Friday, March 09, 2007

pencak silat

I haven't worked on the Muslim Art of War series in a while so I thought I should share the following online video games.

Pencak Silat
Pencak Silat 2
Pencak Silat Defender

For those that don't know, Silat is a Southeast Asian martial art which is popular in Malaysia and Indonesia (and thus even though it seems to have pre-Islamic roots, a lot of Muslims practice it and bring an Islamic flavor to their understanding of the art.). Personally, I've learned whatever little I know about it from Naqshbandis I've met. I wouldn't claim that the movements in the video games are authentic but to me it is interesting that the games even exist.

3 comments:

bingregory said...

My children study pencak silat as an extra-curricular activity at their grade school. I'm jealous - I studied it very briefly in college in the states, for about six months, and loved it but I had to drop out for the usual lame reasons. The movements are very graceful and stand out from the more common martial arts.

Anonymous said...

We used to have regular "Cultural Coffee Hours" at our university; I remember watching a Silat presentation by the Malaysian Students Association. They performed, with traditional Silat costumes, in almost a dance-like manner.

Mohd Nadzrin Wahab said...

Assalamualaikum,

Your Muslim Art of War is an interesting project. I am working on something similar but as a manual of principles that could be translated into practical business, relationship, etc analogies. However, they are chiefly based upon 7 Petua (originally Fatwa, but means principles in Malay). Anyway, that in itself is a whole thesis.

Keep up the good work. If you want to know more about silat, especially Malaysian styles, do visit us at http://silatmelayu.com