from time to time to discuss areas of the system and see where it can be improved. I'm sure there are pieces out there that need improvement but I haven't seen better pieces to take their place yet - that also fit with the rest of the system or the big idea of PSP.
STUDENT: Sorry this is so long, but hopefully this helps you see where coming from, at, and going.
ME: I appreciate you taking the time to write and read this. I hope in the future you will feel more free to ask.
Sincerely,
Sean
THE STUDENT RESPONSE:
What you said about me "playing the victim" is true. That sort of summed up the general feeling. I think what I'm learning in PSP is a different mentality about fighting. Your stress on relationships has stuck and it's changing the way I'm thinking. And I do understand about sparring, and it's noted. I'm not afraid to take a hit, and I do know the difference between someone tagging me with a point and someone laying into me. I tend to ignore the taggers and my sparring is often me sparring with me and another person just happens to be there to interject some chaos. But, your advice is sound and I do understand what you mean.
I've been reading the 3rd book you wrote (totally excellent, btw) and you often relate things in life with things in martial arts because their are many parallels. I find myself (spiritually, and martial arts-wise) in a situation where I'm looking for someone who can help me learn and grow. People who are mature/experienced who are willing to share some time/experience and grow a real relationship bent on learning and growing together. But, what I've found is that people that I'm meeting along the way keep looking at me like I'm the one who they want to be the leader/teacher/elder/mature/experienced person. Here I am thinking, "What the hell do I know?" Don't get me wrong, I'm confident that I know some stuff, but again, I feel I'm somewhat playing the victim in that I'm sitting back thinking that when I find someone who at least knows as much (hopefully more) comes along—then I'll start. But, what I'm finding is that I need to not sit back and wait for someone to make the first move, but I need to make the first move and make my own entrance.
I've been "waiting" to get far enough in PSP to get the OK to teach from you because I have it in my head that until I reach that level I'm not really ready to bring someone in and bring them up to the point where they can help me, which, when I think about it now, doesn't make a lot of sense. No matter who I train PSP with, they are going to be behind me and I'm going to be the teacher (so to speak) for a time, to get them up to the point where they can push me in PSP to the breaking point.
If I have questions, I'll bring them to you. And I don't expect you to have all the answers all the time either. At this point, I need to work harder at digging out the questions so I know what they are. That's something I'm working at in more than just my martial arts life.
Oh, and by the way, the format of the level 7 material on the DVD seems to have coincided with my mind shift. It feels more like a DVD that promotes exploration by the practitioner. I like it. My wife is gonna have a sore neck though.
****
ME: Hope this was helpful to you all.
Sean
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Saturday, February 06, 2010
pencak silat celing seminar february 21st
Celing Silat - Boar Silat Seminar
Just wanted to take aecond to let you know that if you are located in Central Florida that I will be doing a 2-3 hour seminar for five bucks!
The seminar will be on Silat leg destructions (Silat Celing) at:
Martial Arts World
6606 Old Winter Garden Rd
Orlando, FL 32835
(Corner of Hiawassee & Wntr. Grdn. Rd)
On February 21st. 5pm til we're done.
You should bring shin guards, eye protection and wear street clothes.
Here's a link to the write up: http://www.meetup.com/orlando-martial-arts/calendar/12254689/
Hope to see some of you there.
Guru Stark
Just wanted to take aecond to let you know that if you are located in Central Florida that I will be doing a 2-3 hour seminar for five bucks!
The seminar will be on Silat leg destructions (Silat Celing) at:
Martial Arts World
6606 Old Winter Garden Rd
Orlando, FL 32835
(Corner of Hiawassee & Wntr. Grdn. Rd)
On February 21st. 5pm til we're done.
You should bring shin guards, eye protection and wear street clothes.
Here's a link to the write up: http://www.meetup.com/orlando-martial-arts/calendar/12254689/
Hope to see some of you there.
Guru Stark
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Piper Concepts -- Not Pencak Silat
Recently, (this past Thursday evening at TLM in Orlando, FL) I had the opportunity to taste a small bit of Piper, a South African Street Knifing System.
I had heard of it, seen clips and read a bit about it but this was my first chance to ever experience it so I jumped at the chance.
It was only a 2 hour seminar so I can hardly write anything about the system other than to say that i enjoyed it and that I know nothing about it. Take all of this with a large container of salt.
What I appreciated about the Piper System were some of the basic principles that I was able to see. It is clearly a system based on movement and not on technique. I REALLY like that - primarily because that's what PSP is about - though most people never seem to pick up on that - even when I say it over and over.
The evening started with a basic exercise that i would call developing your "snake body." It was all about learning to move your body for purposes of evasion, parrying, deception and overall aggression. For those part of PSP, if you can imagine taking the Ales and making them one giant, fluid, movement, you'd be getting close (and if you haven't yet figured this out about PSP you will).
I thought the structure of the feet being close together was uncomfortable and prohibitive but I am assuming that it is in part a basic training method that you will later get away from somewhat. If not, I would be concerned about the lack of mobility.
We primarily focused on the reverse or ice pick grip for the evening. No concerns there, other than I like the fluidity of the PSP grip changes personally.
We also touched on a few methods of changing from hand to hand. Some of which are part of PSP and one in particular, that was unique and involved a method of passing the knife along the chest. I thought that was an interesting and potentially valuable method and involved a sort of slapping the chest with the hand carrying the knife so that it rolled along the chest, into the other hand.
The twitchy knife hand thing, again, is not something new, but as with most things, the expression of it is unique. The idea of keeping energy in a hand, arm, body by essentially keeping it alive through movement is a really good principle - not new, but good and valuable. The Hummingbird is along this same line. Not new per se, but very valuable.
We did some structure and balance drills using the snake body premise and I thought those were good. The difficulty with all of those drills is ensuring that your partner is a good one and is truly understanding the drill, not just competing with you.
The elements of footwork were the most interesting and fun to me. It was cool to see a fluid dance like body connect with the basic kick destructions of PSP. In addition, to see that fluid dance like body also contain the explosive footwork, stomping, snapping of fingers and other aspects that are done in pencak silat but with a different framework of movement was fun and expansive.
In addition, we also trained to music, which, as a silat exponent is not new, but the cool part was being able to do it to metal or hip hop or whatever.
Not sure what to say other than to check it out if you get the chance. I have not walked away from a seminar in the past 10 years and thought - Cool! This was the first time and mostly I appreciated getting "new" perspectives and "new" movements for the same principles.
Hopefully this article won't upset any Piper guys - I'm not a Piper expert by any means and this is my silat blog so I'm just trying to relate to it in a way that makes sense to me and perhaps people training with me. Piper is NOT silat, though there are cross-overs in many of the basic principles that I was able to learn in my one exposure.
Thanks for reading.
I had heard of it, seen clips and read a bit about it but this was my first chance to ever experience it so I jumped at the chance.
It was only a 2 hour seminar so I can hardly write anything about the system other than to say that i enjoyed it and that I know nothing about it. Take all of this with a large container of salt.
What I appreciated about the Piper System were some of the basic principles that I was able to see. It is clearly a system based on movement and not on technique. I REALLY like that - primarily because that's what PSP is about - though most people never seem to pick up on that - even when I say it over and over.
The evening started with a basic exercise that i would call developing your "snake body." It was all about learning to move your body for purposes of evasion, parrying, deception and overall aggression. For those part of PSP, if you can imagine taking the Ales and making them one giant, fluid, movement, you'd be getting close (and if you haven't yet figured this out about PSP you will).
I thought the structure of the feet being close together was uncomfortable and prohibitive but I am assuming that it is in part a basic training method that you will later get away from somewhat. If not, I would be concerned about the lack of mobility.
We primarily focused on the reverse or ice pick grip for the evening. No concerns there, other than I like the fluidity of the PSP grip changes personally.
We also touched on a few methods of changing from hand to hand. Some of which are part of PSP and one in particular, that was unique and involved a method of passing the knife along the chest. I thought that was an interesting and potentially valuable method and involved a sort of slapping the chest with the hand carrying the knife so that it rolled along the chest, into the other hand.
The twitchy knife hand thing, again, is not something new, but as with most things, the expression of it is unique. The idea of keeping energy in a hand, arm, body by essentially keeping it alive through movement is a really good principle - not new, but good and valuable. The Hummingbird is along this same line. Not new per se, but very valuable.
We did some structure and balance drills using the snake body premise and I thought those were good. The difficulty with all of those drills is ensuring that your partner is a good one and is truly understanding the drill, not just competing with you.
The elements of footwork were the most interesting and fun to me. It was cool to see a fluid dance like body connect with the basic kick destructions of PSP. In addition, to see that fluid dance like body also contain the explosive footwork, stomping, snapping of fingers and other aspects that are done in pencak silat but with a different framework of movement was fun and expansive.
In addition, we also trained to music, which, as a silat exponent is not new, but the cool part was being able to do it to metal or hip hop or whatever.
Not sure what to say other than to check it out if you get the chance. I have not walked away from a seminar in the past 10 years and thought - Cool! This was the first time and mostly I appreciated getting "new" perspectives and "new" movements for the same principles.
Hopefully this article won't upset any Piper guys - I'm not a Piper expert by any means and this is my silat blog so I'm just trying to relate to it in a way that makes sense to me and perhaps people training with me. Piper is NOT silat, though there are cross-overs in many of the basic principles that I was able to learn in my one exposure.
Thanks for reading.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Silat Pertempuran Study Group
Monday, January 04, 2010
Silat Leg and Foot Trapping
I've finally been able to post another ebook with some updated video footage and text content. This one is on Silat Leg and Foot Trapping is done in Pencak Silat Pertempuran or Combat Silat.
Here is a link: http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/silat-foot-and-leg-trapping/8166799
What do you want to see next?
Here is a link: http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/silat-foot-and-leg-trapping/8166799
What do you want to see next?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Pencak Silat and the Future of Martial Arts
I'm not a prophet. Nor am I a futurist. I'm not even particularly interested in that type of thing but I have some thoughts to post as I have been contemplating the past 10 years of martial arts. Here is one of those thoughts:
*
Martial arts have fascinated me for many years. More to the point, combat effectiveness in the martial arts has fascinated me¬—the idea that a person could defend themselves against all attackers and escape unharmed—better yet, that they would even do it easily!
That idea started me on a journey through many different martial arts from various styles of kung-fu, judo, aikido, wrestling, boxing, various styles of weapons fighting and ultimately to pencak silat. My martial studies have included most major regions where martial arts are found—including China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, United States and South America.
A bulk of my time has been spent teaching what I’ve learned along the way and re-investing what I’ve earned into learning more. As a result of this process I’ve had the opportunity to train with many great martial artists (probably all of which are unrecognized) mostly by travelling to study from them, sometimes from bringing them to me. That said I’ve had a few teachers who have impacted me enough to stay with them for a time—some taught me a detail at just the right time and that’s all that was needed for the progression to continue.
What’s more important than anything has been the pursuit. Not giving up when answers weren’t apparent. Not quitting when it wasn’t cheap or easy or fun. Not moving to a new teacher just because life got tough or because I got bored.
It has been taking what was given to me and working it, working it some more, then working it more until it’s deeper value reared up. That process taught me HOW to learn and keep learning. It’s not spoon-fed—it’s from sweat. My very first long-term teacher taught me that.
The martial arts in the U.S. are at a change point (has been for a little while I think). Few people want to really devote to a thing for long. They are looking for short answers, cliff notes, even guaranteed success. Looking for answers without the responsibility. (A little secret for you—that little hunt will take your whole life and you’ll be lying on your death-bed empty handed.)
