Silat/ Kali question ?

T

Tengu Joker

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Dec 6, 2005
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What are the primary differences between Kali and Silat ? I've looked around the net ( there are no FMA schools where I live so I can't ask a instructor ) and aside from country of origin I only see similarities . . .
 
Kali seems to be able to utilize thier footwrok more in a realtime event. This is not meant to inflame. Only from what I and my instructor has seen to date.
 
I think people haven't really answered this due to the nature of the question...

There are literally hundreds of styles of Silat and quite a few styles of Kali.

They vary so much that It isn't really possible to answer the initial question.

In fact there is one school of thinking that views Kali and other types of FMA as a subset of Silat.
 
The biggest difference in the 2 styles I would say is that silat has retained the influence of Indian and Arabic Martial arts in its style and methods.You will see that many fighting positions look like the styles found in india or even yoga for that fact.You will also see some animal movements in the methods as well depending on the system you study.

Silat has jurus or forms practice and kali has drills rather than forms.

I may not be as sure on this one..but ...From what I have seen,Kali is more worried about weapons work over empty hands,though it is trained,not as often...and silat seems to be more well rounded in both departments as far as the amount of training time spent in both areas.

Just my opinion on this one.

Hope this helps.
 
Silat is Indonesian and it focuses exclusively on knives. The saying is that without the knife there is no Silat.

Kali (and its cousin Arnis) is Filipino and it integrates empty-hand, impact weapons, knives and longer edged weapons.

Many Kali and Arnis practitioners also study Silat to gain greater depth in their knife work because the two do integrate well.
 
Gollnick:

There are many, many styles of silat that contain empty hands training and other weapons besides knives...

It's just not correct to say that Silat focuses on the knife exclusively.
 
Cabbit said:
Gollnick:

There are many, many styles of silat that contain empty hands training and other weapons besides knives...

It's just not correct to say that Silat focuses on the knife exclusively.
Click to expand...

Maybe.

I don't claim to know all. My teacher says, "Without the knife there is no Silat."

I have not, myself, formally studied Silat.
 
Silat can be found in Indonesia and Southern Philippines which populated by muslim people.Kali/Escrima/Arnis can be found in central and northen part of Philippine islands and mostly practiced by christianized Filipinos. Both are honed blade arts (primarily and some empty hands) and were used to repel colonizers, pirates and raiders.
2 cents :)
 
Sorry for the intial confusion I should have stated silat and kali in general not any particular style ( mubai, kuntao, etc )vs style (sayoc for example).
 
Silat - take a look at the web search indonesia silat, singapore silat and malaysia silat. Also look at SIlat - the malay art of self defence a new book that came out this year. very good read
 
Silat they say, came from Indonesia through into Malaysia and then into the Filipines long ago. Influencing the fighting styles of the Filipinos as well as spreading Islam particularly in the South. All Silat systems I know of use knives and use them well. As well as Karambit. Most Silat systems I know of have Pole, stick and Sarong practice in them. Pre Silat as we now know it, it is said that settlers came from India and brought with them their own style fighting arts which influenced Silat.

Kali, Arnis, Escrima in many styles are the hybrid styles influenced earlier by Silat. Kali also acquired some Spanish fencing influence later on. Kali concentrates equally on Stick fighting and Knife fighting. Empty hand skills in Kali resemble Silat skills but with much less exaggerated movement as the more traditional "Animal" styles of Silat. The Empty hand skills of both Kali and Silat are often relative to knife techniques. Kali has stick, hand, knife and pole techniques. Kali also has a sort of CQC simple kinda kick boxing and a sort of wrestling in the theory of Dumog.

However, there are many Family styles of Silat who have much less traditional and exaggerated Animal movements as well.

Kuntao or Kuntao Silat I believe are the Hybrids of Southern Chinese close quarters styles who came via trade to Indonesia, the Filipines and Malaysia. Chinese and say Indonesian Silat combined are what can make up a Kuntao Silat system.

Over time and with WW2 via occupation, etc the Japanese have also had influence on these countries introducing Jiu Jitsu, Judo and Karate into the mix.

Now you can find many Silat styles with familiar Japanese techniques and influences.

However, Silat is considered particularly Indo, Malay and Kali is particularly Filipino.
 
you seem to know a bit about this kind of stuff. I am clueless. My sister wants Kali sticks for christmas and i was just wondering if you knew where i could get some, how much I should pay, etc.
 
I generally buy them in bulk at caning supply shops (the kind that sell rattan to people who make their own cane furniture). There are two listed on this URL:

http://northshoreac.com/san_miguel_eskrima/training_resources.htm

Look about halfway down under "Training Resources for Filipino Marital Artists."

7/8" is a good diameter for training. You can buy them in 36" lengths and then cut them down and sand the ends once you know what length she wants.

Best,

Steve Lamade
 
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