5 Keys to Kali / 7 Secrets of Silat DVDs Just 30 This Week!
 

The 5 Keys to Kali
Five simple actions of the upper body form an entire
matrix of fighting and grappling skills!  High-level theory.
 

The 7 Secrets of Silat
More essential combative motion analysis from the arts
of the Indonesian islands in a seven part-flow drill.
 

The Deadly Grace Of Silat

Howdy all! this week I want to share some thoughts on the art of Pentjak Silat and share some excellent video footage of the 14 Jurus Tunggal.

First off, please watch this video of the applications of some of the basic hand forms. The young men and women here show great skill and athleticism. Those throws are no joke as far as needing to be able to flip and roll out of them safely.

Silat Applications

Here we see a series of 14 open hand forms (Jurus) that include the movements we saw in the previous applications.

14 Djurus Tunggal

Understanding the meanings of the movements can be difficult because they are not always as evident what they are for. this is where Mr. Keating's 7 Secrets of Silat and 5 Keys to Kali videos can be super helpful in deciphering the techniques.

This series of 14 jurus is called Tunggal or "mandatory" because they are the official ones used in Silat competitions since about the year 2000. They were created by the IPSI, the governing board of Silat in Indonesia since 1948, out of older classical Silat styles. This is just like how Wushu was created out of traditional Kung Fu styles as a way of standardizing forms for competitions.

Out of the 14 jurus, 7 are empty handed, 3 are done with golok (machete) and 4 are done with the toya (staff). The 14 jurus comprise 100 movements in total, and a competitor has 3 minutes to complete the entire series with grace and precision.

Competitors are not allowed to yell and so the audience yells extra to cheer on their favorite athletes.

Here is the gold-medal winner's performance from the South East Asian Games to give a sense of what the entire form looks like when done by an expert.

Gold Medal Winning Silat Form 2021

In addition to forms competition, Silat is also a full-contact fighting sport. Competitors wear a chest guard and strikes must be delivered to the body with enough force to make them move if the blow is to count. Because of this very little is done in the way of striking with the hands - it is mainly a kicking sport so they have many leg sweeps and takedowns as kick counters.

Perhaps in a future Training Tips we'll examine this side of Silat as well!

All the very best,

Pete Kautz

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