The nature of this type of mentality means that 2-3 years is a long time student. Within that amount of time you’ve got to be able to teach the essence of your art and move a person through from A-Z. Systems of the near future at least, have a few possibilities for success. They must be extremely small and easy to learn. Or they must be dynamic and ever-changing so they appear to re-invent themselves from time to time to keep the interest of those that are studying.
IMO, long-term study (a commitment of more than a few years) is a thing of the past. Particularly for the new generation of martial artists working their way up the ranks today, at least for the foreseeable future. Those who do opt for long-term study will benefit from it but there aren’t many willing. Especially when it comes to self-determined study where your primary teacher is you and the feedback you get from doing—rather than imitating. The older students amongst us will continue to be okay with longer-term study but will probably also enjoy the results based training that is upon them as well. This will ultimately usher in a new era of martial arts… and the race is on.
*
Martial arts have fascinated me for many years. More to the point, combat effectiveness in the martial arts has fascinated me¬—the idea that a person could defend themselves against all attackers and escape unharmed—better yet, that they would even do it easily!
That idea started me on a journey through many different martial arts from various styles of kung-fu, judo, aikido, wrestling, boxing, various styles of weapons fighting and ultimately to pencak silat. My martial studies have included most major regions where martial arts are found—including China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, United States and South America.
A bulk of my time has been spent teaching what I’ve learned along the way and re-investing what I’ve earned into learning more. As a result of this process I’ve had the opportunity to train with many great martial artists (probably all of which are unrecognized) mostly by travelling to study from them, sometimes from bringing them to me. That said I’ve had a few teachers who have impacted me enough to stay with them for a time—some taught me a detail at just the right time and that’s all that was needed for the progression to continue.
What’s more important than anything has been the pursuit. Not giving up when answers weren’t apparent. Not quitting when it wasn’t cheap or easy or fun. Not moving to a new teacher just because life got tough or because I got bored.
It has been taking what was given to me and working it, working it some more, then working it more until it’s deeper value reared up. That process taught me HOW to learn and keep learning. It’s not spoon-fed—it’s from sweat. My very first long-term teacher taught me that.
The martial arts in the U.S. are at a change point (has been for a little while I think). Few people want to really devote to a thing for long. They are looking for short answers, cliff notes, even guaranteed success. Looking for answers without the responsibility. (A little secret for you—that little hunt will take your whole life and you’ll be lying on your death-bed empty handed.)
The nature of this type of mentality means that 2-3 years is a long time student. Within that amount of time you’ve got to be able to teach the essence of your art and move a person through from A-Z. Systems of the near future at least, have a few possibilities for success. They must be extremely small and easy to learn. Or they must be dynamic and ever-changing so they appear to re-invent themselves from time to time to keep the interest of those that are studying.
IMO, long-term study (a commitment of more than a few years) is a thing of the past. Particularly for the new generation of martial artists working their way up the ranks today, at least for the foreseeable future. Those who do opt for long-term study will benefit from it but there aren’t many willing. Especially when it comes to self-determined study where your primary teacher is you and the feedback you get from doing—rather than imitating. The older students amongst us will continue to be okay with longer-term study but will probably also enjoy the results based training that is upon them as well. This will ultimately usher in a new era of martial arts… and the race is on.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Simple Combat Silat Evasions eBook
I've finally started making eBooks with the materials in an effort to try and get people the material in an affordable and manageable way. I hope to eventually start adding new materials as I am able too, like kerambit and knife, etc.
This eBook has an embedded video of the materials, still photos and the text to make a good package for explaining the pieces.
This eBook has an embedded video of the materials, still photos and the text to make a good package for explaining the pieces.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Combat Silat Kerambit
The videos I've been posting recently of Kerambit techniques are nothing more than taking our empty hand methods and converting them to a weapon, considering the leverage of the weapon itself. The more you understand of Combat Silat, the easier this becomes since the entire system is based on general movements with specific attributes that are developed for extracting from empty hand to weapon and or weapon to empty hand.
Mostly what you are seeing demonstrated are simple hand entries and trapping and counter trapping methods. They can be finished in any number of ways from Leher Patah (Neck breaks) or Timbilan (Takedowns) or Kuncian (Locks), it just depends and what happens next. This refers to our general system saying of Langkah Dari Batu Ke Batu or Stepping from stone to stone. The idea being that you cannot plan out even 2 or 3 moves ahead in the dynamics of combat. You must be adaptable and that requires that you have built a training method that accounts for failure. No other martial art I have ever studied has been so deliberate in it's training for failure than Combat Silat. In fact, every other silat, kali, arnis, kung fu, kuntao, karate, aikido, or judo system I've studied has done nothing more than provide lip service to the idea.
Few people, even within Combat Silat are aware of the way the fail safe system of Combat Silat works. I cannot honestly say that I have it mastered but I am aware of it. Part of the way it works is this: If you study the trapping methods of Combat Silat (PSP), you'll notice that when you strike to specific targets you will draw reasonably similar responses from most anyone. As a result, you can recognize the failure of it by practicing it repeatedly. Then, when it does fail, you have a response that is built in.
So why not practice a strike that doesn't fail? Well, if there was such a thing I probably would but in reality, any strike (kick, or whatever) can be blocked or messed with so with that in mind, it seems judicious to practice with that in mind and just pick the strike (attack) you feel most comfortable in delivering and countering. If the attack succeeds GREAT! If not, "langkah dari batu ke batu."
Think about it!
Mostly what you are seeing demonstrated are simple hand entries and trapping and counter trapping methods. They can be finished in any number of ways from Leher Patah (Neck breaks) or Timbilan (Takedowns) or Kuncian (Locks), it just depends and what happens next. This refers to our general system saying of Langkah Dari Batu Ke Batu or Stepping from stone to stone. The idea being that you cannot plan out even 2 or 3 moves ahead in the dynamics of combat. You must be adaptable and that requires that you have built a training method that accounts for failure. No other martial art I have ever studied has been so deliberate in it's training for failure than Combat Silat. In fact, every other silat, kali, arnis, kung fu, kuntao, karate, aikido, or judo system I've studied has done nothing more than provide lip service to the idea.
Few people, even within Combat Silat are aware of the way the fail safe system of Combat Silat works. I cannot honestly say that I have it mastered but I am aware of it. Part of the way it works is this: If you study the trapping methods of Combat Silat (PSP), you'll notice that when you strike to specific targets you will draw reasonably similar responses from most anyone. As a result, you can recognize the failure of it by practicing it repeatedly. Then, when it does fail, you have a response that is built in.
So why not practice a strike that doesn't fail? Well, if there was such a thing I probably would but in reality, any strike (kick, or whatever) can be blocked or messed with so with that in mind, it seems judicious to practice with that in mind and just pick the strike (attack) you feel most comfortable in delivering and countering. If the attack succeeds GREAT! If not, "langkah dari batu ke batu."
Think about it!
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Monday, September 07, 2009
pencak silat kerambit
Okay. Is it over yet? What am I talking about? I'm talking about the big hype around kerambit. It's a great weapon, that's extremely efficient at what it does, but it's just a weapon amongst many weapons. I personally like it, but I'm sick of all the hype that has surrounded it. Apparantly so is Guro Mike Blackgrave. He's just posted a video on it to Facebook.
I'll be posting some here soon as well. Just need to get them edited. (There are a few already captured and more to come.)
Look, I think if you want to make the basis of what you do surround a single weapon, that's great, that's target marketing, niche marketing, even good silat. You'll become really deep and good at it. Unfortunately, most of what I see is just... well... not that interesting. It LOOKS totally cool but as far as efficiency and safety and combat effectiveness, I'm not all that convinced.
I guess, that's my point overall. If I look at all my martial arts training, with the various styles I've been involved with, what it comes down to is - I'm not all that convinced. I think there is some good stuff out there but too many of the key components are overlooked. For example, how to enter. This may be the single most overlooked component in the martial arts and without that, all your kerambit skills aren't going to mean diddly if you can't get in on me - and yes - you DO have to get in on me. I may not come to you, as is about 85% of all demonstrations, drills, etc. that exist in martial arts. Thank god that everyone attacks with committment and a freeze frame mentality otherwise there would be a lot less spectacular looking martial arts out there.
Well, since the kerambit is officially passe' now, I may start showing more of it again... and I'll keep preaching about entering.
I'll be posting some here soon as well. Just need to get them edited. (There are a few already captured and more to come.)
Look, I think if you want to make the basis of what you do surround a single weapon, that's great, that's target marketing, niche marketing, even good silat. You'll become really deep and good at it. Unfortunately, most of what I see is just... well... not that interesting. It LOOKS totally cool but as far as efficiency and safety and combat effectiveness, I'm not all that convinced.
I guess, that's my point overall. If I look at all my martial arts training, with the various styles I've been involved with, what it comes down to is - I'm not all that convinced. I think there is some good stuff out there but too many of the key components are overlooked. For example, how to enter. This may be the single most overlooked component in the martial arts and without that, all your kerambit skills aren't going to mean diddly if you can't get in on me - and yes - you DO have to get in on me. I may not come to you, as is about 85% of all demonstrations, drills, etc. that exist in martial arts. Thank god that everyone attacks with committment and a freeze frame mentality otherwise there would be a lot less spectacular looking martial arts out there.
Well, since the kerambit is officially passe' now, I may start showing more of it again... and I'll keep preaching about entering.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tangan Bertenun Berpasangan
A Silat Pertempuran training drill that is used for hand coordination but incorporates the majority of the empty hand and close quarters weapons training we do, within it if you desire to use it.
Tangan Bertenun Berpasangan
This is a pencak silat pertempuran training drill that helps people get comfortable with close quarters fighting as well as introduces concepts of flow, body control, counter hitting, etc.
Friday, August 14, 2009
pencak silat - Don't...
It's been a while since i've posted. I have some vids waiting to be posted but I just haven't taken the time to do it. I've been out riding the Sportster... In any case, here are some things you might be able to relate too if you've been in the martial arts for a while.
l8r.
Guru Stark
Don't write me to ask if I think Pencak Silat Pertempuran is good. I do. I've been doing it a long time and I haven't found any single art I like better.
Don't write me to complain about one of the teachers listed on my pages. I don't care. They have ALL taught me something of value.
Don't write me to ask about some other silat school - write them and ask them.
Don't write me to ask about the availability of silat in some little town. If you can't find it on Google then I can't either and it's probably not there.
Don't write me to ask if I'll give you some special discount on items I sell. You probably should save your money if you're that worried about it.
Don't write me to ask how an American could have learned pencak silat. I did it like you - from guru-guru silat. Read the website that's why I have it.
Don't write me to ask how much classes are, for an art you can't find on every corner. If you're that concerned it's probably too much.
Don't write me and and use the term guro after I use the term guru. Pencak silat is not from the Philippines. Guru is the proper title.
Don't write me to ask if there is a PSP teacher or group near you. Read the website. It's all there! Really!
Don't come to my class one or two times, 4 months apart, and ask me to cut you a break on the price. If I wanted to do that, I would have done it from the start.
Don't come to my class and try something 3 times, then - because it doesn't feel comfortable for you - decide it doesn't work. Learning to walk was uncomfortable once too.
Don't come to my class and compare what I do with your martial art of choice. That's just annoying.
Don't come to my class and expect not to get hit. I think there's a TKD school right up the road you can go to...
Don't get pissy with me just because I pick on TKD. Make it so I can't so easily instead.
