I heard about langka silat, it is practiced by the muslim minorities of the southern Philippines.
Is it a martial dance or a martial art of it's own? Actually some silat juruhs are done in a very gracefull way that could mislead observers... lethal techniques are hidden behind gracefull movements.
You were lucky to learn southern filipino escrima... the muslims, lumads (Mindanaos mountain tribes) and badjaos ("sea gypsies") seldom teach it to outsiders.
The southern escrima style I practice is quite different from the northern-visayan styles... Footwork is very different, our style uses lots of small jumps, also cross legs ... some pesilat from Borneo use simalar kinds of movement in the bolo practice of silat, but links are strong on both sides of the Sulu sea. Just curious was/is your teacher a member of one of the southern minorities groups? |