An Oldie but Goodie... D.I. SILAT TIP 16 - "Learn To Train in Any Terrain, In Any Clothing

An Oldie but Goodie...


D.I. SILAT TIP 16 - "Learn To Train in Any Terrain, In Any Clothing

The Dobles Institute News
January 2008, V2

SILAT TIP 16 - "Learn To Train in Any Terrain, In Any Clothing

SILAT TIP
Learn to train in any terrain, and in any clothing. A lot of people at
one point have been spoiled by their sweat pants and comfortable
t-shirts, uniforms, or Gis or Muay Thai shorts and their Dojo pads,
and mats and flat leveled padded floors.

I hate to break it to you, but when you need to use your art, you wont
be wearing a gi or muay thai shorts or a kung fu suit that allows you
to "stretch" and land your high kicks or twist and turn with ease. You
will most likely be in normal civilian clothing or business attire. Or
you may be caught off guard in your PJ's.

So what do you do?

Train every day in whatever clothes you wear on a daily basis.

When I train Silat I train in cargo shorts or pants a t shirt and
sandals cause that is what i wear daily sunny in Florida. But every
once in a while I put on some nice dress shoes and nice clothes at
home and move around to see what I can actually do and not do.

When you do real bodyguard work as my teacher, myself and my students
have done you learn quickly that the client wants you in a suit and
tie. So you have to learn to move and fight in such clothing as well.

What you learn real fast is that you have to move with efficiency and
that most of the movement range you have is for Close Quarter Combat
anyways.

High Kicks are absolutely out of the question not to mention stupid in
a real fight. If you like kicking (which I do a lot), Kick low attack
knees, feet, calf muscles, kick inner thigh, groin, but do not strive
to kick any higher than the groin in real street combat. Ma ybe at the
most a foot jab to the lower Dant tien or alarm points near groin.

Believe me it can be a liability for your self, your client and your
pants to kick high!

Go outside and make the Earth and wherever you live your dojo. Train
on the concrete, grass, in between 2 parked cars (Careful you do not
scratch the cars!!!!).

Practice take downs slow on concrete and grass till you build up body
conditioning and also break falling so that you can fall from anywhere
on any surface and it will not hurt you. If you train slow and build
up to it you will not get hurt.

My students trained for years on pavement and on grass now when they
fall they fall like cats on any surface and get right back up ready to
scrap. Indonesian break falling helps to train this as-well.

You will find that in the real world a lot of things we are told
become useless unless of course you have trained with someone who has
used what they know and has used the information they have given you.

One thing I noticed working as a body guard is that Kick boxing, & BJJ
just simply will not fly in the night club when you have 2,000 people
and you are protecting a client and a fight breaks out. Its all about
CLOSE QUARTER COMBAT!

I remember being in a fight where there were many people fighting in a
concert; I was working security and I found myself surviving simple by
using my juru 1 & juru 5 elbows to cover and strike and to recover
another security guard (not a silat guy just a grappler) that decided
to use Grappling in such a fight.

He ended up getting kicked in the head and knocked out cold on the
ground while attempting to lock somebody up. I came out unscathed. I
do not think I would have survived such a conflict or been able to
protect the other security and the main client had I been bouncing
around kick boxing style or trying to lock people up.

I remember Sifu Francis Fong telling me once that trapping becomes so
important in close quarter. He also said that the only thing that will
work in a hong kong street or train with a billion people everywhere
is close quarter fighting. I believe him.

Guru Cliff Stewart has proven to me many times that in the pinch what
will help you survive and will make you less likely to get hurt is to
have control over a few things and to know your Principles. A Silat
warrior looks for survival, and to protect those in need. It should
never be about ego based fighting.

Here are the things you need to know and study and fully understand.

1) Always maintain TARGET DENIAL. If possible deny yourself as a
target (if you can avoid fighting or leave the scene with out
abandoning a loved one or a client, do it. Do not let your ego get in
the way! There is nothing cowardly about survival.) If you have to
fight and defend yourself or protect someone than make sure you always
DENY THE ATTACKER A TARGET.

2) NEVER fight nose to nose.

3) Take the Balance or Consciousness immediately. Do not wait. A man
that has no balance or is not conscious has no strength and can not
fight. Weaken the attackers' mental attitude.

