At the 18th World Pencak Silat Championship held at the Singapore Sports Hub in 2018, Singapore won seven gold medals.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SILAT FEDERATION
Just last year, Singapore’s hawker culture got itself onto the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This prestigious list celebrates the significance of heritage and cultural practices from all over the world.
However, did you know that Silat, the traditional martial arts form practised throughout the Malay Archipelago, is on it too?
Nobody really knows how Silat first came about. Some say that it was inspired by animal movements while others believe that Silat has very mixed origins and borrows its influences from Indian, Chinese and Japanese martial arts.
Although Silat started out as an armed style of combat and self-defence, Silat performers added music and dance steps over time to make it less obvious that they were practising martial arts.
As a result of this evolution, the sport has become popular in certain festive celebrations in some parts of Indonesia, like Java, for instance.
It has also become recognised as a non-aggressive martial arts and contact or competitive sport practised by both men and women of all ages, and even by young children.
In Singapore, the sport falls under the Singapore Silat Federation which was formed in June 1976.
As there are many schools and styles of Silat, the equipment and clothing used will vary from region to region. In general, the ensemble includes a lower sarong, trousers and shirt, and sometimes, a songkok.
Silat is a sport that can be practised by both genders of all ages, even young children.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB
Silat is a sport that can be practised by both genders of all ages, even young children.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB
Because Silat was once believed to have been deployed as self-defence on the battleground, weapons like the traditional kris are sometimes still used but more as a ceremonial prop or a way to display showmanship during a tournament.
The 2018 World Pencak Silat Championship was hosted by Singapore at the Singapore Sports Hub which aims to offer safe and healthy ways for fitness beginners and buffs alike to explore their passions any day and at any time.
Taking up Silat can give you myriad health and fitness benefits including improving your body coordination, increasing mental focus, instilling a greater sense of self-discipline and more.
Here are eight other things that you probably didn’t know about Silat.
- There are many stories of how this ancient Indonesian martial art form began. One of these is about how someone witnessed a fight between a tiger and a giant hawk, and then used the techniques gleaned from observing this battle to fight off drunks.
- In total, there may be more than 1,000 types of Silat. These include Silat Kuningan, Silat Sendeng, Silat Gayong, Silat Pukulan Melaka, Silat Lian Yunan and Silat Minangkabau.
- Silat is practised in more than 60 countries around the world. In 2019, Virginia hosted the first United States Open pencak silat tournament.
- Silat has been part of the Southeast Asian Games since 2001.
- In Silat, three basic strike moves are used: punching, kicking (at certain areas only) and dropping. Fighters also practise the uppercut, palm strike and the most commonly used straight punch to understand how they can be used in self-defence during a match.
- You have to be very flexible to take up Silat as you need to stretch, lunge or jump to attack or counter your opponent’s strike.
- As you use a lot of footwork and hand movements in Silat, your hands and legs have to be well-conditioned.
- In the hit movie Black Panther, the cast members were said to have been given training in Silat (among other martial arts forms) to prep them for the rigorous filming requirements.
