Convince Me That Silat Doesn't Suck Completely

**ashkelon** · Posted On: 9/30/2012 9:29am

Originally Posted by pakua42

And I'd like to know, Im mot kidding, what percentage of the members here have a criminal record, compared to the avg population?

Yeah you should check youtube comments, all the death row dudes hang out there.

The whole spiritual warrior, martial arts make wiser men thing...
When you look at all the frauds and charlatans, they all take the holier than thou attitude, then lie and cheat. I see it everywhere: MA's, yoga, dance, whatever.

Martial arts are about learning how to fight or to express some martial choreography and everything in between. Applying yourself to it can be a positive endeavor as applying yourself to any activity can be.
If you need a guru, fine, leave others alone. I don't need your orientalist cookiecutter morals.

**goodlun** · Posted On: 9/30/2012 12:51pm

Originally Posted by pakua42

Jeez, I thought that loud mouth white haired kid was an old woman till I took a closer look. I didnt come here to do anything but learn and make acquantances. 8 year old kids I dont need. (Yeah, try to convince me you are an adult now.) Anyway, anyone that is on this form that says F.U. to another commentor, whether deserved or not, has no business even being here and will never have the real essence of a spiritual Warrior. I mean can you imagine Dan Inosonto after being called a fake saying "YOU KNOW WHAT, fu MAN. i WILL BEAT YOUR a$$! . If Dan ever posted that, we'd all know automatically....it wasnt Dan but an imposter. Sadly I think this board "does" have too many people who are a bit too volatile . And I'd like to know, Im mot kidding, what percentage of the members here have a criminal record, compared to the avg population? There are just too many people here who strike out verbally before they think. Thats a "prison mentality."

You sir are a Fucking idiot. Martial Arts has nothing and I mean nothing to do with being a spiritual warrior take that 80s action movie bullshit and get the **** out of here. Martial Arts are guess what about being able to fight. Lets stop and think if I have a picture of me Holding an AK-47 at the age of 8 before CAs Assault Weapons Control Act that was enacted in 1989 aka Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 it makes me not an 8 year old.
Grow the **** up and stop your childish stupid comments all over the place. If you don't like the culture here go to Martial Arts planet where they are more tolerant of your mystical views of Martial Arts.
So once again **** You.

**TheMightyMcClaw** · Posted On: 9/30/2012 9:32pm

Originally Posted by pakua42

Oh, what I did want to add in about Silat is that I have been to Silat schools in NYC where the instructor was directly from Indonesia, and 2 schools where they were 1 step removed. All 3 schools could not keep members. My guess......Silat is not a simple art and most people cannot do it unless more coordinated than the avg guy to begin with. Everyone here seems to be dying to find a Silat school, yet every silat school I find has like 4 students at most per class. I think it is deadly, an incredibly beautiful street art, but there is a reason the Dog Bros, took stick fighting from the jungle arts and simplified it so anyone can do it. One is not better than the other...it depends what you want. Thats my opinion after living over 50 years on this planet.

The problem isn't that I'm looking for Silat schools. I've found them. The problem is that I'm looking for evidence that Silat isn't a heaping pile of shitty Wing Chun. That, I haven't found.
I have been searching for years, and the closest we came was some mid-level pointfighting in Southeast Asia. Which means, theoretically, if I move to the other side of the planet, I might be able to train in some Silat that's on par with the average American Tae Kwon Do school.
Seriously, how many different styles have you trained in? Have you done anything that *wasn't* Silat? Because it's really easy to be impressed when you have zero basis for comparison.

**goodlun** · Posted On: 9/30/2012 11:02pm

Originally Posted by TheMightyMcClaw

Have you done anything that *wasn't* Silat? Because it's really easy to be impressed when you have zero basis for comparison.

I think the real question here is has he done anything other then maybe a tiny bit of Martial Dance and watched a whole bunch of martial arts movies. Have you not seen the dribble he post.

Of course you havn't seen "real" Silat. You have to fly to go on a quest to the ends of the earth and trek through the jungle to the hidden temple and find the one true grand master who will only teach you after you save his daughter from local village rape gang.

**Ignorami** · Posted On: 10/01/2012 2:43am

If you can already fight better than the Grand Master's Daughter, who he apparently raised in a rapey environment, maybe he's not the guy you want teaching you either.

**TheMightyMcClaw** · Posted On: 10/01/2012 11:19am

Originally Posted by goodlun

I think the real question here is has he done anything other then maybe a tiny bit of Martial Dance and watched a whole bunch of martial arts movies. Have you not seen the dribble he post.

Of course you havn't seen "real" Silat. You have to fly to go on a quest to the ends of the earth and trek through the jungle to the hidden temple and find the one true grand master who will only teach you after you save his daughter from local village rape gang.

And even then, it's only taekwondo minus the head kicks.

**Permalost** · Posted On: 10/01/2012 12:36pm

A week ago, there was a guy at the Dog Brothers gathering who tried a few silat Mortal Kombat spinning sweeps, but they didn't cut the opponent down like they were supposed to.

**BJMills** · Posted On: 10/01/2012 4:12pm

I remember seeing Paul deThours (or however you spell his name) at a seminar a long time ago, mid or late 80s. I was a kid and really into Muay Thai. I remember thinking silat looked really cool but I had a hard enough time in sparring with 'simple' Muay Thai moves, so I'd never be good enough to pull off any of the stuff I was watching.

I was a kid, and naive, and didn't really know the difference between alive and compliant training.

deThours was a really funny, engaging guy... Most snake oil salesmen are though.

**Sinister-6000** · Posted On: 10/02/2012 8:07pm

Originally Posted by TheMightyMcClaw

That's nothing. I once saw my Muay Thai coach emerge victorious in a fight with another human being. Let's see a Silat guy do that. (Seriously, been searching for three years now, still nothing)
Anyways, I loved how this thread got resurrected for first "I saw it in an action movie so does that count?" immediately followed by "I knew a guy who was super cool and could punch dumpsters, so of course Silat works" mixed in with Hedgehogey's "these dark savages perfect fighting arts that no civilized white man would even consider!" kind of old-timey racism.
Ten points for Hufflepuff.

Most people that study Silat are more interested in the self defense aspects of it and how it relates to knife use and street application. There is also a still kept tradition where though some schools allow taping, most do not, especially at seminars. Why not go participate in a class yourself, just for fun, without expectation or judgement? I think there are one or two schools around Seattle. Google and go have fun. If you think it sucks that belief may be verified for you or you may find some fun material to play around with or incorporate with what you already have. Im pretty sure Mr. Dethouars is very skilled, even if some people think he is a little out there. He's been doing martial arts for over 60 years or so, been exposed to multiple styles and teachers and had students that came from different backgrounds that stuck with him a few decades. I think you can find some gems here and there.

http://youtu.be/hX6uQ-i7zrI