4) Always use the Guardian Hand System. Cover high and low and always
Control Center Line no matter what! Remember there is a center line
that is horizontal and one that is vertical.

5) Break the Vertical Plane.

6) Attack the alignment of body and spine.

7) Attack the base and roots. A Tree with no roots falls hard. A
building with no base topples over.

8) Displace the balance. Get him on the edge of his heels or toes or
up on one leg.

9) Understand the use of angles for shoulder position, take downs,
striking, targets selection.

10) Target Selection and method of application. You need to know where
to hit efficiently to cause the most pain or KO. Do not just hit
arbitrarily this is a waste of energy and time.

11) Use Continuous hitting. If the hand hits, the Elbow follows. If
the Elbow hits, the fist follows. For this you need to know at least
juru 1 or a Pukulan set. Remember that Cimande means running water or
flowing river. So hit like flowing white water rapids!

12) Use level change

13) Understand your bases. If the lower base moves upper base stays
the same, if the upper base moves lower base stays the same.

14) Understand how to transfer energy, when striking, using locks,
take downs, in defense against locks.

15) If there is a space, fill it by hitting or by closing the gap with
your body.

16) Whip like Bamboo and ricochet like bamboo.

17) Know how to Dissolve your center, Move your center and Fortify
Your center.

18) Learn to hit and generate power from any distance.

19) Understand how to BREATHE

20) Learn to distract and mesmerize your opponent. Also learn to
disrupt an opponents energy field. (Kembangan plays a major role in
developing this)

21) Learn to strike with your mind and to strike like lightning. In
Silat they call it "poison hand" strike or "Kilap", "Kilat", Taoist
call it "secret sword" technique. Dr. Morris was great at this, he
could knock you over using mind intent alone. Also Francis Fong is
very good at secret sword. Sifu Fong could pak sau you on the outside
of your arm and make the inside of your arm bruise! Can you do that?
Think of what a strike like that could do to an internal organ? Where
ever your mind and eyes are your energy will follow. Study in this!
Sometimes if in your mind you have seen the strike or have made the
hit or the take down before it actually happens in real time, the
opponent's bio-energy and subconscious mind registers as if it already
happened making it there fore easier for you to achieve it in real
time. The MIND is a very POWERFUL TOOL. USE IT! I will go into more
detail on how to use your mind in silat at a later time but use your
imagination and learn t o project your mind intent is KEY. The one who
spends time refining their mental energy and spirit will have the
upper hand.

22) Learn to be sticky when needed. Make any part of your body able to
be like adhesive at any moment in time when fighting. This becomes
crucial when dealing with a knife attack. You need to learn to stick
to the weapon hand with out getting cut until you can disarm or
neutralize the attack and opponent.

23) RELAX, RELAX , RELAX

24) Learn to direct your energy and focus to any point on your body or
outside of your body.

25) In terms of take downs you must know BASE, ANGLE, LEVERAGE (watch
video of Guru Cliff Stewart W.A.R, bukti negara sambuts by Pendekar
Paul deThouars, or Guru Stevan Plinck's Bukti Negara paladin press
video or his Serak Tapes.

26) When a weapon is in your hands you still use silat. The weapon is
only an extension of the hand which ultimately is only an extension of
your mind and energy.

27) As you get older strength and speed will have to be replaced by
proper timing and positioning.

28) If you feel his or her energy Yin you use Yang. If you feel his or
her energy Yang you use Yin.

29) Be the Bullfighter not the Bull.

30) If you feel your opponent retreating, penetrate and take over.

31) You can never punch or strike enough. Pukulan is a generous gift;
make sure you give a lot of it when needed!

32) Use soft to hit hard and hard to hit soft. In other words use your
palms to attack the hard bone surfaces of the opponent and fists to
attack fleshy regions. A slap can be extremely dangerous. Think about
it you have more surface area to hit with. A fist to the neck is far
more damaging than to the skull. If you hit Hard to soft/soft to hard
you reduce the risk of injuring your hands.

33) Master the arts of PERSONAL AWARENESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS,
EGO MANAGEMENT, FEAR MANAGEMENT, INSTINCT CONTROL

34) Learn to read body language this alone can indicate peace or a
threat.

