Main Aspects of Pencak Silat

There are four main aspects of pencak silat martial art.

a. Mental and spiritual.

Pencak silat aims to build and develope personality and noble character. The martial artist must use their training to focus their mental and spiritual energies during combat situations or dangerous emergencies.

b. Self-defense.

Its also aim to build our self confidence skills and perseverance skills which very important in human life regardless you are martial artist or not. Without them, our skills are reduced.

c. Culture and art.

Culture and performing the art of pencak silat is very important. This things combines Pencak Silat with traditional music and costumes.

d. Sport.

The aspect of physical fitness is very important for pencak silat martial art and definitely for the artist. We try to have a sound mind in a sound body. Competitions and intense training are part of this aspect. There are full contact matches, as well as form demonstrations, for single, double or teamed.

Silat Martial Art

Silat is the combative art of fighting and survival believed to have originated from ancient Malaysian and Indonesian civilizations. Until recently there has been no fixed form of instruction. It has now evolved to become part of social culture and tradition and is a fine physical and spiritual training. There are various styles of silat. Silat burung putih is based on bird-style fighting. Silat tjmande is water buffalo style fighting. Silat tjikalong is crane style fighting. Silat harimau is based on tiger style fighting. Not all silats are fighting arts; some are merely dancing forms such as silat pulut.

The definition of the word silat varies from one guru or teacher to another. The Malay dictionary defines silat as a seni (art) with the intelligence to attack and defend gracefully. Another meaning states that silat originated from the word kilat (lightning). A practitioner tries to acquire the characteristics of lightning: speed, dominance, sharpness, fluidity, and danger. In general, silat techniques use hand and foot maneuverings. The principle of silat is to evade attack. Training in silat includes cultural, spiritual, and mental aspects as well as tumbling, striking, kicking, blocking and agility movements. Many movements are described by names. Some are poetic, some are named after an animals movement, and some are metaphors

The culture and tradition of the Malay ethnic group as its source and model. Mental-spiritual, artistic, graceful, and flowery movements similar to Malay classical dance paired with seemingly incompatible martial aspects. Looking slantingly to the ground and sensing the adversary movements rather than using direct eye contact. In some instances the practitioners seem to be in a trance-like state and possess an eerie ability to anticipate the opponents movements

Types of Martial Arts

Although there are hundreds of different martial arts over the world, many of them have more similarities than differences. Within the major categories, there are often many sub-schools and systems developed by different teachers. Martial arts are generally classified as soft or hard, internal or external, yin or yang, but they all need to embrace these complementary aspects. Internal arts such as qigong focus on yielding and inner strength. Hard arts such as karate focus on developing muscular power and speed, and the mastery of breaking and throwing techniques delivered with devastating impact.

Benefits of Martial Arts

These are benefit of Martial Art for Martial Artist

a. Martial arts teach us for our self defense, and it also can improve confidence and self esteem of human being.
b. When we used its as an exercise, martial arts can improve balance,strength, stamina, flexibility, and posture.

c. It also could enhance our weight loss and improve our muscle tone.

d. When we are talking about the mental level, martial arts can teach stress management, improve concentration, and increase willpower. Some martial arts such as silat, qigong and tai chi, are used for longevity, disease prevention, and healing purposes, making them effective exercises for those with health conditions and for the elderly.

e. Some of the teachers also claim that martial arts can be used as spiritual practices, bringing balance of our physical and mental, peace, and wisdom to dedicated practitioners.

Origins of Martial Arts

Martial arts involve intellectual concepts as well as physical techniques, and have been influenced by many of the religious and philosophical systems of the East. The Taoist philosophy holds that the universe operates within laws of balance and harmony, and that people must live within the rhythms of nature. Martial arts cultivate these concepts of balance and adaptation to the natural flow of events. Buddhism is believed to have introduced breathing methods, meditation, and techniques of mental and spiritual awareness to the early founders of martial arts. Chinese Confucianism was concerned with ethical behavior in daily life, and martial arts often address these concerns. Some martial arts, such as tai chi and various kung fu methods, developed from qigong. Qigong, which means "energy cultivation," is a system designed to increase the flow of the body's qi, the universal life energy responsible for health and strength according to Chinese philosophy. Traditional Chinese medicine also incorporates concepts derived from martial arts to better the understanding of the body and health. Because therapeutic exercise is one of the major modalities of treatment in traditional Chinese medicine, some martial arts masters are also expert healers. There is, in fact, a subtype of qigong known as medical qigong in China, used to treat a wide range of diseases and disorders. Although most of the research in medical qigong has been conducted in China, some of this work has been translated into English. A video is now available that presents the basic concepts of medical qigong.

From China, martial arts spread to other Asian countries, and eventually arrived in Japan, where many new variations developed. Karate is the generic term for Japanese martial arts. Martial arts in Japan have been influenced by Zen Buddhism and by the samurai warrior tradition, which refined many weapons as well as methods of fighting. Some Japanese schools of instruction adopted the values of bushido, Japanese for "way of the warrior." This system insists on extreme physical and mental discipline, using martial arts as a means to spiritual enlightenment. Martial arts also flourished in Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand.

Martial arts were largely unknown to the Western world until after 1945, when a few American and British veterans of World War II brought back Japanese martial arts from occupied Japan. During the 1970s, there was a surge of interest in martial arts in America, due to several popular television shows and the charismatic Hong Kong’s actor Bruce Lee. With better communication and less secrecy among teachers, Chinese martial arts, including t'ai chi and qigong, have made their way to America. Today, there are martial arts schools all across America, and martial arts are a multi-billion dollar industry. Martial arts are a popular activity for self-defense, sport, exercise, spirituality, and health around the world. Nowadays forms of martial arts include Pencak Silat in Malaysia and Indonesia, Escrima in the Philippines, Karate in Okinawa, Aikido in Japan, Capoeira in Brazil and Kalarippayatt in Southern India.