Don't do kali and then call it silat. It aint.
Don't write me and tell me I'm not doing silat just because it looks different from the ONE style you've ever practiced.
Don't start training with me unless you plan to actually start training with me. I know it seems obvious but you would be surprised... really!
Don't write me about how your silat is so invincible and mine isn't. First off, I don't care. Second, if you're emailing me it's probably not true.
Don't compare sparring with fighting. It aint.
Don't waste my time with excuses. if you tell me how "you can't train because your dog got sick" or some other equally lame excuse. Save it. You're either training or you're not. Period.
There's a whole bunch more that should probably be written but my interest in writing them is phasing out...hope it brought a chuckle.
l8r.
Guru Stark
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Silat Seminar
Just a quick reminder about the seminar on the 10th and 11th in Grand Rapids, MI. Hope to see you there!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
1 and 2 totokan
1 and 2 totokan
Originally uploaded by silatjunkie
3-4 totokan
3-4 totokan
Originally uploaded by silatjunkie
Friday, June 19, 2009
Grand Rapids, MI Silat Seminar
It's been awhile since I've posted - mainly because I don't always know what to post anymore about martial arts. So many of the topics have been done before. Many of the others are just difficult to post about given the nature of martial arts.
In any case, I will be giving a two day seminar in Grand Rapids, MI July 10th and 11th. It will probably be fairly small. Most of mine are. If 10 people make the effort to roll out for it, that'd be a good one.
If some of those attending are PSP people, I will be donating a portion of the time to whatever they want to study. In addition, we will be working with weapons a lot. Stick and knife primarily but we may roll into some other aspects like Bandana, explosive entries, offensive hand entries, set points, telegraphing, combative PSP vs. training PSP and whatever else we decide to do.
Much of this material is unique. I've not seen the material taught by anyone else (no really - no one else) and it's relatively new for me to teach but the material has been extracted from me by my current students here in Florida. Through the constant prodding of them asking me "what are you doing?" and me perpetually saying "I don't know." In the end, I've spent the better portion of the past 5 years refining Pencak Silat Pertempuran. I'm sure the refiner's fire is not out yet. That said, the material I'm going to cover is not covered anywhere else in the PSP curriculum. This material is unique and will benefit any martial artist open to learning - PSP student or not.
That said, I think PSP students and those who don't train with me regularly, view the materials that I provide publicly, as all that there is to PSP. In some ways, they are, but that is also to say that they are also NOT.
The materials that are on the DVD's and in the books don't show, with significance, the higher levels of how the skills work together to create, they don't show how the materials become combative, they don't show - even though it's stated over and over - how the materials are only meant to build attributes - the materials are not the ends but the mean to the ends.
The material of PSP is meant to be a bridge for those who would seriously study it, for using all those cool techniques they learn in a classroom but are so ineffectively applying in reality.
Perhaps it will lead to the creation of another DVD for those who don't make the journey to train with me - on the other hand it may just lead to an entirely different passage for those active in PSP and for me as an aging teacher :)
Hope to see you all there.
In any case, I will be giving a two day seminar in Grand Rapids, MI July 10th and 11th. It will probably be fairly small. Most of mine are. If 10 people make the effort to roll out for it, that'd be a good one.
If some of those attending are PSP people, I will be donating a portion of the time to whatever they want to study. In addition, we will be working with weapons a lot. Stick and knife primarily but we may roll into some other aspects like Bandana, explosive entries, offensive hand entries, set points, telegraphing, combative PSP vs. training PSP and whatever else we decide to do.
Much of this material is unique. I've not seen the material taught by anyone else (no really - no one else) and it's relatively new for me to teach but the material has been extracted from me by my current students here in Florida. Through the constant prodding of them asking me "what are you doing?" and me perpetually saying "I don't know." In the end, I've spent the better portion of the past 5 years refining Pencak Silat Pertempuran. I'm sure the refiner's fire is not out yet. That said, the material I'm going to cover is not covered anywhere else in the PSP curriculum. This material is unique and will benefit any martial artist open to learning - PSP student or not.
That said, I think PSP students and those who don't train with me regularly, view the materials that I provide publicly, as all that there is to PSP. In some ways, they are, but that is also to say that they are also NOT.
The materials that are on the DVD's and in the books don't show, with significance, the higher levels of how the skills work together to create, they don't show how the materials become combative, they don't show - even though it's stated over and over - how the materials are only meant to build attributes - the materials are not the ends but the mean to the ends.
The material of PSP is meant to be a bridge for those who would seriously study it, for using all those cool techniques they learn in a classroom but are so ineffectively applying in reality.
Perhaps it will lead to the creation of another DVD for those who don't make the journey to train with me - on the other hand it may just lead to an entirely different passage for those active in PSP and for me as an aging teacher :)
Hope to see you all there.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
New Washington State Training Sessions
Starting Friday May 29th 2009 I will be leading weekly Pencak Silat Pertempuran training sessions at my home on Camano Island in Washington State. Session will run an hour and a half and are open to anyone, no previous training required. If you are interested please visit www.IslanderMartialArts.com for further information.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Pencak Silat Pertempuran Tongkat
Here is a simple video showing how you would translate the basic elements of our hand entries to stick. This will challenge what you know of Ales at first but with a little attention to the basics you'll pick right up on it.
Additionally, there are methods that aren't shown that allow you to use Golok. This is the strictly stick method, where you can grab the weapon from either end. With the Golok... well, let's just say that's not recommended :)
Additionally, there are methods that aren't shown that allow you to use Golok. This is the strictly stick method, where you can grab the weapon from either end. With the Golok... well, let's just say that's not recommended :)
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Attributes and Principles
So the discussion of attributes and principles came up again in class. This system is about the development of attributes and application of principles, physical, emotional, mental, and for those inclined, spiritual.
Some people see the system as a bunch of techniques in spite of the fact that it's not really designed that way. Try as I do to help people understand otherwise, we are inclined as a species, to want things defined in as neat a package as possible, techniques do just that. We all want to be invincible and untouchable in violent encounters. It's natural to want that. This system doesn't teach that way. This system teaches that the "rain falls on the just and the unjust", trained and untrained alike can be hit, stabbed, pounded, hurt, killed, maimed. It's a fact.
After 1,000's of years or millions of years, we have never been able to figure out how to 100% of the time pound the snot out of some deserving idiot. It hasn't happened. It won't happen no matter how tough we think we are, or how invincible the system we are studying is supposed to be. Furthermore, if someone tells you the system they teach or study is unbeatable, they are a liar and or a salesman.
Even if a system was considered to be unbeatable, to have all elements required to succesfully beat any possible weapon, person, persons, or combinations, we all come with a different set of attributes. Furthermore, there are environmental attributes that enter into the fray. Within this, there is still the reality that even the people you fight will have differing attributes. They are fairly definable, speed, timing, range, height, weight, agility, etcetera, but each one of us comes with a slightly differing quantity of these. That fact, times the options that are available to us via the tools that exist personally or externally, times our understanding, times environmental factors, ad nauseum, make any guarantees of succes within combat, complete and utter nonsense.
So what's a person to do? Well, for starters, you can train yourself in a way that develops your strong attributes and furthermore develops any weak attributes you may have. In addition, by pursuing the understanding and application of the best attributes you have as well as the development of weaker attributes, it will only help. Additionally, by understanding principles of combat, angles, leverage, physiology, autonomics, etc. you further increase the probability of success. I would also add, that if you settle on a method of combat and you don't depart from it, especially when things are at their toughest, it will help you in most cases.
Pencak Silat Pertempuran will help you find and develop those attributes; standing, with weapons, or even on the ground. Additionally, it expands your weaker attributes, helping to make you more rounded as a fighter. Of course, utilizing principles all throughout making the attributes you do develop even more effective. Attributes that are specifically developed are use of angles, timing, understanding and use of range, tools, explosiveness, and aggressiveness, to name some. Some principles are the 80-20, langkah dari batu ke batu, set points, and relationship.
The drills that are found in Pencak Silat Pertempuran can be seen as techniques to those who are untrained, or unclear, but to those who are trained, it is hoped that they will see them as simultaneously developing attributes and principles in application. The primary difference is in how a thing is looked at. A technique fits a situation or event that happens a specific way, at a specific time. It cannot fit any other situation or event as well as it does that specific way or specific time. Principles can be applied across different events or situations and the attributes determine the effectiveness of the application.
Some people see the system as a bunch of techniques in spite of the fact that it's not really designed that way. Try as I do to help people understand otherwise, we are inclined as a species, to want things defined in as neat a package as possible, techniques do just that. We all want to be invincible and untouchable in violent encounters. It's natural to want that. This system doesn't teach that way. This system teaches that the "rain falls on the just and the unjust", trained and untrained alike can be hit, stabbed, pounded, hurt, killed, maimed. It's a fact.
After 1,000's of years or millions of years, we have never been able to figure out how to 100% of the time pound the snot out of some deserving idiot. It hasn't happened. It won't happen no matter how tough we think we are, or how invincible the system we are studying is supposed to be. Furthermore, if someone tells you the system they teach or study is unbeatable, they are a liar and or a salesman.
Even if a system was considered to be unbeatable, to have all elements required to succesfully beat any possible weapon, person, persons, or combinations, we all come with a different set of attributes. Furthermore, there are environmental attributes that enter into the fray. Within this, there is still the reality that even the people you fight will have differing attributes. They are fairly definable, speed, timing, range, height, weight, agility, etcetera, but each one of us comes with a slightly differing quantity of these. That fact, times the options that are available to us via the tools that exist personally or externally, times our understanding, times environmental factors, ad nauseum, make any guarantees of succes within combat, complete and utter nonsense.
So what's a person to do? Well, for starters, you can train yourself in a way that develops your strong attributes and furthermore develops any weak attributes you may have. In addition, by pursuing the understanding and application of the best attributes you have as well as the development of weaker attributes, it will only help. Additionally, by understanding principles of combat, angles, leverage, physiology, autonomics, etc. you further increase the probability of success. I would also add, that if you settle on a method of combat and you don't depart from it, especially when things are at their toughest, it will help you in most cases.
Pencak Silat Pertempuran will help you find and develop those attributes; standing, with weapons, or even on the ground. Additionally, it expands your weaker attributes, helping to make you more rounded as a fighter. Of course, utilizing principles all throughout making the attributes you do develop even more effective. Attributes that are specifically developed are use of angles, timing, understanding and use of range, tools, explosiveness, and aggressiveness, to name some. Some principles are the 80-20, langkah dari batu ke batu, set points, and relationship.
The drills that are found in Pencak Silat Pertempuran can be seen as techniques to those who are untrained, or unclear, but to those who are trained, it is hoped that they will see them as simultaneously developing attributes and principles in application. The primary difference is in how a thing is looked at. A technique fits a situation or event that happens a specific way, at a specific time. It cannot fit any other situation or event as well as it does that specific way or specific time. Principles can be applied across different events or situations and the attributes determine the effectiveness of the application.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Combat Silat Seminar
Just wanted to post a bit more info on the seminar for the 14th and 15th of February.
TOPICS:
Saturday: bringing more reality into your pencak silat through progressive training and violence. Also, dealing with kicks.
Sunday: Bringing weapons into it and translating empty hand to weapons.
To sign up: http://www.combat-silat.com/go.asp go to this link.
TOPICS:
Saturday: bringing more reality into your pencak silat through progressive training and violence. Also, dealing with kicks.
Sunday: Bringing weapons into it and translating empty hand to weapons.
