Silat Cekak
Malay silat from Kedah, made public in 1965 by Ustaz Hanafi: short distance, no dance forms, and no competition.
Quick Facts
MalaysiaCharacter & Origin
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.
About Silat Cekak
Silat cekak is a Malay silat style from the state of Kedah, whose current form is tied to the name of Ustaz Haji Hanafi bin Haji Ahmad (1923, Kampung Sungai Baru, Kedah - 13 August 1986). Hanafi learned the style from Yahya Said, who had himself received it from Panglima Tok Rashid on condition that the art be returned to any descendant from Kedah who asked for it; Hanafi cites precisely this obligation as the reason he opened the style to the public. The decisive moment is considered to be the night of 28 December 1965, when, in a house in Alor Setar, he tested the first twenty students. The word cekak refers to short distance and directness: the style does not use bunga, the ornamental dance sequences with which other silat schools present themselves, but instead an economical guard and an immediate response at chest distance. Hanafi also pushed for Malay martial art to be freed of its superstitious and magical layer and taught as an academic discipline with a verifiable progression. His work gave rise to the organisation Persatuan Seni Silat Cekak Malaysia, which acquired its own building in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, on 21 February 1985; after the founder's death the movement split into several branches, among them Silat Cekak Pusaka Hanafi. The style remains strong at Malaysian universities today and is one of the most organised forms of silat in the country.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.