Kali v. Silat

DanielM · White Belt

Hi,

I was wondering, what's the difference between Kali and Silat? Is there any significant one? Does Kali incorporate most of the Silat techniques, or techniques similar to Silat? Thanks!

:-)-: · Blue Belt

Kali is more of a boxing style, used in sport and for self defense. It is quick, energetic, and great to watch, with most of the attacks aimed at knocking the crap out of your opponent without mortally injuring them. Broken bones, busted up face, stuff like that, but no killing.

Silat, on the other hand, is made to kill, especially Pentjak Silat. Like Karate, it has been changed around in its modern form to be safer for practice, but to this day, 'village wrestling', it's traditional, deadly form, is still practiced. There's a lot more grappling than Kali, and you roll around a lot. The idea is to advance upon your opponent in slow circles. It's based on the same principle as Chinese water torture, and will, given time, make your opponent dizzy tracking your movements. When you close in, you find an opening, usually a pressure point, and start throwing a barrage of strikes at the area. For example, if your enemy stumbles, you slide into his range, hook his leg, and began punching him in the ribs. You continue punching him in the ribs until:

a)he is dead
b)he attempts to defend that area, in which case you find another exposed region and began your attack

Kali is striking, Silat is wrestling. Kali is sport, Silat is lethal. Both are very diverse, and can be found in hundreds of forms, but share these basic characteristics.

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LeaF · Black Belt

Tobias_Reece · Brown Belt

There is a Penjak Silat club where I teach Kobudo. I've never seen any of these techniques, however, only basics done like karate.

Seems pretty diverse though - and I like diverese things (pretty much like my ex girlfriends)
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JerryLove · Black Belt

Part of a short dissertation I started a while back:

There is a tremendous amount of variety in Indonesian fighting methods. They range from sports styles, to purely combative styles, to a style designed for a ritualistic challenge of a bridegroom for the bride. So I will talk in generalities.

The Pentjak Silat styles are the indigenous styles which include cultural elements. Here is where you will find the wedding styles, the dance styles, and many of the sport styles. There are also quite a few fighting styles in here. The Pentjaks tend to prefer outside over inside fighting positions. They tend to go from open defensive postures to closed offensive postures. They will occasionally have mystical elements.

The Poukilan Silat styles tend to be pure fighting styles without cultural elements. They tend to be direct and to the point. They tend towards close fighting (Poukilan means "impact"). They also tend to prefer outside positions.

The Kuntao Silat styles are conglomerates of Indo and Chinese fighting methods. They tend more towards closed defensive postures that open to attack. They also tend more toward inside positions when fighting, preferring the availability of soft targets to the safety of outside positions.

The Silats do have animal styles (Harimau (tiger) and Madi (monkey) being two of the better known). They have few if any unarmed styles. They tend to adapt rapidly. There is a tendency to throw out whatever becomes obsolete and add whatever becomes relevant. This is why most modern Silat schools to teach firearm retention and counter-firearm strategies, as well as more traditional weapons (knife, stick, spear).

One noted difference between the Indo arts and the nearby Chinese arts is the tendency of the Indo arts to use already strong structures within the body (as opposed to the Chinese tradition of conditioning the body). This allowed the old, the young, the sick, and the wounded to effectively use these arts.

Kensai · Black Belt

Silat, is a really devastating style.

I have read about it in Martial Arts Illistrated.

I have lots of respect for it.

What weapons does it include?

Take Care.

JerryLove · Black Belt

Silat is a blanket term covering over a thousand styles of Indonesian combatives.

Most weapons one can reasonably imagine are in one Silat style or another. Personally, I focus on the handgun and knife; with more than a little interest in improvised and flexable weapons.
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matt · White Belt

my master, philip gelinas, is a master of many styles including kali and 2 types of silat ( maphilindo and pentjat)
kali is more of a weapons based art, and silat is all unarmed that is the major difference

magikchiongson · Yellow Belt

Kali is a Western Term, we have no meaning for it in the Philippines. What is referred to as Kali, does however cross paths with Silat several times.

Its funny though, a lot of Eskrimadors, and Kali practioners like to were this Muslim Motif like the Muslim Filipino Silat practioners in the Southern Islands eventhough this type of stick fighting basically became famous in the Christianized parts of the Country.

But I seriously suggest you incorporate the Kali flow drills if you are practicing Silat or Kuntao. Kali probably has the best flow drills I've ever seen which makes your Kuntao Silat sharper.

Nothing like learning rythym through parrying rapid strikes from the rattan sticks.

But I really get a chuckle at my own countrymen, what happened was Westerners would go over there to learn "Kali" when they asked the Arnistadors or Eskrimadors if they knew Kali of course they answered no. When they started losing tuition, they simply lied, told them they knew Kali and then proceded to teach them their personal style of fighting.
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Martial_Artist · Pre-Black Belt

Magik,

Now that's funny, but very acurate. "Kali" isn't a term widely known in the Philippines. Arnis is though. What I think is funny is the amount of westerners who go down to the Visayan Islands or even travel Luzon and then to Mindanao looking for "Kali" Masters to teach them. It's funny, ask for Kali schools in Manila you won't find many people who know what you're talking about. Even if you mention Arnis or eskrima you'll have a hard time finding anyone who knows about a school. They aren't that popularly advertised. What you do find is a "combat aikido" school in Quiapo, or a Muay Thai school in Cubao. A TKD school in Sampaloc, or a martial arts school in Makati, and a women's self-defense in Makati. (these are all just Metro Manila places) Travel to Cebu or Davao or Cagayan de Oro and you'll have just the same time.

Westerners have really made Filipino martial arts identifiable. That is, not too many filipinos even know about them in detail. More westerners know more about filipino martial arts than the filipinos do.

Nakakatawa talaga ang ugali ng dayuhan, 'no? Kita nila ang gawa ng pinoy at kinakainggitan nila. Nasa Jakarta ka ngayon, pero taga-pilipinas ka ba? Sabi mo, wala tayong kahulugan sa salitang "kali" sa pinas.

MA.
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