To sign up: http://www.combat-silat.com/go.asp go to this link.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Silat Seminar
I know it's been awhile since I've posted out here... sorry for those who were following.
Just wanted to take a second to announce a two day seminar that will be held in St. Cloud, Florida, February 14th and 15th, 2009. This two day training event will be focused on the expansion of the basics to include a weapon and additional ways to increase the realism of your PSP study.
Bring training weapons, safety gear and a hard work attitude.
Contact me if you have questions are would like to attend.
Sincerely,
Guru Stark
www.combat-silat.net
Just wanted to take a second to announce a two day seminar that will be held in St. Cloud, Florida, February 14th and 15th, 2009. This two day training event will be focused on the expansion of the basics to include a weapon and additional ways to increase the realism of your PSP study.
Bring training weapons, safety gear and a hard work attitude.
Contact me if you have questions are would like to attend.
Sincerely,
Guru Stark
www.combat-silat.net
Sunday, September 14, 2008
pencak silat
This is a response to another question sent in by a student.
Question:
I just wanted to know if there was any drills I could do to make my body remember to keep my structure at all times?
Answer:
Well, the best drills imo are the things you are going to use in real combat so I would recommend having someone feed you attacks slightly slower and with a lot of repetition in order to ingrain the movement more and to develop greater trust in it. The issue isn’t the body keeping structure - it’s the mind trusting the structure.
You cannot force trust, it must be built and that just takes time and the increase of stress over time. Too often we want to increase the stress we put ourselves under too fast instead of settling for graceful, smooth repetition of a thing until it becomes second nature. Once you do this long enough you’ll start to automatically be able to deal with greater and greater levels of stress without even thinking about it.
Trust and faith are inter-related and they both require a certain degree of relaxation or relaxed mental state. Not oblivious relaxation but alert and calm. Fear is easily bred by a lack of trust in something and that is when you will find your technique starts to waver.
Additionally, you will always have a startle response or reflex. That will never go away, however, your startle responses can become more refined and more directly pencak silat if you sufficiently train movements that are related to your bodies natural response or reflex mechanisms. For instance, about a month ago, a friend at work startled me slightly and before he or I knew it, I had grabbed him behind the head and lightly elbowed him in or near the eye. Just a reflex but it came about as a result of training, my body responding the way it did because of the response from the startled positions my hands were in. Other times I've instinctively kicked or hit. It depends on the position of your body relative to the attack when the startle takes place. Certain positions and certain relationships with the attack and attacker will draw certain startle responses based on my training.
Structure is no different. I find myself in many cases like that, utilizing a type of Ales that is sufficient enough to avoid but perhaps not perfect in the traditional sense.
To get to that stage you must continue to be challenged by unique and different attacks over time, sufficiently enough to build genuine responses to things that are unique or startling. The way to do it is often just to do the thing over and over until you get it right, with enough of a change of speed to accommodate your level of skill.
Question:
I just wanted to know if there was any drills I could do to make my body remember to keep my structure at all times?
Answer:
Well, the best drills imo are the things you are going to use in real combat so I would recommend having someone feed you attacks slightly slower and with a lot of repetition in order to ingrain the movement more and to develop greater trust in it. The issue isn’t the body keeping structure - it’s the mind trusting the structure.
You cannot force trust, it must be built and that just takes time and the increase of stress over time. Too often we want to increase the stress we put ourselves under too fast instead of settling for graceful, smooth repetition of a thing until it becomes second nature. Once you do this long enough you’ll start to automatically be able to deal with greater and greater levels of stress without even thinking about it.
Trust and faith are inter-related and they both require a certain degree of relaxation or relaxed mental state. Not oblivious relaxation but alert and calm. Fear is easily bred by a lack of trust in something and that is when you will find your technique starts to waver.
Additionally, you will always have a startle response or reflex. That will never go away, however, your startle responses can become more refined and more directly pencak silat if you sufficiently train movements that are related to your bodies natural response or reflex mechanisms. For instance, about a month ago, a friend at work startled me slightly and before he or I knew it, I had grabbed him behind the head and lightly elbowed him in or near the eye. Just a reflex but it came about as a result of training, my body responding the way it did because of the response from the startled positions my hands were in. Other times I've instinctively kicked or hit. It depends on the position of your body relative to the attack when the startle takes place. Certain positions and certain relationships with the attack and attacker will draw certain startle responses based on my training.
Structure is no different. I find myself in many cases like that, utilizing a type of Ales that is sufficient enough to avoid but perhaps not perfect in the traditional sense.
To get to that stage you must continue to be challenged by unique and different attacks over time, sufficiently enough to build genuine responses to things that are unique or startling. The way to do it is often just to do the thing over and over until you get it right, with enough of a change of speed to accommodate your level of skill.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Trusting your postures in pencak silat
This is a response to another question sent in by a student.
Question:
I just wanted to know if there was any drills I could do to make my body remember to keep my structure at all times?
Answer:
Well, the best drills imo are the things you are going to use in real combat so I would recommend having someone feed you attacks slightly slower and with a lot of repetition in order to ingrain the movement more and to develop greater trust in it. The issue isn’t the body keeping structure - it’s the mind trusting the structure.
You cannot force trust, it must be built and that just takes time and the increase of stress over time. Too often we want to increase the stress we put ourselves under too fast instead of settling for graceful, smooth repetition of a thing until it becomes second nature. Once you do this long enough you’ll start to automatically be able to deal with greater and greater levels of stress without even thinking about it.
Trust and faith are inter-related and they both require a certain degree of relaxation or relaxed mental state. Not oblivious relaxation but alert and calm. Fear is easily bred by a lack of trust in something and that is when you will find your technique starts to waver.
Additionally, you will always have a startle response or reflex. That will never go away, however, your startle responses can become more refined and more directly pencak silat if you sufficiently train movements that are related to your bodies natural response or reflex mechanisms. For instance, about a month ago, a friend at work startled me slightly and before he or I knew it, I had grabbed him behind the head and lightly elbowed him in or near the eye. Just a reflex but it came about as a result of training, my body responding the way it did because of the response from the startled positions my hands were in. Other times I've instinctively kicked or hit. It depends on the position of your body relative to the attack when the startle takes place. Certain positions and certain relationships with the attack and attacker will draw certain startle responses based on my training.
Structure is no different. I find myself in many cases like that, utilizing a type of Ales that is sufficient enough to avoid but perhaps not perfect in the traditional sense.
To get to that stage you must continue to be challenged by unique and different attacks over time, sufficiently enough to build genuine responses to things that are unique or startling. The way to do it is often just to do the thing over and over until you get it right, with enough of a change of speed to accommodate your level of skill.
Question:
I just wanted to know if there was any drills I could do to make my body remember to keep my structure at all times?
Answer:
Well, the best drills imo are the things you are going to use in real combat so I would recommend having someone feed you attacks slightly slower and with a lot of repetition in order to ingrain the movement more and to develop greater trust in it. The issue isn’t the body keeping structure - it’s the mind trusting the structure.
You cannot force trust, it must be built and that just takes time and the increase of stress over time. Too often we want to increase the stress we put ourselves under too fast instead of settling for graceful, smooth repetition of a thing until it becomes second nature. Once you do this long enough you’ll start to automatically be able to deal with greater and greater levels of stress without even thinking about it.
Trust and faith are inter-related and they both require a certain degree of relaxation or relaxed mental state. Not oblivious relaxation but alert and calm. Fear is easily bred by a lack of trust in something and that is when you will find your technique starts to waver.
Additionally, you will always have a startle response or reflex. That will never go away, however, your startle responses can become more refined and more directly pencak silat if you sufficiently train movements that are related to your bodies natural response or reflex mechanisms. For instance, about a month ago, a friend at work startled me slightly and before he or I knew it, I had grabbed him behind the head and lightly elbowed him in or near the eye. Just a reflex but it came about as a result of training, my body responding the way it did because of the response from the startled positions my hands were in. Other times I've instinctively kicked or hit. It depends on the position of your body relative to the attack when the startle takes place. Certain positions and certain relationships with the attack and attacker will draw certain startle responses based on my training.
Structure is no different. I find myself in many cases like that, utilizing a type of Ales that is sufficient enough to avoid but perhaps not perfect in the traditional sense.
To get to that stage you must continue to be challenged by unique and different attacks over time, sufficiently enough to build genuine responses to things that are unique or startling. The way to do it is often just to do the thing over and over until you get it right, with enough of a change of speed to accommodate your level of skill.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Pencak Silat Tactics of PSP
QUESTION:
I have a question for you. A friend of mine is a black belt in TKD he's pretty fast when he trows kicks and throws different combinations always one kick immediately after another kick so he always catches me. How do you deal with that?
ANSWER:
It depends on how you are fighting. I don't have a DVD that addresses that as such, but I have fought TKD guys, Karate guys, Wing Chun guys, Kali guys, Hapkido guys, etc. It matters a great deal how you are fighting. Are you fighting to touch or to hit? Hit or to hurt? Hurt or to injure? Injure or kill? If the intent is not there to at least hurt it makes any fighting more difficult.
Also, when you fight anyone you must remember that there are several ways to deal with it. It doesn't matter a great deal who they are or what style:
One is to close the gap which will not allow him to kick or at least not more than once. Kicking requires a certain distance between you and the kicker. If you stand still and he kicks he gets to choose when and how often he kicks so he gets to create the combinations and it's up to you to defend yourself. Move in immediately and get out of defense and into offense. (Ales and Masukan for PSP folks.)
Two is to use angles versus backing up when they attack. If you back up against any type of attack, in a straight line, they will be able to continue to attack. Kicks are not very manueverable so if you choose to back up for the initial attack you should do so at an angle. Then the attacker will be forced to change simple combinations into complex ones where the body has to re orient. Additionally, if you do both close the gap and change angle it really messes with the relationship (Ales for PSP folks).
Third, any attack generates from one of four places - either shoulder or either hip. If you want to defend against any attack the best way is to go to the source. Attack the source of the attack directly. I normally just block kicks by kicking the kick as it starts or by attacking the hip or upper thigh close to where it generates. The same can be done for strikes of any kind. This is best when combined with the previous two. The key is to block in a way that is destructive to structure. Not just blccking or attacking the limb that as kicking or striking, but actually destroying structure by doing so. (Totokan and or Timbilan can do this for PSP folks.)
Fourth, close the gap, attack, change angle, destroy structure, and then monitor additional attacks by putting your hands or feet in ready positions to deal with additional attacks by monitoring the zones from which they generate. Additionally, by closing the gap and catching or locking the attacker you can nullify many follow up attacks. This is only a good option if you haven't already and aren't able to destroy the opponent. I don't advocate this over hitting the attacker repeatedly or breaking down there structure but it does work if you close the gap but are unable to effectivel attack. (Tangkapan and Kuncian for PSP folks.) Locking requires more skill than the opponent catching does not.
Fifth, if this isn't working for you, learn to control the range of the fight so that you can break away when you want to or close or use the tools you want to use and are comfortable using. Do not fight the other persons fight. This is hard to learn especially if you get hit but you are still better to fight your best fight than to fight their best fight.
Sixth, be ready to take it to the end. Be willing to close, over-run, take a hit, and get close enough to move beyond injuring to killing. Intent to do harm as quickly as possible is necessary. To what level needs to be determined responsibly. If there is a weapon involved on the part of the attacker you need be willing to move to killing. (Pembasmian for PSP folks).
Those are my suggestions. Which one works for you will depend on your skill and understanding and of course the attackers skill and understanding.
