Sticks

Sticks

When I started practicing Filipino martial arts in 1987, we couldn’t tap the internet for stick vendors. The best we had was Asian World of Martial Arts and Dolan’s Sports catalogs, and later I and I Sports out of California. Let me tell you, what they sold as “Escrima Sticks” in those days were absolute shit. Usually we resorted to ordering 6-foot bo staffs, or 36 inch hanbos and cutting them down to Escrima length. Back then I was doing a Largo Mano system, and we used 32 inch sticks - meaning after 5 minutes with a hacksaw we were left with a lot of useless leftover wood and a typically unbalanced stick for a high price. I started buying cheap rattan wholesale from Pier One imports, which turned out to be basically the same poor quality rattan as the aforementioned Escrima sticks from the martial arts stores.

After a few years we said ‘to hell with it’ and started making our own sticks, experimenting with different hardwoods: hickory, ash, maple, pine, and even exotic varieties such as rosewood and cocobolo. I even found a lumber yard on 7 mile road in Detroit that carried ironwood. The ironwood was too big in diameter to use for our purposes, so we tapered the handle into an oval shape and made “Two handed bashers” as we called them. Anyway, many practice sessions and broken sticks later, we came to the stunning realization that “If it has a grain, it will crack” at this point our focus shifted from the wood to the treatment. This is what we came up with:

Electrical Tape
Nowadays it’s a band-aid for fraying rattan , but we used to wrap the whole damn stick with it prior to the first use. The tape acted like a skin on the weapon. On the positive side, your stick lasted longer and it was a sure grip. On the negative side, you couldn’t tell your stick from the next guy’s stick, and you didn’t get that satisfying “bok” sound of wood hitting wood.

Olive Oil
Extra virgin. I learned this technique from an Egyptian stickfighter. Simply multiple applications by hand, rubbing it onto the stick. Its best no one else sees you doing this.

“The Formula”
An Okinawan kobudo friend of mine gave me the following recipe: 2 parts boiled linseed oil to 1 part terpentine. Get the linseed oil at the hardware store. I have a pair of hardwood sticks I treated in this way about 10 years ago, and they’re virtually indestructible. Tung oil by itself can also be used.

For Rattan
Fill a trough with cold water, add a lot of salt. Allow the rattan sticks to soak for a day, and then have at it.

From Mother Nature
The best ‘natural’ woods I have used are eucalyptus and guava. A nice, thorny Irish Blackthone with a knob and metal tip is also very stylish.

For better or for worse, things are much simpler today. I have a certain nomadic contact that gets good quality rattan when he goes to the P.I. I don’t even know his name - it’s programmed into my phone as “Sticks.” Our next supply is only a phone call away.

TV Show Silat Review

TV Show Silat Review

You guys may remember an "entertaining" show a few years back that had two American nincompoops traveling to foreign lands in order to learn and compete in the local martial arts.  The complete episodes are available online from various sources.  If you're bored at work, you may want to peruse the episode where our two heroes journey to Malaysia to fail at our beloved Art of Silat.  Below is a review of that particular episode by our friend Nadzrin. - JD 

 

"Silat: The Martial Art of Malaysia" started off well enough with a view of the 50th Malaysian National Independence Day parade. Hosts Jason Chambers and Bill Duff sauntered over to a Silat Seni Gayong demonstration, seemingly held in commemoration of the day.

There, they are issued a challenge by the Gayong master in attendance, guru Malik, to study several styles throughout Malaysia, and return to face six of his best fighters. Now, this is obviously set up, since the whole premise of the Human Weapon series is to train in various styles and eventually meet up with the first style they feature for a challenge match.

Among those they would train with were: Silat Seni Gayong, Silat Lian Padukan, Silat Melayu Keris Lok 9 and Silat Harimau.

The problem is, there was no one here who thought that this was a good idea. The moment word got out, I started receiving calls, SMSs and emails from friends and strangers who demanded to know, who these arrogant Westerners were, and where they could be found. What the camera never recorded, was how many people actually offered themselves, thinking it was a real challenge to silat as a whole.

Needless to say, I told them honestly, I didn’t know. Although I was originally part of the project, but scheduling problems forced me to sit it out. What a mistake that was.

The whole episode did a good job of introducing different silat styles to the public. However, almost immediately after the show aired in America, forums buzzed with the inanity of the weak showing of Malaysian silat. That, and the fact that Jeff Davidson switched off the television before the episode ended filled me with curiousity. What the hell happened? I intended to find out.

So, after a kind blog fan posted the download links, I spent the next 3 days downloading the episode and lo and behold, not only did I see the corn, I tasted it as well. Because, if the American martial arts community pooh-poohed it, then the Malaysians are definitely not going to be happy, especially those who were interviewed.

For a cable channel calling itself History, there’s a lot of research that they missed and it’s obvious they were careless in quite a few facts. Below are some of the more glaring errors I managed to catch:

"We’ve travelled to the island nation of Malaysia"
Malaysia is not an island nation. It’s made up of a peninsula extending from the south of Thailand and half of the Borneo island.

