Silat Melayu (Malay Silat)
سيلت ملايوUmbrella term for Malay silat, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2019. It covers over 150 styles, not a single school.
Quick Facts
MalaysiaCharacter & Origin
Training
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 Silat Melayu (Malay Silat)
About Silat Melayu (Malay Silat)
Silat Melayu, or Malay silat, is not one school but an umbrella term. The Malaysian inventory of intangible heritage (JWN) describes it as a martial art of self-defence and survival that comes from the Malay archipelago and reaches back to the earliest days of the kingdom of Langkasuka in the second century AD. UNESCO states that Malaysia alone has over 150 known styles of silat.
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The JWN inventory places silat in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, the southern Philippines and southern Thailand. In Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei it is called silat, while the Malay community on Java speaks rather of a martial art and, with the rise of nationalism, of pencak silat Indonesia. Green (2001) states that on the Malay Peninsula the art called silat in Indonesia falls under the name bersilat, which can be translated as ber (to do) and silat (to fight). According to him, a close relationship between bersilat and Indonesian silat has existed since at least the fifteenth century. According to JWN, the movements divide into two methods. Kaedah buah is a movement motif practised for use in combat, arranged from top to bottom. Kaedah bunga, meaning flower, are movements from bottom to top, usable in performances, such as at weddings and ceremonial openings, but also in combat. JWN names the weapons: keris, badik, kerambit, parang, pedang, parang lading, tumbuk lada, tekpi, tongkat, tembong and sundang. In 2019 silat was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (item 01504, Malaysia).
History
The JWN inventory places the beginnings of silat in the days of the kingdom of Langkasuka (second century) and traces it to the period of the Melaka sultanate. The document dates the Melaka sultanate to the thirteenth century on p. 2 and to the fifteenth on p. 10, so the source contradicts itself. Green (2001) writes that bersilat enters written accounts around the fourteenth century, and according to him the art was exported to the Melaka court. The inventory also claims that finds at Borobudur and Prambanan on Java prove the existence of martial arts in the archipelago in the eighth century, that silat began in the Riau Islands and later developed in Minangkabau on Sumatra, and that Srivijaya used it between the seventh and fourteenth centuries.
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According to the inventory, Admiral Hang Tuah learned silat from Adi Putera on Mount Ledang and from Sang Persanta Nala on Java. Green mentions a tradition that Hang Tuah came from Minangkabau to Malacca in the late fourteenth century and brought both the keris and silat. It is a tradition, not documented history. According to Malay-language Wikipedia, the Hikayat Hang Tuah does not use the word silat, speaking instead of ilmu perang and ilmu hulubalang. Green also records a legend of a woman named Bersilat, who learned the art in her dreams. During the occupation of Malaya, silat was, according to JWN, driven out of the palaces, practised in secret in remote places, and after independence it began to be practised openly. The Martial Arts Organisations Act of 1976 (Act 170) established a council overseeing martial arts and the registration of organisations, and its first schedule lists all kinds of silat among the Malay martial arts.
How it differs
Green (2001) distinguishes two forms of modern bersilat: silat pulut, a dance performance that possibly comes from kuntao, and silat buah, the combat form, which is not shown in public and was probably influenced by Minangkabau pencak silat. According to Malay-language Wikipedia, the two most widespread national styles in Brunei are Silat Cakak Asli and Silat Kuntau. While in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei it is called silat, the Malay community on Java, according to JWN, usually calls this art a martial art and, with nationalism, pencak silat Indonesia.
Technique
JWN divides the movement motifs of silat into two methods. Kaedah buah is a motif practised for use in a combat situation, arranged from top to bottom. Kaedah bunga are movements from bottom to top like an opening flower, used in theatrical and dance performances, such as at weddings and ceremonial openings. According to the inventory, bunga can also be performed in real combat because it imitates tactics and ruses. Green (2001) writes of Malay bersilat that it uses strikes with the hands and feet, throws and locks, attacks on vulnerable points, and a wide range of traditional Malay and Indonesian weapons are taught. From the Malay text of the inventory it follows that the old Malay weapons that the pesilat often uses are the keris, badik, kerambit, parang, pedang, parang lading, tumbuk lada, tekpi, tongkat, tembong and sundang. UNESCO adds that silat styles are inspired by the movements of the human body, nature and animals, and gives Silat Harimau as an example.
Training
According to JWN, silat methods are structured, named by the founders of styles and arranged into lesson levels. Students are tested and distinguished by the level of progress reached, until the material is fully mastered before completion. UNESCO describes training as usually taking place in the evening or at night in an open space, for example a yard, led by a master and a jurukaka.
Ranks and progression
JWN gives a general model with four skill levels: beginner, intermediate level, trainer (jurukaka) and top-level warrior (pendekar). According to the inventory, a jurukaka is a senior student who has mastered part of the master's knowledge and can often stand in for him in teaching others. It is a general model, not a single school's system.
Today
According to JWN, in Malaysia there are 548 associations in fourteen states actively practising silat, generally covered by two main organisations: Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia (PESAKA) and Dunia Seni Silat Melayu (DSSM). PESAKA deals with silat as a sports activity while preserving the art and representation, DSSM has a cultural and recreational focus. In 2019 silat was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at the fourteenth session of the committee. According to NST of 13 December 2019, the session was held in Bogotá and the nomination was submitted on 30 March of the previous year. UNESCO states that silat has gone beyond the status of a martial art and become a performed art and a popular sport for health and leisure. Green, writing in 2001, says that according to most sources silat buah has almost disappeared in favour of silat pulut and that modern bersilat stresses physical exercise, performance and sport. This statement is not current.
Did you know
According to Malay-language Wikipedia, in Brunei silat is traditionally accompanied by a gulintangan orchestra of drums (gandang labik) and eight gongs. Malay-language Wikipedia also states that four associations founded the Majlis Silat Negara, later PESAKA, in 1978: Seni Gayung Fatani Malaysia, Silat Seni Gayung Malaysia, Seni Silat Cekak Malaysia and Seni Silat Lincah Malaysia. We have not confirmed the year 1978 in sources of higher reliability.
Styles & Branches
Frequently asked questions
Is Silat Melayu one school?
No. It is an umbrella term. UNESCO states that Malaysia alone has over 150 known styles of silat, and the JWN inventory describes silat as a whole of the Malay archipelago.
When was silat inscribed on the UNESCO list?
In 2019, at the fourteenth session of the committee, on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, item 01504, Malaysia. According to NST, the session was held in Bogotá, Colombia.
What is the difference between buah and bunga?
According to JWN, kaedah buah is a movement motif practised for use in combat, arranged from top to bottom. Kaedah bunga are movements from bottom to top, used in performances such as weddings and ceremonial openings, but also in combat.
Who is the umbrella body for silat in Malaysia?
According to JWN, it is generally coordinated by two main organisations: PESAKA, focused on the sporting side of silat, and DSSM, focused on the cultural and recreational side.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.