Sincerely,
Guru Stark
Pencak Silat Pertempuran
www.combat-silat.net
www.combat-silat.com
www.silat.us
http://pencaksilat.blogspot.com
http://stores.lulu.com/combatsilat
http://www.cafepress.com/silatshop
I have a question for you. A friend of mine is a black belt in TKD he's pretty fast when he trows kicks and throws different combinations always one kick immediately after another kick so he always catches me. How do you deal with that?
ANSWER:
It depends on how you are fighting. I don't have a DVD that addresses that as such, but I have fought TKD guys, Karate guys, Wing Chun guys, Kali guys, Hapkido guys, etc. It matters a great deal how you are fighting. Are you fighting to touch or to hit? Hit or to hurt? Hurt or to injure? Injure or kill? If the intent is not there to at least hurt it makes any fighting more difficult.
Also, when you fight anyone you must remember that there are several ways to deal with it. It doesn't matter a great deal who they are or what style:
One is to close the gap which will not allow him to kick or at least not more than once. Kicking requires a certain distance between you and the kicker. If you stand still and he kicks he gets to choose when and how often he kicks so he gets to create the combinations and it's up to you to defend yourself. Move in immediately and get out of defense and into offense. (Ales and Masukan for PSP folks.)
Two is to use angles versus backing up when they attack. If you back up against any type of attack, in a straight line, they will be able to continue to attack. Kicks are not very manueverable so if you choose to back up for the initial attack you should do so at an angle. Then the attacker will be forced to change simple combinations into complex ones where the body has to re orient. Additionally, if you do both close the gap and change angle it really messes with the relationship (Ales for PSP folks).
Third, any attack generates from one of four places - either shoulder or either hip. If you want to defend against any attack the best way is to go to the source. Attack the source of the attack directly. I normally just block kicks by kicking the kick as it starts or by attacking the hip or upper thigh close to where it generates. The same can be done for strikes of any kind. This is best when combined with the previous two. The key is to block in a way that is destructive to structure. Not just blccking or attacking the limb that as kicking or striking, but actually destroying structure by doing so. (Totokan and or Timbilan can do this for PSP folks.)
Fourth, close the gap, attack, change angle, destroy structure, and then monitor additional attacks by putting your hands or feet in ready positions to deal with additional attacks by monitoring the zones from which they generate. Additionally, by closing the gap and catching or locking the attacker you can nullify many follow up attacks. This is only a good option if you haven't already and aren't able to destroy the opponent. I don't advocate this over hitting the attacker repeatedly or breaking down there structure but it does work if you close the gap but are unable to effectivel attack. (Tangkapan and Kuncian for PSP folks.) Locking requires more skill than the opponent catching does not.
Fifth, if this isn't working for you, learn to control the range of the fight so that you can break away when you want to or close or use the tools you want to use and are comfortable using. Do not fight the other persons fight. This is hard to learn especially if you get hit but you are still better to fight your best fight than to fight their best fight.
Sixth, be ready to take it to the end. Be willing to close, over-run, take a hit, and get close enough to move beyond injuring to killing. Intent to do harm as quickly as possible is necessary. To what level needs to be determined responsibly. If there is a weapon involved on the part of the attacker you need be willing to move to killing. (Pembasmian for PSP folks).
Those are my suggestions. Which one works for you will depend on your skill and understanding and of course the attackers skill and understanding.
Sincerely,
Guru Stark
Pencak Silat Pertempuran
www.combat-silat.net
www.combat-silat.com
www.silat.us
http://pencaksilat.blogspot.com
http://stores.lulu.com/combatsilat
http://www.cafepress.com/silatshop
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
keluarga pencak silat pertempuran
Keluarga has come and gone. It was great. Small but really good. Only the cream of the crop came :)
We worked on a lot of fundamentals, mostly surrounding pencak movement. Taking things to the next level, explosive footwork, and material of levels 1-5.
If you didn't make it. You should try to make it to the Florida early next year. Info will be posted.
Check out the KSMA blog because he probably posted about it.
We worked on a lot of fundamentals, mostly surrounding pencak movement. Taking things to the next level, explosive footwork, and material of levels 1-5.
If you didn't make it. You should try to make it to the Florida early next year. Info will be posted.
Check out the KSMA blog because he probably posted about it.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Pencak Silat Pertempuran
This is a video that shows a potential application from within the first few movements of Jurus Tiga. It can be done in several ways but this is a simple and direct way.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Pencak Silat Pertempuran
Rocco Latino practing Pencak Silat Pertempuran offensive entries with follow up techniques #3.
Pencak Silat Pertempuran
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Rocco Latino practicing Pencak Silat Pertempuran Offensive Entries with follow up techniques.
Rocco Latino practicing Pencak Silat Pertempuran Offensive Entries with follow up techniques.
Pencak Silat Pertempuran Class
Rocco demonstrating a string of simple techniques based on one of the offensive entries.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Masukan Tangan
Masukan Tangan then, are the beginning of my answer to the dilemma of footwork being slower than hand attacks.
The reality is that footwork is slower than most people's hand attacks and once in range footwork is typically on a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio. As a result a good fighter will need some other way to respond to hand attacks. Most utilize blocking and parrying solely. Yet, the value of the Masukan Kaki lies within it's direct and often more aggressive nature. Considering that aspect then, you would also need something more than Tangkis or blocking to respond to an attackers hands in order to maintain that aggressive nature. Especially if you intend to own the timing of the conflict.
The answer from my perspective was to look at what works and what makes the foot entries effective on any level and expand that to a similar methodology for hands. This was done by looking at the silat systems I was studying at the time as well as my own experience, boxing, kalis, Arnis, kuntao, and other martial arts.
From that a methodology was born called Masukan Tangan and ultimately the beginning of viewing things quite differently from a martial arts perspective. The Masukan Tangan were quite different than other martial arts that I had seen at the time because they did not rely on blocking for the hands but were based on angulation through the use of Ales to put yourself in a position to strike the vulnerable areas of an opponent in real time - without blocking. As a result, you can conceivably steal the attackers timing and rhythm as your own and cause them to move from offense to defense within the span of time of a single attack.
In addition, with the use of the Ales you can create the necessary power to create a blow of sufficient force to incapacitate temporarily through the evastion AND leave yourself in close proximity to the attacker with a superior angle in most cases.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Masukan - Entries
The entries are based off of the Ales. The Ales-ales are the foundation piece from which all other elements come off - from an attribute perspective.
That said, originally I learned Masukan Kaki from Pamur. The eight that I currently use were derived directly from Pamur as is. They are great and they taught me many things. They still teach me. I've modified them on a superficial level but they are essentially the same as I was taught. Very good - though the purpose of me writing these pieces isn't to get into all of the "what belongs where and where did it come from" discussions. Personally, I think that will only detract from the value of it. What is valuable is not the what and where but the "why!" That's what I'm really wanting to communicate.
That said, even though the Masukan Kaki or Leg Entries have so profoundly changed how I think about combat, they are not the final solution. They have shortcomings. It's the same shortcomings I've found with most footwork that exists in the martial arts. That is to say, that moving your feet in order to move your body is not always very fast. Or to rephrase, it's never fast. Especially when compared to an attacker's hand speed.
The shortcoming is then, that when an attacker is striking you repeatedly, they do not wait for your footwork to catch up. Instead, they simply strike and strike and strike until you resign using footwork in that manner. Especially if your footwork is the source of your evasions. I suspect that if you really look around at systems that have extensive use of footwork as their evasions that you'll see those systems actually use blocking in real time combat because there hands are faster.
Additionally, to use Masukan Kaki or Leg entries requires that you are able to close on an attacker and bridge the gap immediately - at least within the time space of a single hand attack. In my own experience that has proved to be reasonably difficult to do in real life with any sort of consistency. The mind is an amazing organ and people are quick to see a threat and change and adapt their movements. This makes it difficult to apply a Masukan Kaki unless you can see the attack coming, or just get plain lucky.
That said, originally I learned Masukan Kaki from Pamur. The eight that I currently use were derived directly from Pamur as is. They are great and they taught me many things. They still teach me. I've modified them on a superficial level but they are essentially the same as I was taught. Very good - though the purpose of me writing these pieces isn't to get into all of the "what belongs where and where did it come from" discussions. Personally, I think that will only detract from the value of it. What is valuable is not the what and where but the "why!" That's what I'm really wanting to communicate.
That said, even though the Masukan Kaki or Leg Entries have so profoundly changed how I think about combat, they are not the final solution. They have shortcomings. It's the same shortcomings I've found with most footwork that exists in the martial arts. That is to say, that moving your feet in order to move your body is not always very fast. Or to rephrase, it's never fast. Especially when compared to an attacker's hand speed.
The shortcoming is then, that when an attacker is striking you repeatedly, they do not wait for your footwork to catch up. Instead, they simply strike and strike and strike until you resign using footwork in that manner. Especially if your footwork is the source of your evasions. I suspect that if you really look around at systems that have extensive use of footwork as their evasions that you'll see those systems actually use blocking in real time combat because there hands are faster.
Additionally, to use Masukan Kaki or Leg entries requires that you are able to close on an attacker and bridge the gap immediately - at least within the time space of a single hand attack. In my own experience that has proved to be reasonably difficult to do in real life with any sort of consistency. The mind is an amazing organ and people are quick to see a threat and change and adapt their movements. This makes it difficult to apply a Masukan Kaki unless you can see the attack coming, or just get plain lucky.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Pencak Silat Pertempuran Ales
The Ales are another area of learning where the thought process involved may be of value.
The Ales came about as a result of struggling with the emphasis on footwork that so many systems use for evasion. While the basic premise seems reasonable and sound, it is very difficult to do well or fast enough. That is, that when an attack is coming, that you move your feet, which moves your body out of the way of the attack. It makes sense except that when you try it against a weapon attack, you'll quickly find that your feet are not fast enough unless you can see the attack coming. As a result, the next best thing was to find evasions that didn't require your feet to move or at least not much in order to take away the primary targets of most people's attacks. By doing so, you can perform them quite quickly which makes them much more viable for dealing with attacks when you cannot see them coming. Primarily the Ales badan come from Pamur though the context for use is slightly different and the Ales Kepala come form Raja Sterlak.
I filtered them through what I knew to work in boxing as well and thus the Ales were born.
The Ales came about as a result of struggling with the emphasis on footwork that so many systems use for evasion. While the basic premise seems reasonable and sound, it is very difficult to do well or fast enough. That is, that when an attack is coming, that you move your feet, which moves your body out of the way of the attack. It makes sense except that when you try it against a weapon attack, you'll quickly find that your feet are not fast enough unless you can see the attack coming. As a result, the next best thing was to find evasions that didn't require your feet to move or at least not much in order to take away the primary targets of most people's attacks. By doing so, you can perform them quite quickly which makes them much more viable for dealing with attacks when you cannot see them coming. Primarily the Ales badan come from Pamur though the context for use is slightly different and the Ales Kepala come form Raja Sterlak.
I filtered them through what I knew to work in boxing as well and thus the Ales were born.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Dasar - Pencak Silat Pertempuran
I thought about approaching this topic within one of the books that I've written concerning Pencak Silat Pertempuran but it never really made it to that stage. Now that I'm more or less done with volume 3 I thought I might start doing a little writing about this topic.