"Nearly 1 out of every 5 Malaysians is schooled in silat"Untrue. This would only be true if you said 1 out of every 5 Melayu.

"Seni Gayong is taught to all 9 million members of the Royal Malaysian Police Force and military"
Firstly, Gayong is taught to the Police as Silat Polis, a combination of Gayong, Judo, Aikido and Karate. Secondly, the military has no silat syllabus, only Taekwondo has only ever been an official insertion. The official method is still only called TTS, Tempur Tanpa Senjata (Weaponless Combat). Thirdly, 9 million members means that every third person in Malaysia is in the civil service. Fourthly, this figure contradicts the 1 in 5 statement in no. 2.

"We climbed into a traditional Malay boat and headed to Putrajaya"There’s no way you can take a boat from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya. Literally, there is no water route.

Caption: "Shamsul Balim"Correction: Guru Sheikh Shamsul Bahrin S.M. Salim.

"And Filipino eskrimadors lent aspects of their weapons work and empty hand forms to silat"Not an offensive statement, just that it’s the first time I’ve heard it, and is yet to be proven.

Caption: "Yazid Abdul Ran"Correction: Yazid Abdul Rani.

"But in 1969, this cultural melting pot reached a boiling point. Malay and Chinese rioters fought one another in the streets of Kuala Lumpur with bladed weapons, farmtools and silat. In the end, these riots left some 6,000 people homeless and claimed over 200 lives. In the aftermath, both sides incorporated what they’ve learned from the other into a hybrid style that infused Chinese Wing Chun techniques into traditional silat. It’s called Lian Padukan."
Anyone who even casually browses the Lian Padukan website will know that this is untrue. Lian Padukan was formed long before 1969, when Pak Mat Kedidi studied Buah Pukul from guru Cu Aman and integrated it with Silat and Tomoi. The absorption of the Chinese element itself happened in 1897, when the founder of Buah Pukul, Awang Daik studied it from Syed Abdul Rahman al-Yunani.

"Together, they formed just the move that Bill and I were looking for, the Polick Haimau"I have confirmation from guru Yazid that there's no such thing as a Polick Haimau. Polick here refers to ‘Polek’, but I can’t figure out where they got Haimau from.

"Is this the type of silat that the people used to defend themselves at this port when they were invaded?," asks Jason and guru Azlan Ghanie answers, "Sama ada dia berpenyakit ataupun tidak berpenyakit" (Whether he is diseased or not) and his student-cum-interpreter replies, "Yes it is" (By the way, guru Azlan speaks excellent English)
It is obvious that the three scenes were spliced together, just to get a reply from guru Azlan, irrespective of what he really said. I guess the editors hoped Americans would know no better.

"Coupled with the silat skills of the Malay warriors, the keris helped Melaka fend off the better equipped, more heavily-armed Portuguese soldiers for more than 40 days"
Not necessarily untrue, but the statement could be misleading. Melaka actually had a good amount of cannons defending its city and was not wanting in warriors. However, it has been agreed in many circles that bad management and infighting caused the Melaka empire to fall, not the lack of firepower.

There are dozens more that I could go on and on about, but I’ll stop here before I start boring you to death. My only worry is, if this happened to silat, how much credibility do the other episodes have?

My rating? I give it a 4 ½ out of 10.

Alert: Don't Come Here to Learn Pekiti Tirsia

Alert: Don't Come Here to Learn Pekiti Tirsia

"This is going to be harder than I thought"

Sometime around the beginning of May we accepted a new student who had previously trained in Pekiti-Tirsia in another place some years ago. By his own admission, he did not get very far into his study. We started him off the same way we start off 90% of newbies, regardless of their past experience. After almost every class, he would say to me “This is great, but it doesn’t look like anything we used to do when I studied with ‘X’…uh, when do I learn the 12 attack system and break-in break-out?” My answer: “Maybe never.”

Some weeks later, I allowed this particular student to transfer some of our old VHS tapes of Tuhon Gaje’s training with us to DVD. He came back and said “You know, none of this looks familiar to me. It’s like it’s a different system!” Before I helped him reconcile this mental dilemma, I had a personal flashback to an earlier time, much like Caine in the Kung-Fu series. So fade out and cue the flashback music…

FLASHBACK

About 9 years ago, on a calm night in October, I sat in my living room watching an old Mike Tyson fight with my recently-arrived guest: Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje Jr. It was his first trip back to Michigan in many years, and as he sat intently boxing with my cat, and returning his emails – my mind was on other things… Ye gads, I thought. The Grandmaster of the Pekiti Tirsia Kali system is sitting 5 feet from me in my own house. I can ask him anything I want! Now is the time to clear up a few technical/training/system questions that have been on my mind for a few years now.

