Silat - Malay Art of Subtleness

Silat is Malay martial art.

The history of Malay people, or the Malays, can be traced up to the 8th century. Although, there were arguments among historians on the origins of the Malays - some claimed Malays were the Astronesia, some claimed they were the mongoloids (people from mongolia / taiwan) - nevertheless, the Malays dominated and occupied a big part of Southeast Asia and the 'Malay Archipelago', which nowadays include Indonesia (including Sumatera, Java, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya & other scattered islands), Malaysia, Southern Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Borneo Island and Philiphine).

The peak of the traditional Malay civilisation was during Malacca Malay Sultanate in early 15th century. The Malacca Malay Sultanate was founded by a runaway Srivijayan prince from Palembang named Parameswara. Malacca port, which was strategically located at the center of Malacca strait, easily became the trading center for traders from of the East (China, Japan etc) and the West (India, Arabs). The Malays were originally animistic or Hindus. Islam came to Malacca through the Arabs / Indian Muslim traders. The coming of Islam was gladly welcomed and accepted by the Sultan (king) and also the Malaccans due to the Islamic teaching, which promoted peace and kindness.

Islam had a huge impact to the Malays culture, belief and way of life. After their conversion, traditions that were not according to the Islamic principles were not practiced anymore. Traditions that were not contradictory to the Islamic teachings, were continued and slowly the Islamic principles were also blended into the these traditions. Silat is one example of it. In many Silat sipiritual teaching, you may find that Islamic principles are emphasized.

It was during the Malacca Malay Sultanate era, when the lagendary Malay warriors - Hang Tuah and his brothers Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekiu and Hang Lekir - were living and today when people talk about the history of Silat, it is incomplete to not to mention their names.

Today, Silat can be found in different names in Malaysia, Indonesia, Southern Thailand, Vietnam and Philiphine. Due to its introduction and promotion to the "outside" world by various gurus, Silat can now be found in the USA and Europe in countries like Denmark, Germany and The Netherland. Although the styles may differ slightly from each country, but they still use the name "Silat" infront to indicate the Malay origin and if looked carefully, they all still have similar characteristics.

Silat is a Malay martial art. To understand Silat characteristics, one must understand the nature of people so-called "The Malays".

Throughout history, the Malays were known for their warmheartedness, politeness, soft-spokenness, friendliness and benevolence. But, I can't deny that modern Malays, due to western (colonial) influences and modernization, are changing and having lesser of those traditional politeness and warmheartedness compare to their ancestors. But, forget about modern Malays for a minute.

Traditionally, Malays were farmers, businessmen, beauracrats and sailors. The Malays were, and to some extent still are, well-connected to their traditions and ettiquettes. The Malays were blessed with the wealth of various heritage such as language (with beautiful proverbs), clothes, musics, etiquettes, work of arts (carving, weaving etc), impressive houses and palaces design, dances and many others. And of course Silat is one of Malays most beautiful heritage!

The Malays were generally subtle in nature. Being naturally calm and polite people, they seldom show their anger or disatisfaction outwardly. When they are provoked, they use synicism in reply while still smiling at the provocateur. When correcting someone's improperness or rudeness, they use proverbs instead of tell him/her off frankly and directly. They use a lot of analogies. And somehow, the Malays were not genetically direct or straight to the point.

To see how beautiful the Malay words are weaved together, the following are a few examples of Malay proverbs.

"Jangan dicatuk dengan yang tajam, cincanglah dengan yang majal" (Do not strike with the sharp, but mince it with the blunt. The proverb means when giving an advice, do not use harsh language but be polite and kind.

"Kalau pandai meniti buih, selamat badan sampai ke seberang" (If you know how to walk on bubbles (wave), you can cross the ocean. The proverb means if one knows how to utilize his/her brain (to find solution to difficult situations), his/her life will be in peace and will find the way out.

"Jangan disesar gunung berlari, hilang kabut tampakla ia" (Do not chase the running mountain. When the midst dissapear, the mountain will appear. This proverb means, do not do things in a hurry or haste.

They are beautiful eh? Behind the words, there are useful lessons to learn from.

This subtle nature of the Malays, to me, is naturally blended and developed into their Silat techniques. The gracious moves that we see in Silat today, especially the "dance-like" moves or 'Bunga' (translated as flower) is a manifestation of the Malays subtle inner nature.

When I think of Silat, I think of subtleness.

But achtung! Beware!

Beneath the subtleness, there is a hidden power, sort of stored energy, poison in honey, a beautiful rose with thorny stems, a sleeping volcano, a dragon in a calm lake and once it is released, once it is touched - it is abrupt, sudden and without mercy.

Some good articles on Silat:

http://malaysilat.org/malaysilat-articles.html

Further readings: