Guntings

Doble Baston/Espada y Daga

Abierta vs angle 1: left hand over right
Serrada vs angle 2: right hand over left
Abierta vs angle 3: left hand over right
Serrada vs angle 4: right hand over left
Abierta vs angle 5: left hand over right

The give back/counter allows for the switching of one hand over the other. We will expand on these in upcoming classes to explore options.

See you in class!

pak sao to kenjit

A quick video to recap techniques from yesterdays class. Thanks to Waqas for assisting and apologies for the audio/video quality and background noise, I'll use a better camera for the next one!

 

see you in class!

Silat Harimau Langkawi

Earlier this month I was fortunate enough to visit a place as beautiful as Langkawi, Malaysia.

I have an interest in the Far East and South East Asia for obvious reasons, and wanted to visit Malaysia for several years. Whilst there I met Pak Tam Din, a master of the Harimau style of Silat.

Harimau is Malay/Indonesian for Tiger and Silat Harimau is one of the oldest styles of Silat. It is practised all over the world and has been featured in films such Merantau and The Raid. Silat Harimau employs clawing and gauging techniques and covers stand up, close quarters and ground fighting as well as weaponry.

Pak Tam Din is currently 51 and has been training in Silat since the age of 9 and has had over 40 teachers in this time. He has several hundred students in Langkawi and makes regular trips to Brunei where he teaches the Sultan's brother.

We talked about Silat and martial arts and he was kind enough to demonstrate some basic defences, he also showed me some of the many bladed weapons he owns including a Japanese bayonet and a pair of Sais that have a scary number of knife dents in them from training at high intensity! (marks on your weapons are better than on your body!).

It was a great experience to meet such a talented and giving individual and made the whole trip that much more memorable. I don't have many pictures or videos to share as time was a limitation and after all, it wasn't a photo shoot but an introduction.

I loved the country and Malay culture and intend to go back at some point just to train with Pak Tam Din.

I would like to sincerely thank Pak Tam Din for his hospitality and kindness and again for the awesome club t-shirt he gave me as a gift, I will wear it with a smile every time.

Terimah Kasih!

Improvements

Empty Hands

Recently we've been dealing with the cross and the hook in our empty hands classes, individually and mid comination. We've used basic slips and parrys as well as techniques from Panantukan (Filipino Boxing).

Everything we do in class is being used in sparring, polishing up the fundamentals. More of the same to follow in the coming weeks with some trapping being introduced.

At the moment the main things to work on are head movement, maintaining a good base whilst applying circular and lateral footwork getting into position to hit without staying in front of the opponent.


Weaponry

In the stick classes we are focusing on the main angles of attack and defenses against them as well as improving our strikes and combinations. We spar regularly and will be building on flow drills in the following weeks.

Working the main strikes from the Cinqo Teros drills we've been doing at the start of each class is a great way to improve your strikes and stick control. Remember to use your core and hips, the movement is just like a cross and hook for a lot of strikes. Remember to stay tight especially on the angle 2 strike, don't flail or extend your arms out too far, the further your hand is from your core the weaker it is and as I like to say... It is the hand that controls the stick.


See you in class!