Maphilindo Silat
Maphilindo Silat is essentially a counter-fighting style that incorporates empty-hand techniques along with the use of short or flexible weapons. Silat, which means "fighting" in Indonesian, is a purely combative street self defense system. It is NOT for sports or tournaments. Silat is famous for its brutal takedowns and throws and finishing moves. A key goal of the system is to manipulate and destroy a part, parts, or the whole of an opponent's body in a minimal period of time. In short Maphilindo Silat is a fighting art designed for survival.
Maphilindo Silat is the compilation of all of the various systems of Silat that Guro Dan Inosanto studied under masters from Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Hence the name - Ma - Malaysia, Phil -Philippines, Indo- Indonesia. He created this particular expression of the art to honor the innovations and unique strengths and insights of each of his instructors. Maphilindo Silat combines these Silat styles, using empty hand strikes, off balancing, kicks, punches, elbows, knees and nerve strikes.
Silat is a comprehensive martial art that can be traced all the way back to Alexander the Great. It’s ancestral art, called Silek, was first learned and proliferated through the island of Sumatra by members of Alexander’s forces. It was later disseminated by the ancestral Malayo-Polynesian people (ancestors of the Tahitians and Hawaiians) and has found common expression in many of the other arts that evolved among the populations that spread and flourished into modern day Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei and the Philippines.
Like Filipino Martial Arts, Maphilindo Silat is what we call a battlefield art. It is designed to engage and eliminate opponents aggressively and quickly, while maintaining the mobility and fluid movement necessary to move effectively from one opponent to the next on a battlefield. This style of fighting teaches you to take advantage of the full range of anatomical weapons, from teeth to toes, but it also contains a stunning array of unorthodox weapons and improvised weapons such as scarves and keys. The grappling tactics found in Maphilindo Silat are special in that they’re designed to be used while upright or kneeling. Imagine all the chokes and joint locks from Jiu Jitsu, but executed from untangled positions with a huge emphasis on maintaining mobility.
