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I'm sure we've all heard variations of different saying and cautions coming from our parents ,our grandparents and the people around us. Maybe we even believe these taboo statements ourselves! Whatever the case may be, I'm here to shed light on some very popular (and detrimental) Silat taboo's and misconceptions.
This is the most common concern I've heard, especially from concerned parents, that this dark art will bring nothing but catastrophy and suffering, but that's really not the case. This ideal has been heavily exaggerated by media, with films playing along with the 'dark arts' discourse to make scenes interesting and to allure the audience. Although there is the rare find of a silat group actually attempting dark arts, did you know they actually can't be classified as silat?
Silat when you break it down to it's main components may be heavily spiritual, but the point is to follow the sunnah of Islam and the Quran. According to the sunnah, any evil practices are strictly prohibited. Some Silat's incorporate the religious aspect more heavily than others, but it's all ethical and normal practices. Silat's that are known for any shady practices are usually shunned by the rest of the community, other than not being able to actually establish their association legally.
With Silat being a very spiritually Islamic martial art and only being passed down by word of mouth, you can see how the visions and true meanings get warped like a game of Telephone.
Like the first concern, this has it's ties more in pop culture rather than word of mouth. The early 2000's videos online showing incredible feats of strength from Silat masters, able to fly 10 feet in the air and completely incapacitate a man without touching him. Able to seemingly use Jedi mind tricks to dodge objects being thrown, all while staying in one place.
These feats are usually a follow up of a shady ritual, the practitioner muttering to himself, using string and eggshells, calling upon the jinn that protects him. Sadly, this is more incredible cinematography than incredible acts of strength.
These videos are dimly lit, heavily edited and short. The silat practitioners shown are nothing more than conmen, raking in views and advertisements, videos like these have been debunked time and time again, but there's always a question of 'but what if' in everyone's mind due to it.
There are hundreds of types of Silat in Malaysia! Some specialize more in bunga (opening stances) and kekuda (stances) and some focus more on buah (actual fighting techniques) in the end, it always depends on the type of Silat you're looking at. Silat can even be classified as an umbrella term, with so many variations. But why the history of fancy movements? why not just get straight into the action?
Silat was born out of oppression and revolt. During the colonization era, the British were quick to shut down any scandalous activities that could lead to rebellion, no martial arts, no self defense. Though, they didn't prepare for the community to find a workaround to this. In order not to get caught, they filled their practice with flowery moves, with dancing and crawling, masking a deadly martial art as just a cultural past time.
From tiger crawling to hawking like birds to spinning, this all had a purpose, some moves even contained training in and of themselves. Once the British left, the Silat community was free to practice and share their art without any negative repercussions, but the masking stayed, some as a tribute, some as a way to remember out roots. Passed down from generation to generation like all art has, and always will be.