So just what is the topic? Well, I thought it might be beneficial to go over the reasons and purposes behind the decisions I've made for the system. The point of which is to help those who are inclined to study PSP and eventually teach it. My long term vision is that Combat Silat will be adaptable to the culture and changes within the culture and those leading it will be able to make Combat Silat responsive to the needs of those using it. That said, it must, in order to stay Combat Silat, consider certain elements as part of a baseline for making those decisions. In other words, to remove whimsy, and reaction as reasons for change and to consider things thoroughly before accepting or adopting any change. To enable that type of reasoning it seems prudent to at least communicate what the basis for making the original decisions originated from.
This post will deal with the basics of the system. How and why they were chosen. To start, you'll notice that there are no blocks or tangkis in the Combat Silat basics. The idea is founded in the notion that to be defensive puts you behind in timing and to be behind in timing is to be reactive instead of active. When you are reactive you cannot set the timing but are subject to the timing and rhythm established by your opponent.
Secondly, you'll notice that there is no stance training per se. We do learn some stances as we go along, but there is no great emphasis on stance initially. The basic premise behind that decision was to focus on mobility and motion rather than stability. The reality in my life, is that even after years of training I do not yet move my feet enough and as a result, I do not want to train anything that might reinforce the notion that standing still is a good thing. Do stances have value? Yes they do but not as much as good movement in combat.
Regarding the fist strikes, I wanted some variety in movement and application. I also chose to include some strikes to remind those who study with me, what the foundations of Combat Silat consist of, at least in part. The Pamur punch and the Sterlak Punch as examples. In addition, the strikes that are a part of the foundation should also offer some options for defending and countering any opponent. The same is true of all the basic strikes and kicks. Beyond what I've listed as being part of the thought process for inclusion or exclusion from the system the elements included are not necessarily sacred.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Pencak silat Pertempuran Vol. 3
The third volume of Pencak Silat Pertempuran is nearly complete. I have ordered a proof copy and it should be waiting for me. Hopefully, there will be no major omissions, or issues and I can just publish it.
In any case, be looking for it in the near future. I tried making it by the end of the year but I fell just a little short.
Hormat saya,
Sean
In any case, be looking for it in the near future. I tried making it by the end of the year but I fell just a little short.
Hormat saya,
Sean
Monday, November 19, 2007
Pencak Silat in Bali
UN Conference on Global Climate Change
Bali, Indonesia - December 3rd-14th 2007
just trying to get a little notice for this event. Visit their webpage to learn more about it.
http://www.bali-silat.com/
Bali, Indonesia - December 3rd-14th 2007
just trying to get a little notice for this event. Visit their webpage to learn more about it.
http://www.bali-silat.com/
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Silat Pertempuran
Recently on a forum I was asked some questions regarding pencak silat Pertempuran. Below are the questions and the answers. Some of this has been posted before but bear with me...
Questions:
I like your definitions of what silat should be and how to achieve that. To achieve good silat you must train while seeking to accomplish the involvement of Rasa? What about intention? Should one not concentrate on intention too, to get to the rasa?
An other question your response makes me ask is: are there any techniques that are difinitely silat, and not something else? I ask this as during the Japanese occupation here and after it, some karate moves, like the forward thrust kick, was adopted by many silat styles. An other interesting phenomena was when in the 1970s-80s Central Jawa tenaga dalam schools wanted to become silat schools, they had to invent and standardize jurus, and some took movement from other arts, including non Indonesian arts. And what about arts like Tarung Drajad / Boxer?
Answers:
RE: pencak silat
Well, this topic comes up from time to time. The first time I brought it up was about three years ago. The point in bringing it up was simply to dialogue with people and try to get people talking about it but no one wanted to get involved. I personally thought it would be a fascinating discussion but instead I immediately got the “pencak silat is too varied and too big and too this and too that to define.” Yet, in my own experience, when I have met guru silat, they have asked me to “move” for them. Clearly they are looking for pencak silat. If I did Jiu Jitsu I don’t think they would have responded with the same enthusiasm as they did when I performed pencak silat. To that end then, I think they saw something manifested in the movement that made them think they had seen pencak silat. If that is the case, then it must be definable on some level.
Because of that, I have set out to define it as best as I am able, knowing that I:
A. Don’t know much about silat
B. Don’t know much about Indonesia
C. Don’t know much about the languages of Indonesia
D. Don’t know much about the culture and people
With all of that against me, here is my basic response to what I think pencak silat is:
Time and time again I have watched people who are studying pencak silat and yet they don't move well. They can apply the techniques, but they don’t seem to move like a pencak silat player. IMO this is an epidemic within pencak silat here in the U.S. (not that I’ve got it figured out either), but too much time seems to be spent trying to reduce pencak silat to formulas, principles, patterns, techniques, (science if you will) and not enough time is spent enjoying the movement, exploring the movement, feeling the movement, putting intention into your movement (art if you will). Rasa! Not just punching harder, intention is not about that.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with deception.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with variations in timing.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with a wave-like energy.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with balance.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with level changes.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with intention.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with explosiveness.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with application.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with awareness.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with fluidity.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with angles, circles, and lines.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with responsiveness.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with aesthetic beauty.
BUT
GREAT pencak silat movement is filled with all of these things at the same time. This is the Rahasia of great pencak silat movement.
As students of pencak silat we should seek to accomplish these things even when performing application, even when performing a jurus, even when doing a basic strike or kick.
The most difficult thing for students of PSP to learn is this combination of attributes. As a system we start with psuedo applications but in truth, they are not entirely valuable in and of themselves. It is within the context of the attributes above that real value, real skill, becomes known.
We tend to look at the application as the goal, but it is only one facet of the whole. A valuable piece to be sure, but to do pencak silat completely you must combine the attributes above. When you begin to do that your technique will naturally improve. Each piece feeds off of the other pieces. There is no pencak silat without the entire list. You can have either pencak or silat but not both.
For sure pencak silat has had many influences. Some from Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino sources. Each as left it’s mark. Combine that with religion and you’ve got an even wider variety, so I see the temptation to leave what is and what is not pencak silat undefined. In fact, out of the call to brotherhood it makes perfect sense. Yet, it doesn’t seem to be a good thing for pencak silat in the long run in my opinion. Quite the opposite in fact because if we cannot define what pencak silat is, how can we ever hope to inform the general populace about the true beauty of pencak silat. How can Indonesians claim that someone in America who has experience only in JKD and who now claims to be teaching silat, have any basis for saying that it doesn’t fully reflect the best of what pencak silat can be? How can any of us tell interested party’s that something is jiu jitsu and not Harimau for example?
I know very little about the whole of pencak silat. I am sure I don’t even fully understand what I currently teach. It is still teaching me regularly. So I am sure that I am not qualified to define pencak silat for the entire world but I will at least attempt to define it for my students so that they can at least start to realize that not all things are pencak silat and perhaps in the future we can work together to create something that is a bit more specific and targeted. In any case, it is my obligation as a teacher and practitioner.
Language acts as a good analogy. English is a language that has many influences and contributors to its foundation. They are wide ranging. Yet, today, we don’t say those other contributing languages are English. That is because English has sufficiently evolved to the point where it is unique and carries its own set of rules and words. It is no longer really what it came from but rather it is English. Of course, we can see that there are two forms of English. There is British English and American English. Both are similar, yet both are unique. Each has it’s own differences and obviously a good portion of similarities. They would be a family of related languages. To use this analogy with pencak silat, I would answer that the degree to which the influences from other cultures have been absorbed and probably modified to something that is uniquely identifiable as Indonesian (using Indonesian just to simplify) is the degree to which it would be considered to be pencak silat and not another form of martial art.
Just so we’re clear, I’m not really looking for debate on the topic, I’m more interested in what others have to say.
Regarding Christian beliefs and PSP.
I’m in the process of writing the third primary book on the topic of PSP and this particular book is all about that subject. I wish I could summarize it but honestly I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I will pull out some specific elements for you.
The berhormatan is a prayer. Each movement is tied to specific parts of the prayer.
The jurus-jurus are about potential. The point of Christianity is to find potential for a new life in Christ. It is about putting aside the old and adopting the new pattern of living. Jurus-jurus are about patterning your movements and building the potential attributes required for success in response to the moment. They are about potential. There is no specific correlation to the actual movements of the jurus-jurus.
Martial arts without faith are worthless. If you don’t trust your martial art to work when you need it, then at the first sign of trouble, you will abandon it and move to something else - anything else. This is a real spiritual issue for the believer of any faith. When you get struck or stabbed or slashed, how are you going to respond? Will you have that faith in your martial art to continue to use it? To that end, it is important to build faith by being continuously challenged over time to the boundaries of your skill so that you will increase the boundaries and thereby reduce what could cause you doubt. It is not “blind faith” as so many believe, but faith that is built up over time by continuous works in even the smallest areas of training (spiritual or martial).
Another example. I don’t really believe in the carrying of a weapon. Many of my silat brothers throughout the U.S. believe in carrying a knife it seems. It has been my own personal experience that carrying a knife can cause you to have a sense of safety that is not always appropriate and it can cause you to be bolder than you would otherwise. No different than walking around with six of your best saudara silat. You might be tempted to go places where you know it is not really safe but because you have this tool, or these friends, you have created a situation that could be potentially dangerous. Spiritually, you could equate this to putting yourself into a place of temptation or you could event take it to the area of ego and escalation. The best form of Ales or avoidance is not being around things that could cause problems to begin with.
Hopefully this is enough of an example because I’m going on 2.5 hours of writing a response and I’m getting tired….
To answer the question of “turning the other cheek” though, (since this one comes up quite frequently) I would respond that we must be careful not to take a single verse of Scripture outside of the intended context of the entire writing and audience it was intended for. (We can see this in many religions today.) Many people have seen this verse as referring to the physical aspect but in reality, it is much more about the idea of ego and humility. We are not to be pressed into combat because of some perceived wrong to our ego but instead we are to remain humble. Christ was certainly an advocate for those who could not help themselves and would readily step in to save someone if necessary. We must learn to love our neighbors as ourselves but that doesn’t mean that we are not to protect ourselves or be prepared, the issues at stake are more about self-discipline and self-control not passivity.
Hope this gives you some idea.
Hormat saya,
Sean
Questions:
I like your definitions of what silat should be and how to achieve that. To achieve good silat you must train while seeking to accomplish the involvement of Rasa? What about intention? Should one not concentrate on intention too, to get to the rasa?
An other question your response makes me ask is: are there any techniques that are difinitely silat, and not something else? I ask this as during the Japanese occupation here and after it, some karate moves, like the forward thrust kick, was adopted by many silat styles. An other interesting phenomena was when in the 1970s-80s Central Jawa tenaga dalam schools wanted to become silat schools, they had to invent and standardize jurus, and some took movement from other arts, including non Indonesian arts. And what about arts like Tarung Drajad / Boxer?
Answers:
RE: pencak silat
Well, this topic comes up from time to time. The first time I brought it up was about three years ago. The point in bringing it up was simply to dialogue with people and try to get people talking about it but no one wanted to get involved. I personally thought it would be a fascinating discussion but instead I immediately got the “pencak silat is too varied and too big and too this and too that to define.” Yet, in my own experience, when I have met guru silat, they have asked me to “move” for them. Clearly they are looking for pencak silat. If I did Jiu Jitsu I don’t think they would have responded with the same enthusiasm as they did when I performed pencak silat. To that end then, I think they saw something manifested in the movement that made them think they had seen pencak silat. If that is the case, then it must be definable on some level.
