Silat Melayu

Silat Melayu literally meaning "Malay silat". The term was originally used in reference to the native silat of ethnic Malays in Indonesia but today it is more commonly used as a blanket term for the types of silat. Silat is created in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam. Silat Melayu is most often used to differentiate the Malaysian styles from Indonesian pencak silat..

Uniform for Silat Melayu:

• The tengkolok and tanjak are headkerchiefs with different ways of tying them depending on status and region.

• The baju Melayu, meaning "Malay clothes" is the male shirt but is also worn by female silat exponents.

• The samping is a waistcloth.

• The bengkung is a cloth belt or sash which secures the samping. Some schools colour the bengkung to signify rank, a practice adopted from the belt system of Japanese martial arts.

Uniform

Gelanggang

  The practice area for Silat Melayu is called gelanggang.They were traditionally located outdoors. The area would be enclosed by a fence made of bamboo and covered in coconut leaves to prevent outsiders from stealing secrets. Before training can begin, the gelanggang must be prepared either by the teachers or senior students. This starts by cutting some limes into water and then walking around the area while sprinkling the water onto the floor. The guru walks in a pattern starting from the centre to the front-right corner, and then across to the front-left corner. She/he then walks backwards past the centre into the rear-right corner, across to the rear-left corner, and finally ends back in the centre. The purpose of walking backwards is to show respect to the gelanggang.

Gelanggang