SYNTHESIS

Silat is actually a catch-all word for Southeast Asian martial arts. There are hundreds of
styles across Indonesia, and they can be very different from each other. I learned a bit of
Silat during my childhood and I learned a bit of Karate in university.

The big difference that I noticed is that Silat put a lot of emphasis on the defense and
anticipating your opponent's move. This anticipation is manifested in various stances and
steps that must be practiced for hours. Watching a Silat show fight is almost like watching
chess game where the fighter put on different stances and steps to anticipate their
opponent's move. Once one of them begin the attack the end is usually swift because the
person with the right stance will be able to give the right "answer" to his opponent's moves.

Karate to me is more agressive. More emphasis is given to speed and power. In Karate there
is plenty of training on setting up good stance for a fight, too, but not as elaborate as Silat.

The Silat coreography shown in the Raid:Redemption is actually much more agressive than
the sport or show Silat. I remember in an interview Evans had to tell Iko Uwais and Yayan
Ruhian to show more ruthless moves because he thinks they are "too gentle".

Any martial art is potentially effective. Everything depends on your athleticism, size, and the
way and how often you practice. The size and the skill of your opponent are probably even
more important. If your martial arts training includes sparring at every session, then you'll
have a high percentage of successfully defending yourself on the streets.

There are literally hundreds of styles of Silat with cimande being one of the most popular.
You can also add something of your own style to the silat that you learn. Like other martial
arts such as kung Fu and Karate forms or katas are used. What makes Silat effective is that it
can be used very close to your enemy and the moves are not really designed for
competition - they are designed to save your life or your loved one’s lives.

However, there are Silat competitions but the moves are very watered down because they
are so dangerous. Silat uses a lot of elbows, ear claps, fingers or thumbs in the eyes,
hammer fists to the neck, getting behind your enemy and manipulating their balance with
their head.

I think you can probably get the idea by now. Also, unlike the way many martial arts are
taught in an unrealistic fashion which can make the student think they are not going to get
hurt during a crisis situation the Silat trainer may help the student come to accept pain and
that they will get hurt so it does not become too greater shock when reality strikes.
A whole class of martial arts, an umbrella term like “Kung fu” is. Of the many styles of Silat,
surely some are more effective than others. Like Aikido, the combat experience the art is
built upon determines the effectiveness of its applications, meaning if you’ve never been in
a fight and only ever do choreographed movements in classes then you probably won’t be
able to use what you learn in a fight. If you know how to handle yourself in a fight, then
using Silat effectively becomes a possibility.

Silat’s many styles include many techniques you may be familiar Familiar kicks, throws,
punchingand even submission techniques can be seen. So obviously, Silat contains
techniques which can be made useful. Whether that makes it an effective martial art is
perhaps another question.

Being skilled in one martial art (especially if that style focuses on fighting as some sort of
theoretic and stylised art form) does not guarantee success in combat sports or real
fighting, as each martial art, sport and situation have specific techniques, strategies, and
rules.

In short - if you don't fight you are not a fighter and you will not be able to defend against
anything that a fighter does to you. There is no style that can save you from the actual
reality of violence.

The better trained and more practiced martial artist is usually going to win especially if he
has the proper mindset. Training, experience and the will to fight and win are what are
important much more than what martial art the fighter uses.

It’s been used for war for centuries in Southeast Asia. Silat is a wide system of combat
techniques that also involve grappling, the use of pressure and vital points in the body, as
does Karate, Kung fu, and other vague wide terms for martial art systems. The now
popular/famous Karambit knife design is originated in Silat techniques. In fact one who is
proficient with these techniques, the Silat Karambit combat system, can block an opponent’s
attack with a sword or short blade without a drop of sweat, and can inflict wounds that will
kill an enemy in seconds.

There are literally hundreds of styles of Silat with cimande being one of the most popular.
You can also add something of your own style to the silat that you learn. Like other martial
arts such as kung Fu and Karate forms or katas are used. What makes Silat effective is that it
can be used very close to your enemy and the moves are not really designed for
competition - they are designed to save your life or your loved one’s lives.
However, there are Silat competitions but the moves are very watered down because they
are so dangerous. Silat uses a lot of elbows, ear claps, fingers or thumbs in the eyes,
hammer fists to the neck, getting behind your enemy and manipulating their balance with
their head.
I think you can probably get the idea by now. Also, unlike the way many martial arts are
taught in an unrealistic fashion which can make the student think they are not going to get
hurt during a crisis situation the Silat trainer may help the student come to accept pain and
that they will get hurt so it does not become too greater shock when reality strikes. Boxing
draws a parallel in this way.