When I could no longer contain myself, I transformed from the silent disciple into the nagging chatterbox. Stick in hand, I assailed Tuhon with about 10 years worth of questions on various aspects of Pekiti-Tirsia: footwork, drills, techniques, disarms, grips, angles, sub-systems, terms, knife, stick, etc., etc. Ever the cagey one, Tuhon offhandedly dodged almost all of my questions with the irreverent sarcasm that is his sense of humor. As I studied his face, I could see a mixture of jet-lag, boredom, annoyance, and a definite tinge of disappointment which seemed to express the sentiment "This is going to be harder than I thought.”

Over the next 2 weeks, I had the privilege of many hours of one-on-one instruction from Tuhon. In the beginning, I assumed that the answers to my previous questions would be addressed at some point during our training sessions. I was wrong. Not only did our training NOT address my questions, but it had seemingly little to do with anything that anybody around here knew as “classical” Pekiti-Tirsia! When he instructed my other students during their private lessons, it was the same. I took a different track. When he would show me a drill or exercise I would ask “Tuhon, where in the system is this from?” His answer (accompanied more often than not by a painful slap or torque) was an exasperated “I am the system!” It was 2 weeks of this.

After Tuhon was on his way to the next venue, I had some time to reflect and I narrated my experience to an older and wiser friend – a Japanese-style martial artist who also had the opportunity to train under his system’s Grandmaster. His take on the situation:

“So…you had Miles Davis in your house and all you did was ask him how to play the solo from ‘Footprints”.

Now it made sense! What a gift we had been given. Instead of re-hashing set patterns from 20 years ago, Tuhon had actually given us building blocks for a complete foundation of theory, movement, application, and mindset. It was only later on, over the next few years, that the instruction from Tuhon took more of a structured approach. That’s pretty much the reverse of how most martial arts are taught. Our Art was fresh, it was practical, and the drills had ‘life’ instead of the feeling that we were merely repeating patterns. It was ours.

A little while later, we would go to Rochester, New York where we were able to observe another very-apart-from-the-crowd student of Tuhon -Kuya Doug Marcaida - a ferociously talented Kali player who completely embodies this idea of making the Art one’s own….and that set the bar for us.

THE POINT

So to my new student – as well as current and even prospective students – I say to you: Don’t come here expecting to learn Pekiti-Tirsia based on how you think it should be, or even how it used to be. Specific techniques, drills, blades, sticks etc. are important, but they are secondary to learning the most important weapons you will ever have – your own mind and body. It may seem like an indirect approach, but the rewards are much richer.

If you disagree, well, I’ll allow that I could be wrong. In that case, take it up with Tuhon. After all, HE IS THE SYSTEM!

Selecting Students the Malaysian Way

Selecting Students the Malaysian Way

This post is taken from the writings of (my teacher) Cikgu Omar Hakim.  A student asked a question regarding the traditional Malaysian protocol between Master and prospective student:

“What are the basic and , apparently common interview requirements for the silat systems you have applied to? I am interested in how the instructors select who they shall interview and the whole process of bringing a new student in ....or excluding people from the system. How hard do they make it to join?.....Are there common concerns and issues ?....Do all the methods place similar barriers/ hoops in front of the applicant? Do different instructors do it differently? Are some a bit lax and some extremely discerning? 

I am interested in their screening process. I now have a student formally apply and supply me with a background and references......something that experiences have taught me I should do.

Doc”

Answer:

I can tell you about three methods that I've had first hand experience with…

The first screening method involves inviting the student to the teacher's home for dinner. A deliberate event may occur during dinner that the student may not even realize is a test. From the student's prospective, everyone enjoyed a polite dinner together. If the prospective student fails the test, the Cikgu will say that he'll consider the prospective student's request to train, and then - after a couple of days - decline to teach the student with no explanation offered… The delay is so that the student won't realize that there was a test that he failed during the dinner.

Another test is to ask a prospective student to write a formal letter explaining why he wants to study Silat and to submit the letter to the Cikgu. The Cikgu will read the letter and then do nothing. If the student approaches the Cikgu and asks for the status of his request, the Cikgu will say that he is still considering the request and will decline to give a time as to when his decision will be made. The Cikgu will then wait again to see if and when the student will contact him again. He will observe the student's demeanor and “akhlak” (manners) during the second conversation. The Cikgu will repeat that he is still considering the application (which is a true statement) and he will decline again to say when the review will be complete. The Cikgu will then wait to see if and when there will be a third contact. If the student remains polite, respectful, patient and persistent during the third contact, the Cikgu will say on the spot that the decision is yes.

The third test that I've observed involves how the student conducts himself during the first meeting. What gifts (if any) did he bring? What questions is he asking? The Cikgu will ask a very simple question: “why do you want to study Silat?” and he will listen very carefully to the answer. A follow up question might be “well, why do you want to study Silat vs. Tae Kwon Do or Muay Thai?” Again, the answer is very carefully studied.

Double Impact - Scarf the Kali Silat way

Brotherhood of the Blade - The Kali - Silat play

Detroit Kali!