silat or bjj

[Ray White]

Yep, It was funny you mention that Terry, I began thinking the Silat styles were mostly similar just because of what I had been exposed to was fairly well grounded in a function and application type manor.

But after digging into Silat on an international level (actually just web surfing on every Silat website and link I could find), it was apparent to me that some are taught more like a traditional "karate" like way. And some will focus more on the Jurus (similar to karate katas) And there is nothing wrong with that, but I prefer a more "hands on" application oriented methodology. I hate to generalize but that is what I've run into. It is probably just a difference in teaching styles, cultures, etc. I have seen differences between muslim oriented silat styles, some were very combat, and others were hokus pokus, needles and breaking demos, and others were like a traditional Karate.

A good place I found with numerous links is

Pukalan Pentjak Silat

From there some others have excellent links too.

Harimau, H A R I M A U! LOL, you worry me...

[sikal]

Originally posted by Ray White
It is probably just a difference in teaching styles, cultures, etc. I have seen differences between muslim oriented silat styles, some were very combat, and others were hokus pokus, needles and breaking demos, and others were like a traditional Karate.

Yup. I think you hit it, Ray. Just like some instructors/systems of Gung Fu are more combative than others ... same is true of Silat.

Mike

[terry]

Well, Guro Dan always encouraged me to do primary research. I have put time into that. In some cases the returns were great, and I feel priveleged to have trained with some of the old guys. In other cases, it turned out to be a huge waste of time.

Guro Dan himself said that he once practiced a silat form for five years under this one guy, and when he finally got to see what it was it turned out to be totally B.S. One thing I did realize in doing research this way was that Mr. I paid a lot of dues to get the stuff that he hands to his students on a silver platter.

Doing primary research into silat styles (or other stuff) can be very enlightening and a lot of fun. But I can't really afford to do it at this point. With my job and kids I just don't have the time to wade through stuff anymore that might or might not have a good return on investment. Through somebody like Guro Dan I can access information pretty quickly that would take me decades to acquire by myself.

T

P.S.: The 'who is Hairy Mao' question was on Damon Carro's voice mail for a long time. I came up with a couple of zingers, something about a long lost cousin of Chairman Mao, etc. It provoked some good jokes over a beer.

[Ray White]

T,

I got it, ...Hairy Mao... I thought you meant Harry Mao, the Chairman's not so famous little brother...But you still worry me!



Oh, have you every done any sera or serak? I heard from Dan that he has a long history with the Dethours family, and I figured if he liked it enough to maintain a training relationship it must be pretty good, but I have never had the pleasure of training with them myself...

Ray

[terry]

Yep, I spent about six years driving down from the Bay Area on the weekends to L.A. to train with Pendekar Paul on Saturday morning and then spend the rest of the time training with Erik Paulsen and Chad Stahelski. Now, with the kids, I have to look for local training opportunities.

Terry