Silat Kalam: Islamic Martial Arts

[Bill Mattocks]

Interesting read:

http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/06/19/silat-kalam-islamic-martial-art/

Silat Kalam: Islamic Martial Art

by Antonio Graceffo

June 19, 2010

A Malaysian Art Tied Closely to the Religion of Islam
...
After a brief warm-up and stretching, the students start into the buah, or choreographed sets of movements. Silat Kalam has 28 buah.

Silat Kalam is essentially a grappling art. Because the art is strictly for defense, each of the buah, or series of movements, begins with an opponent attacking you. You block, using one of four basic blocks, and then throw and lock the opponent. The locks put the opponent on theground , tied up like a pretzel. At the least, the opponent is subdued. But a slight twist or variation in the throw or lock could severely cripple or even kill the opponent.

Unlike submissions in other arts, the locks in Silat Kalam are completely impossible to break out of.
...
I was the first non-Muslim to ever be permitted to study Silat Kalam. It was a great honor and also an incredible cultural experience. Each day, I met the Guru for training and also for lessons about the religion. He never asked me to convert, only to learn.

He told me, “We are all children of Adam, children of God. God made us all different, so we can learn from each other and love one another. He does not want us to fight or quarrel among ourselves. If you were a father, would you want your children to kill one another?”

When I reminded him that I am Catholic, not Muslim, he said. “When I teach you, I only talk about God. When we talk about God, everyone is happy. It is only when we talk about religion that people get angry.”
...
“The movement of Kalam is art,” says the Guru. “You will never attack anyone. Practicing Kalam softens your kindness toward human beings. There is no more quarrel. And that is how God teaches us to be all of the time. So, Silat Kalam takes the position to teach people to know each other, love each other, and to learn self-defense.”

Guru believes that we should never hate another person for his actions because people are basically good.

“Our enemy is not people, our enemy is Satan. Satan always wants to attack us, kill us, and make us fight each other. So, we must live peacefully. And when we have self-defense, no one can attack us, nobody can harm us, and we will always be a friend to everybody.”

 

[elder999]

Good find, Bill-thanks.

When I reminded him that I am Catholic, not Muslim, he said. “When I teach you, I only talk about God. When we talk about God, everyone is happy. It is only when we talk about religion that people get angry.”

QFFT :asian:

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Or, you can read it here on MT.
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88346

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

While the sentiments expressed by the guru were definitely a plus, I do take issue with this statement by the author: Unlike submissions in other arts, the locks in Silat Kalam are completely impossible to break out of.

Seems like an idiotic statement to me; sounds like it came right of a DVD add in Blackbeltmag. Then I saw who the author was and remembered this piece:

http://www.usadojo.com/articles/Antonio-Graceffo/tradition-effectiveness.htm

It is the only other piece that I have ever read by this man, and I read it a while back. I could not take the man seriously (not as a writer at least) after reading this.

Daniel

 

[mook jong man]

While the sentiments expressed by the guru were definitely a plus, I do take issue with this statement by the author: Unlike submissions in other arts, the locks in Silat Kalam are completely impossible to break out of.

Seems like an idiotic statement to me; sounds like it came right of a DVD add in Blackbeltmag. Then I saw who the author was and remembered this piece:

http://www.usadojo.com/articles/Antonio-Graceffo/tradition-effectiveness.htm

It is the only other piece that I have ever read by this man, and I read it a while back. I could not take the man seriously (not as a writer at least) after reading this.

Daniel

Yeah I don't rate him either , he just seems to think everything else is crap apart from what styles he has learned.
Which seems to be a very juvenile attitude to me .

 

[Makalakumu]

Well, if someone dials in a lock with all of the fundamentals intact, you aren't getting out of that.

People often have trouble waiting for the opponent to get their fundamentals in order, if you know what I'm saying...

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Well, if someone dials in a lock with all of the fundamentals intact, you aren't getting out of that.

Now that's a different subject, and I believe that there is merit in what you say, however it was the preceding part the author's statement that I find problematic:

"Unlike submissions in other arts, the locks in Silat Kalam are completely impossible to break out of."

Then there is the fact that what I have seen of his work comes across as highly embellished.

Daniel

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Yeah I don't rate him either , he just seems to think everything else is crap apart from what styles he has learned.
Which seems to be a very juvenile attitude to me .

Does this guy have any documented credentials, such as a fight record? I had never heard of him until someone linked that usadojo article on another site.

Daniel

 

[mook jong man]

Does this guy have any documented credentials, such as a fight record? I had never heard of him until someone linked that usadojo article on another site.

Daniel

Don't know much about him really except from reading his articles that have been on MT.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I can only assume that he doesn't; I checked out his myspace http://www.myspace.com/antoniobrooklynmonk and there was no mention of any professional fighting. If he had a professional fight record, I'd imagine that it would be featured pretty prominently. No wiki on the guy either.

Looks like he travels around and writes a lot and supposedly has been in kung fu movies, though I have no clue which ones. He certainly seems to have achieved his dream of living a life of adventure and of being a writer, and I respect that greatly. But I was unimpressed with the tenor of his writing. To be fair, I've only read the two articles, so maybe others are different, but he left little room for guessing in that usadojo article about TMA. The attitude seems very out of place for someone billing themselves as a monk.

Note: Certainly no available or documented fight record does not by any means mean that he cannot fight. Unfortunately, his arguements seem supported entirely though anecdotes, which in the one article, seemed highly improbable, particularly the TKD in Korea one.

Also, he may have a verifiable record; I simply have not been able to find anything about it. His bio in USA Dojo states that he has competed in "martial arts and boxing," but nothing more.

None of that has anything to do with the content of the article in the OP, which I will say I found to be positive. Lots of good food for positive thought.

Daniel