Silat is generally called ‘the Malay art of self defense’, but it isn’t unique to the Peninsula and the moves resemble t’ai chi. The term silat to denote a performance that begins with a martial arts display and ends with an exciting fight between a pair, or pairs, of protagonists. After a display of the slow sparring movements with artful stylistic embellishments.
A Kelantan silat performance is accompanied by a small ensemble of long drums, Indian oboes and gongs which generate a loose set of cross rhythms.
Two Malay men in baggy dark costumes, topped by a draped head-cloth, face each other in the sandpit where this dance-exercise is usually held, though for weddings and other entertainment it can be performed on a mat indoors. The initial passes are dignified, almost slow, but as the music intensifies, the flowing movement change, the combatants grip each other and the first to throw his opponent to the ground is the winner.
The music rises to a crescendo as the silat intensifies, the serunai screeching atonally while the drums and gongs quicken their loose rhythms.
The main contributor to Silat’s characteristic as a warrior’s dance is the bunga. Bunga is not just the name of the basic element in Malay Silat, but is also a performance genre that occurs in Malay wedding ceremonies and is usually performed without weapons and is accompanied by the Gendang Silat musicians.
Silat Dance
