# Sikal?



## Ravensign (Jul 8, 2002)

I am thinking of starting Sikal.

I have a friend who is a MA vet taking it and really loving it, and it fits my schedule, price, location, and from what I have seen of it I like it.

I don't see a lot of people talking about it here.

I hear about Arnis (kali?) and a little silat, but not much about the Sikal hybrid

Any insights?


----------



## Rich Parsons (Jul 8, 2002)

What is Sikal?

What is the history?

Very Curious.

Thanks

Rich


----------



## Cthulhu (Jul 8, 2002)

I've heard of silak, but not sikal.

Cthulhu


----------



## arnisador (Jul 9, 2002)

Here's a few links:
http://www.joerlansdale.com/shenchuan/instruct/Mike.htm
http://www.guild-hall.com/afa/pageout.php3?page=sikal_program.htm


----------



## Ravensign (Jul 9, 2002)

That second link for Asian Fighting Arts is where I will be starting next week.

Sikal is basically (the way I understand it) formailized combination of Silat and Kali.

You basically are learning Kali and Salit simultaneously.


----------



## Samurai (Jul 19, 2002)

I have had contact with Mike Casto (a certified instructor in Sikal).  I have attended 3 or 4 training sessions with him and his stuff is AWESOME.

He trained in Dayton at the Asian Martial Arts Academy under Guru Ken Pannell.  I will tell Mike of this thread and ask him to post a reply with a detailed description of the art.

I can say that you will LOVE it.

--Jeremy Bays


----------



## Stickfighter72 (Jul 20, 2002)

Raven Sighn, 

Hi my name is Cory, I can shed some light in on the SIKAL Hybrid Blend of Filipino Kali and Indonesian Pentjak Silat.

However I have not formally trained in the actual Hybrid System of wich he Asian Fighting Arts group trains.  However I am a good friend of Guru Mike Casto who is one of Guru Ken Pannell's Instructors/Students in this system.  I have been introduced to this and I have to say it is a great martial arts system that you will get a great insight and an spectacular array of martial arts.

They take the highest form of the Filipino martial arts of Kali whether its the Dekiti Tirsia, Pekiti Tirsia, Inosanto Blend, eskrido,Eskrima and blend it well together.  As well as the Silat Serak and Mande Muda and some other Silat systems as well and add them together to create a hybrid martial arts system.

All I can say is you'll be pleased and if you have not experienced Guru Mike Casto, or Guru Ken Pannell or anyone else from the AFA group you wont be sorry.   Very 1st class material.

For more info you can contact Guru Mike or Guru Ken thru their website wich has already been brought forth.
www.asianfightingarts.com

I may or may not hit the nail on the head w/ everything that SIKAL stands for the only thing I can say is visit the school in Dayton Ohio if you can.

Thanks
Cory Ballinger
www.geocities.com/indianamartialarts


----------



## seekeroftruth (Aug 2, 2002)

I have had the luxury of training with Guru Ken and Guru Mike, and I can say that their Sikal program is nothing less than top notch.  In Oct. I am going to be driving 2 hours each way once a month just to train with Guru Mike.  I wouldn't go that far unless I really saw merit in the system.  But then again, who am I?  Just my 2 cents.


----------



## arnisador (Aug 24, 2002)

How is this going, *Ravensign*?


----------



## pesilat (Feb 19, 2003)

Wow. I just stumbled across this thread 

I'm the Guru Mike Casto that they're talking about.

Well, Sikal is, as has been mentioned, a hybrid of elements from various systems of Kali and Silat. Guru Ken has been training in Kali since 1979 and Silat since 1984. I'm not sure when he started teaching the Sikal blend, but I believe it was around 1990. I started with him in 1995.

The core of Sikal is drawn from (on the Filipino side) Lacoste/Inosanto blend, Balintawak Cuentada, and Doce Pares (both traditional and GM Cacoy's Eskrido variant). To a lesser degree, it also draws from some other Filipino arts.

On the Silat side, the core is drawn from Serak and Mande Muda, and some from Kun Tao Silat de Thouars.

Guru Ken has trained with Dan Inosanto, Diony Canete (Doce Pares Eskrima), Cacoy Canete (Doce Pares Eskrima/Eskrido), Bobby Taboada (Balintawak Cuentada), Nene Tortal (Dekiti Tirsia Siradis), and others, but these have been some of his primary influences. In Silat, he trained with Dan Inosanto, Paul, Victor, and Willem de Thouars, and Herman Suwanda.

He's also had some training with a host of other Kali and Silat instructors, but the ones listed above are his primary influences.

He's currently training in Sayoc Kali with Tuhon Chris Sayoc.

Guru Ken is an excellent martial artist and instructor. He's also a really great guy and I am honored to have been his student and friend for the past 8 years.

As far as the origins of the word, "Sikal." Guru Ken got the term from Guro Dan Inosanto. Apparently, it was a term that Guro Dan used briefly to describe the blend of Kali and Silat that he was developing -- now called "Maphilindo Silat" or the "Majapahit System."

According to Guru Stevan Plinck, he thinks that Guro Dan may have originally gotten the term from him. Apparently, he was talking to Guro Dan about the system Dan was developing and Plinck said something to the effect of, "Silat and Kali, huh? Do you call it Sikal?" Apparently, Guru Plinck was half-joking but the name stuck -- at least to a certain point.

As to why you don't hear much about it ... as far as Guru Ken is aware, he's the only person who uses the term. There were other people training in it with Guro Dan, but they wound up calling their stuff Maphilindo or Majapahit. Guru Ken told me once that he thinks there were a few people who stuck with the "Sikal" name, but he's not sure if the others are teaching, if they're using the name Sikal, or if they're even still alive.

*NOTE:* Any mistakes in this post are mine and mine alone. I think it's pretty accurate, but I may have slipped somewhere.

If anyone is ever in the area of Dayton, Ohio, visit Guru Ken's school. He's always happy to have visitors.

If anyone is ever in the area of Louisville, Kentucky, let me know. I'm also always happy to have visitors.

Mike


----------