Because of that, I have set out to define it as best as I am able, knowing that I:
A. Don’t know much about silat
B. Don’t know much about Indonesia
C. Don’t know much about the languages of Indonesia
D. Don’t know much about the culture and people
With all of that against me, here is my basic response to what I think pencak silat is:
Time and time again I have watched people who are studying pencak silat and yet they don't move well. They can apply the techniques, but they don’t seem to move like a pencak silat player. IMO this is an epidemic within pencak silat here in the U.S. (not that I’ve got it figured out either), but too much time seems to be spent trying to reduce pencak silat to formulas, principles, patterns, techniques, (science if you will) and not enough time is spent enjoying the movement, exploring the movement, feeling the movement, putting intention into your movement (art if you will). Rasa! Not just punching harder, intention is not about that.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with deception.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with variations in timing.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with a wave-like energy.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with balance.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with level changes.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with intention.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with explosiveness.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with application.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with awareness.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with fluidity.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with angles, circles, and lines.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with responsiveness.
Good pencak silat movement is filled with aesthetic beauty.
BUT
GREAT pencak silat movement is filled with all of these things at the same time. This is the Rahasia of great pencak silat movement.
As students of pencak silat we should seek to accomplish these things even when performing application, even when performing a jurus, even when doing a basic strike or kick.
The most difficult thing for students of PSP to learn is this combination of attributes. As a system we start with psuedo applications but in truth, they are not entirely valuable in and of themselves. It is within the context of the attributes above that real value, real skill, becomes known.
We tend to look at the application as the goal, but it is only one facet of the whole. A valuable piece to be sure, but to do pencak silat completely you must combine the attributes above. When you begin to do that your technique will naturally improve. Each piece feeds off of the other pieces. There is no pencak silat without the entire list. You can have either pencak or silat but not both.
For sure pencak silat has had many influences. Some from Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino sources. Each as left it’s mark. Combine that with religion and you’ve got an even wider variety, so I see the temptation to leave what is and what is not pencak silat undefined. In fact, out of the call to brotherhood it makes perfect sense. Yet, it doesn’t seem to be a good thing for pencak silat in the long run in my opinion. Quite the opposite in fact because if we cannot define what pencak silat is, how can we ever hope to inform the general populace about the true beauty of pencak silat. How can Indonesians claim that someone in America who has experience only in JKD and who now claims to be teaching silat, have any basis for saying that it doesn’t fully reflect the best of what pencak silat can be? How can any of us tell interested party’s that something is jiu jitsu and not Harimau for example?
I know very little about the whole of pencak silat. I am sure I don’t even fully understand what I currently teach. It is still teaching me regularly. So I am sure that I am not qualified to define pencak silat for the entire world but I will at least attempt to define it for my students so that they can at least start to realize that not all things are pencak silat and perhaps in the future we can work together to create something that is a bit more specific and targeted. In any case, it is my obligation as a teacher and practitioner.
Language acts as a good analogy. English is a language that has many influences and contributors to its foundation. They are wide ranging. Yet, today, we don’t say those other contributing languages are English. That is because English has sufficiently evolved to the point where it is unique and carries its own set of rules and words. It is no longer really what it came from but rather it is English. Of course, we can see that there are two forms of English. There is British English and American English. Both are similar, yet both are unique. Each has it’s own differences and obviously a good portion of similarities. They would be a family of related languages. To use this analogy with pencak silat, I would answer that the degree to which the influences from other cultures have been absorbed and probably modified to something that is uniquely identifiable as Indonesian (using Indonesian just to simplify) is the degree to which it would be considered to be pencak silat and not another form of martial art.
Just so we’re clear, I’m not really looking for debate on the topic, I’m more interested in what others have to say.
Regarding Christian beliefs and PSP.
I’m in the process of writing the third primary book on the topic of PSP and this particular book is all about that subject. I wish I could summarize it but honestly I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I will pull out some specific elements for you.
The berhormatan is a prayer. Each movement is tied to specific parts of the prayer.
The jurus-jurus are about potential. The point of Christianity is to find potential for a new life in Christ. It is about putting aside the old and adopting the new pattern of living. Jurus-jurus are about patterning your movements and building the potential attributes required for success in response to the moment. They are about potential. There is no specific correlation to the actual movements of the jurus-jurus.
Martial arts without faith are worthless. If you don’t trust your martial art to work when you need it, then at the first sign of trouble, you will abandon it and move to something else - anything else. This is a real spiritual issue for the believer of any faith. When you get struck or stabbed or slashed, how are you going to respond? Will you have that faith in your martial art to continue to use it? To that end, it is important to build faith by being continuously challenged over time to the boundaries of your skill so that you will increase the boundaries and thereby reduce what could cause you doubt. It is not “blind faith” as so many believe, but faith that is built up over time by continuous works in even the smallest areas of training (spiritual or martial).
Another example. I don’t really believe in the carrying of a weapon. Many of my silat brothers throughout the U.S. believe in carrying a knife it seems. It has been my own personal experience that carrying a knife can cause you to have a sense of safety that is not always appropriate and it can cause you to be bolder than you would otherwise. No different than walking around with six of your best saudara silat. You might be tempted to go places where you know it is not really safe but because you have this tool, or these friends, you have created a situation that could be potentially dangerous. Spiritually, you could equate this to putting yourself into a place of temptation or you could event take it to the area of ego and escalation. The best form of Ales or avoidance is not being around things that could cause problems to begin with.
Hopefully this is enough of an example because I’m going on 2.5 hours of writing a response and I’m getting tired….
To answer the question of “turning the other cheek” though, (since this one comes up quite frequently) I would respond that we must be careful not to take a single verse of Scripture outside of the intended context of the entire writing and audience it was intended for. (We can see this in many religions today.) Many people have seen this verse as referring to the physical aspect but in reality, it is much more about the idea of ego and humility. We are not to be pressed into combat because of some perceived wrong to our ego but instead we are to remain humble. Christ was certainly an advocate for those who could not help themselves and would readily step in to save someone if necessary. We must learn to love our neighbors as ourselves but that doesn’t mean that we are not to protect ourselves or be prepared, the issues at stake are more about self-discipline and self-control not passivity.
Hope this gives you some idea.
Hormat saya,
Sean
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Pencak Silat Pertempuran Striking Drill
Hello all;
Here is a simple drill for practicing some striking if you don't have a heavy bag but you have a kicking shield and a training partner. There are actually a few of these and I will share them over the next few days or so.
They are basic but may help you.
Sean
Here is a simple drill for practicing some striking if you don't have a heavy bag but you have a kicking shield and a training partner. There are actually a few of these and I will share them over the next few days or so.
They are basic but may help you.
Sean
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Pencak Silat Pertempuran Training Video
Selamat All;
Here is another simple pencak silat training drill that incorporates some simple functions to get people moving, striking, and angling in a more offensive way, rather than defensive. The goal is to work to get behind the attacker. Shot at night so it's green.
Hope you enjoy.
Sean
Here is another simple pencak silat training drill that incorporates some simple functions to get people moving, striking, and angling in a more offensive way, rather than defensive. The goal is to work to get behind the attacker. Shot at night so it's green.
Hope you enjoy.
Sean
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Pencak Silat Video
Pencak Silat Pertempuran Video clip showing how you might use the basic ales while sitting down. This was shot at night during our class time that's why it's green.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
9/11
Of course, today is 9/11.
This is not a silat posting but it's relevant to my silat training. It is because of stupid people that silat and every other form of martial art exists.
We must remember that martial arts is much more about being a warrior than anything else we learn from it. In fact, everything else comes out of that one aspect alone. We can know that as true because if we took the combative, warrior applications and training out of it, what would be left? Philosophy, Spiritual Training, Art, Culture? Nothing that can't be found in some other venue. No similarities required.
Train then like you are a warrior. Stop dabbling in it and get yourself moving. You know, it's a fact that you can study the best martial system with the best teacher and still be a lazy undisciplined bum. Being a martial artist, at least in my organization requires discipline and perseverance. Oh sure, you can taste it without really doing it but you'll never really get it.
PSP is a simple system. Yet, few really understand that. Few have really put the energy out that it requires to learn that for themselves. I say that not to complain or chastise but to say that I wonder how many other systems of martial art suffer from the same issue?
How many of us, including myself, forget the simple truth that we are learning a warrior art and should be walking a warrior path. We just never know when we will be called on to use our skills. It could be tomorrow, it could be today, it could be in five minutes. Right now, one of you may be doing it instead of reading this!
Can you honestly say that when you practice that you have that in mind? If not, why?
You are my brothers and sisters. I care for you guys and I will do what I can to help you on this journey, but you must do your part. I have already provided the majority of the core materials for you and the world to see, but watching it on TV will not teach you how it all connects together, only doing it will. I am available to you guys for any help you need, but only asking me will get you the help you need - not my availability. Again, this is not to chastise or correct because many of you do quite well with this, it's just a reminder, that actions really do speak louder than words.
On this date, several years ago, people from all kinds of backgrounds, religious beliefs, and races were forced by things going on around them to temporarily assume the warrior spirit. Some rose to the surface and did it, and others did not. How we respond on a day to day basis is probably an indicator of how we might respond in a real situation. Do you act or do you sit and watch?
The lifestyle we have chosen is a lifestyle of OUR CHOOSING. Get off your "can" and do it! Stop riding the fence.
This is not a silat posting but it's relevant to my silat training. It is because of stupid people that silat and every other form of martial art exists.
We must remember that martial arts is much more about being a warrior than anything else we learn from it. In fact, everything else comes out of that one aspect alone. We can know that as true because if we took the combative, warrior applications and training out of it, what would be left? Philosophy, Spiritual Training, Art, Culture? Nothing that can't be found in some other venue. No similarities required.
Train then like you are a warrior. Stop dabbling in it and get yourself moving. You know, it's a fact that you can study the best martial system with the best teacher and still be a lazy undisciplined bum. Being a martial artist, at least in my organization requires discipline and perseverance. Oh sure, you can taste it without really doing it but you'll never really get it.
PSP is a simple system. Yet, few really understand that. Few have really put the energy out that it requires to learn that for themselves. I say that not to complain or chastise but to say that I wonder how many other systems of martial art suffer from the same issue?
How many of us, including myself, forget the simple truth that we are learning a warrior art and should be walking a warrior path. We just never know when we will be called on to use our skills. It could be tomorrow, it could be today, it could be in five minutes. Right now, one of you may be doing it instead of reading this!
Can you honestly say that when you practice that you have that in mind? If not, why?
You are my brothers and sisters. I care for you guys and I will do what I can to help you on this journey, but you must do your part. I have already provided the majority of the core materials for you and the world to see, but watching it on TV will not teach you how it all connects together, only doing it will. I am available to you guys for any help you need, but only asking me will get you the help you need - not my availability. Again, this is not to chastise or correct because many of you do quite well with this, it's just a reminder, that actions really do speak louder than words.
On this date, several years ago, people from all kinds of backgrounds, religious beliefs, and races were forced by things going on around them to temporarily assume the warrior spirit. Some rose to the surface and did it, and others did not. How we respond on a day to day basis is probably an indicator of how we might respond in a real situation. Do you act or do you sit and watch?
The lifestyle we have chosen is a lifestyle of OUR CHOOSING. Get off your "can" and do it! Stop riding the fence.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Pencak Silat Pertempuran
Sorry folks. I have been busy writing my third book and I don't have a lot of time to do both and train and work, blah blah blah. In any case, I will try to post out here again soon. Perhaps an excerpt from the Third Volume of Pencak Silat Pertempuran materials.
