1.0 OUTLINE
Martial art: Silat and Taekwondo in Malaysian
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Taekwondo and silat are both martial arts. The term martial arts refer to all various systems of training for combat that have been arranged or systematized. Both are designed in order to physically defeat opponents and defend someone against threats. In Malaysia there are two martial arts that are famous and still being practiced: Silat and Taekwando. Both have similarities and differences in the aspects of ranks and promotion, organization and achievement, acceptance, and technique.
2.0. DISCUSSION Silat | Taekwondo | RANKS AND PROMOTION | SystemSystem of rank depends on the silat stream such as Silat Cekak, Silat Gayong, Silat Lincah and others. Promotion level Every silat exponents that has just started class will be given title 'Anak Gelanggang' or beginner title and wore a black belt. After that, they will go for Silat Coaching Course to be a silat guru or instructor. | SystemTaekwondo uses a belt ranking. It is divided up into 19 levels.Promotion levelThe junior section consists of ten ranks known as geup and their ranks will be identified by belts of various colors, depending on the school. The senior section known as dan are made up of nine ranks. Black belts begin at the first level till the last level of dan. | ORGANIZATION AND ACHIEVEMENT | IPSI (Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia), PESAKA (Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia), PERSISI (Persekutuan Silat Singapura), PERSIB (Persekutuan Silat Brunei) and PSF UK (Pencak Silat Federation of UK. | ITF (International Taekwondo Federation) and WTF (World Taekwondo Federation). | ACCEPTANCE | Countries involvedSilat usually known in Southeast Asian country especially Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapura and BruneiAcceptance in schoolThere are many silat such as Silat Cekak, Silat Gayung, Pencak Silat, Silat Sendeng, and Silat Lincah but not all are being practiced in school.Group of people that know about silatUsually Malays | Countries involvedUnlike silat, Taekwondo is accepted in most countries in the world especially in west Acceptance in SchoolMost school offer taekwondo classes.Taekwondo classes usually are not limited to secondary school but also in the primary school and pre-school.Group of people that know about TaekwondoMost of the people and not limited to certain race or culture. | FIGHTING TECHNIQUES | Empasis on self defenseThere are seven self defense moves that need to be mastered: punching, kicking, elbow, sweeping, catching, locking and counter attack.Silat use almost all parts of bodyAll seven self defense techniques are very powerful. Silat exponents are not allow to use all the techniques unless desperate. Weapons Use several martial arts weapons.The primary weapon of most Silat stream is the keris or dagger. Other weapons include the sword (pedang), broadsword (golok), axe (kapak), cleaver (parang), spear (lembing), truncheon (tjabang), fan (kipas), staff and the Chinese sword. | Empasis on attacking the enemy There are four techniques that need to be mastered: direct attack, indirect attack, counter attack and continuous attack. Use a lot of kicks ( 60 % legs ) and the rest are punching Taekwondo exponent will be taught to protect self from attacks that come from every angle and armed attackers. Weapons No weapons in taekwondo and simply empty handed. But a lot of Taekwopndo schools now include weapons in training. For example, tonfa, nunchakku, sai, kama, knives, bayonets, swords, and various firearms.
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2.0 COMPLETE ESSAY
Martial art: Silat and Taekwondo in Malaysian
Taekwondo and Silat are both martial arts. The term martial art refers to various systems of training for combat that have been arranged or systematized. Both are designed in order to physically defeat opponents and defend someone against threats. In Malaysia, there are two famous martial arts are still being practiced, which are Silat and Taekwando. Both have similarities and differences in the aspects of ranks and promotion, organization and achievement, acceptance, and technique.
The rank system in Silat depends on the Silat stream such as Silat Cekak, Silat Gayong, Silat Lincah and others. In the Silat Gayong curriculum, the syllabus is divided into seven levels. Each level consists of seven topics or disciplines then each level is divided into 3 elements, which are lower, medium and higher together with 5 coloured belts (each belt has their own name and several ranks depend on the individual level achieved). Not much different from Silat, Taekwondo also uses the system of levels and belt ranking. There are 19 levels in taekwondo. 10 of the 19 are coloured belt ranks known as kups. The rest belong to the black belt level, known as dan. Coloured belt level begins at 10th kup (white belt), the lowest level, and works its way up to 1st kup (red belt black tag). Black belts begin with 1st dan, and works up to the ultimate attainment in taekwondo, the 9th dan (Grandmaster level). All trainee are separated into junior and senior section to learn and pass the syllabus of Taekwondo belt levels.
For level promotion, it is different in every Silat stream. Usually every beginner that has just started Silat class will be given the name 'Anak Gelanggang' and wore a black belt. In every Silat, trainee who has completed the syllabus and pass the test will receive a title ‘Pendekar’. On the other hand, the promotion level in Taekwondo start from junior level which consists of ten ranks known as geup and their ranks will be identified by belts of various colours, depending on the school. Trainee will begin at the tenth geup (often indicated by a white belt) to the first geup (often indicated by a red belt with a black stripe).
After the junior level, trainee will go for a Silat Coaching Course to be a Silat “guru” or instructor. In this division, their rank and belts colours are based on the level of their achievement as a Silat instructor. The time to pass every level is different depending on the individual strength besides its different in every Silat stream. In Taekwondo, the senior section known as dan are made up of nine ranks. Black belts begin at the first level until the last level. In order to succeed from one rank to the next, students must complete and pass the promotion tests in which they demonstrate their proficiency in the various aspects of art, then they will be evaluated by judges or their instructor.
In countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei where silat have been practiced, there is one national federation that promotes the development of genuine Silat and it has been approved by PESILAT ( the official Silat organization ). In UK, Pencak Silat Federation (PSF UK) is the only national organization that has been approved by PESILAT. On the other hand, more organizations manage and coordinate the development of Taekwondo. Both ITF (International Taekwondo Federation) and WTF (World Taekwondo Federation) are the two biggest and the popular organizations of Taekwondo in the world. However, both of them have different functions. The ITF is an independent organization that is responsible to create the curriculum for teaching and promoting students. WTF is not an instructional institution for taekwondo and does not teach a curriculum but they promote any ranks of taekwondo through competition. Both Silat and Taekwondo have held competitions. The major international competition for Silat is Pencak Silat World Championship, organizes by PESILAT. More than 30 national teams competed in the latest tournament in Jakarta from 12th to 17th December 2010. In Indonesia SEA Games in 2011, Malaysian won three golds, one silver and 7 bronze medals. However, Taekwondo receives more publicity especially since its introduction as an Olympic sport. The styles and rules being used in the Olympic version of Taekwondo is according from WTF. The differences about the acceptance of both martial arts are apparent especially in the countries involved. Silat is a Southeast Asian martial art that has roots in the culture of the Malay world. This martial art is well known in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapura and also reached Europe. For example, Silat is well known in the Netherlands. However, Silat’s acceptance among the west countries still limited to certain places only. This is due to Silat characteristics that have traditional elements that represent the Malay world which not suit to everyone to accept and practice.
On the other hand, Taekwando is more acceptable among people from all over the countries. Taekwando is usually popular in the western countries and Korea. The high acceptance of Taekwondo among most countries who empahasizde and qualified Taekwondo as one of the sports game in summer Olympic. This might be because Taekwondo itself is not related to any spiritual practice so it attracts people to learn it. The people acceptance of Silat and Taekwondo in schools are also different. Most schools offer students Taekwondo classes rather than Silat classes. As we can see, in Malaysia, Taekwondo and Silat classes are not limited to secondary schools but also for primary and pre-school students. However, not many schools offer Silat classes compared to Taekwondo. This shows that Taekwondo is more accepted among most schools in Malaysia. There might be some reasons that lead to this situation. Limited number of Silat coaches may be one of the reasons. There are not many people who have the qualification to teach Silat. Moreover, the perception from Malaysians about the practice of spiritual events also becomes the factor that influence people in chosing Silat. As we know, there are many types of Silat such as Silat Cekak, Silat Gayung, Silat Lincah, Silat Sendeng etc but not all of these Silats being taught in primary and secondary schools are suitable for all. Martial arts fighting techniques comes in many ways. The Silat fighting techniques emphasize on self defense moves. There are seven self defense moves that silat trainee need to master in order to be the best fighter: punching, kicking, elbow, sweeping, catching, locking and counter attack. All seven self defense techniques use all body parts and its very powerful and also can kill the attacker. All Silat trainee are not allowed to use any of these killing techniques unless they in desperate situations. Taekwondo fighting techniques emphasize on attacking the enemy. The most important techniques need to be mastered are direct attack, indirect attack, counter attack, and the continuous attack. All this four techniques use a lot our legs about ( 60 %) the rest is other parts of body and punching (40 %). Both silat and taekwondo techniques requires strong physical and mental condition, body flexibility, co-ordination, agility and reflexes.
Both martial arts Silat and Taekwondo also use several types of weapons. The primary weapon of most Silat is keris or dagger. Other weapons include the sword (pedang), broadsword (golok), axe (kapak), cleaver (parang), spear (lembing), truncheon (tjabang), fan (kipas), and the Chinese sword. In Taekwondo, one does not use weapon. Some experts also consider Taekwondo to be an "unarmed" martial art. However, since 1982, weapons such as nunchaku, bo, jo, sai, tonfa, tanto, katana, oar, yawara are used in training.
In conclusion, both of these martial arts have their own unique privileges. Both martial arts represent their traditional root and have become a symbolic art that represent the culture of their community. As younger generation, we should preserve this martial art so that our next generation will have the opportunity to learn about their traditional martial art.
3.0 REFERENCES
1. Grading Syllabus. http://www.inta.ie/taekwondo/syllabus.aspx [ 23 March 2012]
2. Master the Silat Martial Arts Form. Cikgu Nizam. http://ezinearticles.com/?Master-the-Silat - Martial- Arts-Form&id=4855649 [ 23 March 2012]
3. Pencak Silat Fedaration United Kingdom. http://www.pencakSilat .co.uk/pencakSilat .html [24 March 2012]
4. Peringkat Pelajaran. http://Silat gayong.org/pelajaran/peringkat-pelajaran [23 March 2012]
5. Salamakha A.Y. http://tkd.ucoz.co.uk/index/theoretic_section/0-109 [24 March 2012]
6. Taekwondo Belt System. http://www.taekwondo-network.com/tae-kwon-do-belt-system.html [23 March 2012]
7. My Martial Art School. http://mymartialartsschool.com/martial-arts-styles/Silat .html [17 March 2012]
