Harimau Silat
Minangkabau tiger silat from West Sumatra: fighting from low stances and the ground, with the curved karambit knife.
Quick Facts
IndonesiaCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Harimau Silat
About Harimau Silat
Harimau silat, literally 'tiger silat', is a branch of Indonesian pencak silat originating from Minangkabau culture in West Sumatra. It belongs to silek, the Minangkabau form of silat, and is distinguished from other branches chiefly by its stance: it works from deep crouches and from positions close to the ground, from which sweeps, low kicks, and rapid transitions are launched. The hands also serve as support, so the fighter moves on all fours like the animal the style is named after; the movements are meant to imitate the technique and philosophy of the tiger. Tradition places the style's origin in the Pariangan area in the year 1119 and attributes it to Datuk Suri Dirajo, deriving it from a movement called the campa tiger, linked to immigrants from Champa and their method of fighting at close range. This is oral tradition rather than a documented fact, so the record presents it as such and leaves the fields for year and founder empty. The style's characteristic weapon is the karambit, a curved knife whose blade was, according to the same tradition, deliberately bent closer to the shape of a tiger's claw after its maker watched a tiger fight. Its techniques target the neck, face, and other vulnerable points, aiming to incapacitate an opponent as quickly as possible. Among today's known teachers of the style is Edwel Yusri Datuak Rajo Gampo Alam.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.