Hormat saya,
Sean
www.combat-silat.net
Hormat saya,
Sean
www.combat-silat.net
Friday, August 17, 2007
Pencak Silat West Sumatra Singo Barantai
Look at the space these guys are working in... Low kicks only right?
Kuciang Lia knife fight Pauh Pencak Silat
Good Sumatran silat system. This is obviously just training so it's a treat to be able to see it on the web.
Tari Piring Kubu Durian (Pencak Silat)
Plate dance for those who haven't seen it. There are different ones with different moves including walking on plates while manipulating plates in your hands.
Silat Ropers system
No non-sense. I believe the Guru Frank Ropers is from the Joussot line of Setia Hati Terate.
Otai Silat Pulut
Not a great video but still if you are watching the movement you can see things of interest, not to mention the general movement style.
Harimau pencak silat
I had the pleasure of going to a seminar with MaHa Guru DeBordes a month or so ago and he was great. Mostly a very nice man, very intense, but a pleasure to be around. Not too hung up on formality of technique as much as spirit.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Keluarga - Pencak Silat Pertempuran 2007 Training Camp
So this years pencak silat training camp has come and gone. By far the best one to date. We covered most of the curriculum in three days sans the drills and a few other things. Literally.
On Friday we had a 12 hour day and this is what we did.
Power Ales
Sliwa Training
Sapuan
Rendah Tendangan Rusuk
Gunting Kaki
Tendangan Belakang
Langkah Monyet
Langkah Kura-kura
Langkah Buaya
Langkah Kalong
Langkah Dua
Silah
Beladiri Ales
Masukan Kaki
Masukan Sepak
Masukan Lutut
Timbilan Kaki
Pembasmian Pukul
Kaki Totok
Masukan Tangan
Masukan Siku
Tangkapan - Beladiri Style
Pertukaran - Beladiri Style
Penjebakan
Pencegah Tangan - Beladiri Style
Kuncian
Timbilan Tangan
Totok Tangan
Gunting Horizontal
Gunting Vertical
Gunting Siku
Siku Perisai
Pukul Perisai
Leher Patah
Cekik
Pukul Pembas
Of course, we finished at around 830pm and everyone was pretty tired but that's not too bad considering no one had eaten dinner yet. We all went to our respective abodes and showered up and a portion of us met for dinner. It was great fun and people got to see the similarities between the movements and also I showed how it could be fit together depending on the situation.
Saturday everyone was sore AND it was raining hard so we worked under a pavilion during the early part of the day.
We started with:
Gerak
Sikap Pasang
Led by Pelatih Bill Dwyer.
Then we went into the Jurus-jurus Tangan, Jurus-jurus Harimau (for Pelatih Bill), and Jurus-jurus Kombinasi for those who were interested. It was great fun to show the movements of the jurus-jurus come alive from yesterday's training and to show a few pounds of applications from just a few movements.
Again we finished around 830p or so. Got cleaned up and went out for dinner. It was a great time with good conversations and lots of friendships being developed.
Sunday we continued on throwing on top of the jurus the basic movements of golok/stick, how the Ales and Masukan might work against an armed assailant, how we might use them with a weapon ourselves, and how to do the jurus-jurus with a weapon. Then I went on to do a few minor applications just to show the concept and build the jurus-jurus movements. Later in the day we added Ikat and explosive entries to the training.
Really, in three days, you can't ask for anything more than that, but be assured, that in years to come as people continue to develop and grow in their skills, Keluarga is going to be a great place for training with some of the best guru-silat in the U.S.
Hormat saya,
Sean
Monday, July 23, 2007
Harimau Pencak Silat
This past weekend I had the opportunity to take part in a Harimau/Minangkabau pencak silat seminar. The seminar was led by two very capable players Guru Eric Kruk and MaHa Guru Richard Crabbe de Bordes.
What a treat. It was great to be able to work with these to guys even if only for a day. The seminar lasted for two days but I could only attend one of those. It was great and well worth the 2 hour trip to meet Maha Guru De Bordes and Guru Kruk.
We were also treated to traditional Indonesian dance by Guru Kruk's wife Mia (sp?). Excellent!
Guru Eric Kruk's teaching was great. He was able to really break it down simply and focus on some key elements, working them over and over again and into many other applications. His skill is high and it was a pleasure to meet him and have the opportunity to train with him.
MaHa Guru Richard Crabbe de Bordes was a blessing to me. I could relate very well to his principles, mentality, and applications. His movement was great to watch and I really enjoyed just being there - the fact that I got to participate as well was an extra blessing. Of course, MH Guru De Bordes is very intense. If you ever get a chance to work with him do so. He is a man with great experience not only in martial arts but real world stuff so he "cuts to the chase" and brings it home. I appreciated the fact that he was able to get to the intensity of pencak silat without a day of prep. and you can tell that there is a phenomenal foundation of training under MaHa Guru's background.
What gentlemen both Guru Kruk and MaHa Guru DeBordes were and I hope that we can continue to connect and spread pencak silat to the world.
The seminar was sponsored by one of my Tampa students, current organizer of AOPSA.com - The Association of Pencak Silat America.
What a treat. It was great to be able to work with these to guys even if only for a day. The seminar lasted for two days but I could only attend one of those. It was great and well worth the 2 hour trip to meet Maha Guru De Bordes and Guru Kruk.
We were also treated to traditional Indonesian dance by Guru Kruk's wife Mia (sp?). Excellent!
Guru Eric Kruk's teaching was great. He was able to really break it down simply and focus on some key elements, working them over and over again and into many other applications. His skill is high and it was a pleasure to meet him and have the opportunity to train with him.
MaHa Guru Richard Crabbe de Bordes was a blessing to me. I could relate very well to his principles, mentality, and applications. His movement was great to watch and I really enjoyed just being there - the fact that I got to participate as well was an extra blessing. Of course, MH Guru De Bordes is very intense. If you ever get a chance to work with him do so. He is a man with great experience not only in martial arts but real world stuff so he "cuts to the chase" and brings it home. I appreciated the fact that he was able to get to the intensity of pencak silat without a day of prep. and you can tell that there is a phenomenal foundation of training under MaHa Guru's background.
What gentlemen both Guru Kruk and MaHa Guru DeBordes were and I hope that we can continue to connect and spread pencak silat to the world.
The seminar was sponsored by one of my Tampa students, current organizer of AOPSA.com - The Association of Pencak Silat America.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Pencak Silat Training Camp
PENCAK SILAT TRAINING CAMP
"KELUARGA 2007"
This is the 4th annual camp. Each year has been better than the last. Open to all pencak silat players, as well as those who are just curious. Personally, I'd love to see silat players and teachers come together and share and grow in this open environment.
Date: Aug 3rd-5th
Theme: No. I don't play nice!
Location: Des Moines, IA
Length: 3 Days of training
Cost for Training: $180
Hotel: Heartlands Inn - link: http://www.heartlandinns.com/loc_DesMoinesAirport.php
Room Rate: $67.50 per room, per night, plus tax for a traditional
room with one king size bed or two queen size beds.
10 Rooms set aside (8 Doubles, 2 Singles)
Group name: Keluarga (ask for Keluarga Rate when you book a room to get the special rate. Also, please let Jay know if you book a room so if we need more we can add some AND you must book them at least 2 weeks before the event to get the special rate. You can't wait until the last minute.)
Complimentary Breakfast Daily 4:30-10am (hot and cold items)
Wireless Internet
Pillowtop Mattresses in Every Room
Indoor Swimming Pool and Fitness Center
Complimentary Evening Snacks
24 Hour Airport Shuttle Service
Airlines:
American,
Comair,
Continental,
Midwest Connect,
Northwest,
Skywest,
United,
US Airways
Car Rental:
Recommended by Jay - Enterprise (at the airport)
Event Information:
Plan on tuning up your pencak silat. We will work on:
PSP fundamentals
jurus-jurus,
harimau-monyet,
applications - bela diri,
understanding and doing pencak silat movement,
connectivity of fundamentals to create techniques,
training methods,
weapons work,
Explosive Entries,
Level Testing,
various adhoc discussions on strategy, psp, philosophy, spirituality, pencak silat, leadership, teaching, and growth.
bonfire at Jay's
It's going to be a great three days of training to introduce people to PSP and help those who are midway and nearing the end of the general curriculum. As always, it's a great time to test. Don't wait for Keluarga, but if you can push a little to test in person is a great opportunity.
We will probably work play harder this year than in past years.
Equipment to bring:
MMA style training gloves,
Full face headgear,
kicking shields,
focus mitts,
training and "sharps" (pisau - knives),
Golok,
Looped sarong or full-size ikat
Pay for the event by sending payment to pesilat@combat-silat.net via paypal to reserve your spot. We are looking to have around 20 people this year so get in before it's full.
If you have questions about ammenities, training location, car rentals, or event resources, contact Jay at ksmaguro@hotmail.com.
Event particulars, equipment, and questions related around partiicipation in the event should be sent to Guru Stark at pesilat@combat-silat.net.
Hormat saya,
Guru Stark
"KELUARGA 2007"
This is the 4th annual camp. Each year has been better than the last. Open to all pencak silat players, as well as those who are just curious. Personally, I'd love to see silat players and teachers come together and share and grow in this open environment.
Date: Aug 3rd-5th
Theme: No. I don't play nice!
Location: Des Moines, IA
Length: 3 Days of training
Cost for Training: $180
Hotel: Heartlands Inn - link: http://www.heartlandinns.com/loc_DesMoinesAirport.php
Room Rate: $67.50 per room, per night, plus tax for a traditional
room with one king size bed or two queen size beds.
10 Rooms set aside (8 Doubles, 2 Singles)
Group name: Keluarga (ask for Keluarga Rate when you book a room to get the special rate. Also, please let Jay know if you book a room so if we need more we can add some AND you must book them at least 2 weeks before the event to get the special rate. You can't wait until the last minute.)
Complimentary Breakfast Daily 4:30-10am (hot and cold items)
Wireless Internet
Pillowtop Mattresses in Every Room
Indoor Swimming Pool and Fitness Center
Complimentary Evening Snacks
24 Hour Airport Shuttle Service
Airlines:
American,
Comair,
Continental,
Midwest Connect,
Northwest,
Skywest,
United,
US Airways
Car Rental:
Recommended by Jay - Enterprise (at the airport)
Event Information:
Plan on tuning up your pencak silat. We will work on:
PSP fundamentals
jurus-jurus,
harimau-monyet,
applications - bela diri,
understanding and doing pencak silat movement,
connectivity of fundamentals to create techniques,
training methods,
weapons work,
Explosive Entries,
Level Testing,
various adhoc discussions on strategy, psp, philosophy, spirituality, pencak silat, leadership, teaching, and growth.
bonfire at Jay's
It's going to be a great three days of training to introduce people to PSP and help those who are midway and nearing the end of the general curriculum. As always, it's a great time to test. Don't wait for Keluarga, but if you can push a little to test in person is a great opportunity.
We will probably work play harder this year than in past years.
Equipment to bring:
MMA style training gloves,
Full face headgear,
kicking shields,
focus mitts,
training and "sharps" (pisau - knives),
Golok,
Looped sarong or full-size ikat
Pay for the event by sending payment to pesilat@combat-silat.net via paypal to reserve your spot. We are looking to have around 20 people this year so get in before it's full.
If you have questions about ammenities, training location, car rentals, or event resources, contact Jay at ksmaguro@hotmail.com.
Event particulars, equipment, and questions related around partiicipation in the event should be sent to Guru Stark at pesilat@combat-silat.net.
Hormat saya,
Guru Stark
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