35) Always use INDEXING when dealing with an attacker who has a
weapon.

36) Understand Polarity in combat. YIN & YANG can truly unlock many
secrets and make things much easier for you in real stressful
situations.

37) Understand the 5 major principles that will allow you to perform
any type of Lock or control.

38) Always train your ACTIVE VISUALIZATION do at least 5 min a day.
(Mental meditation of "what If ?" scenarios.) GO SLOW, BREATHE DEEP. I
think of this as a Mental Combative Kembangan.

39) Learn to heal yourself and others. You will need to take care of
wound if need be and to also deal with traumas caused by training and
potential traumas caused fighting. Knowing how to clear your and other
peoples chakras, and aura, can be a great asset and preventative tool
against illness, pain, fatigue, aging etc. Funny how all the old
warrior cultures of the old days had exact sciences on how to use
pressure points, massage therapy, acupuncture, herbs, plants, energy,
some form of hands on healing, mantra and breath to heal. And guess
what the ancients SAW BATTLES, AND WAR TIME AND SURVIVED. Yet in our
modern Dojos and gyms of today most people have zero knowledge of the
proper ways to heal somebody when they get injured or fall ill or
acquire major trauma. Do yo u know hot to restart someone's energy if
it has been shut down or they are passed out or about to die? If you
want to know how to hurt you must also know how to heal. Read Books on
Energy Healing (Reiki, Chi Gung, Pranic Healing), Chi Ni Tsang,
Acupuncture, Massage Therapy, Marma Adi, Yoga, Ayurveda, Contact
www.A-CAMLife.com to learn about herbs and aroma therapy.

40) Get W.A.R videos and W.A.R book by Guru Cliff Stewart.
www.cliffstewart.com I can not stress enough how good and how much of
a real master Guru Cliff Stewart is. He is a real Doctor or Scientist
in Martial Science. You are missing out if you do not get his material
or go meet him. Same goes with Guru Stevan Plinck Check out his Serak
& Bukti Negara Videos.

At first glance one can read this list and says "Yeah yeah yeah I know
all this stuff. But until you really know it like Guru Cliff Stewart
knows it or like other masters know it, YOU DON'T KNOW IT."

I remember when I first met Guru Cliff Stewart. He asked me what I
knew about silat. I said "I know these jurus, these techniques etc"
Turns out after 2 minutes touching hands with him and getting thrashed
around on his living room floor I realized I knew SQUAT about PENCAK
SILAT. It was a very humbling experience for me. Mind you I already
had trained for many years in "Silat, JKD, KALI, WING CHUN, MUAY THAI,
GRAPPLING" and I found myself completely helpless and useless against
his understanding in SILAT. This made me realize 90% of what I was
taught in Commercial Dojo setting Martial arts is useless with out
real understanding and real principles.

A lot of these things you will need to see in person. An email and
sometimes a video can not convey the actual feeling and understanding
needed. So I invite you to come train!

Best wishes in your training,

TRAIN SOMETHING DAILY. A LITTE SILAT GOES A LONG WAY!

Peace
Guru Santiago Dobles
http://doblesinstitute.com/page8.php

Silat Tip 34: TENAGA DALAM / YOGIC TRAINING

The Dobles Institute News:

Silat Tip 34: TENAGA DALAM / YOGIC TRAINING

Posture training for developing structural integrity, alignment, and
understanding on a deeper level.

Pick a posture in Silat. It can be any posture from either standing
position or a sumatran posture on the ground. The idea is that its
asif you FROZE a frame of time on a film or pressed pause on your
DVDplayer. Take for example the posture of the standing Garuda or
theposture of upward elbow in juru 5 from Sera or a ground posture
such as Kucing cat closed or open (if you are not sure what that is
youwill just need to come to a class : ) ).

Keep the tongue against the roof of your mouth. Get into the postureas
if it was a YOGA ASANA. Hold it with the body relaxed completely. As
you hold the posture breath deeply using your belly breathing or what
Dr. Morris would call the "Buddha's Breath" (Inhale down to yourlower
abdomen and fill it with chi or breath. Gently push down on your
genitals as if you had to pee and then pull up on your sphincter
muscles and Glutes and wrap the belly towards the spine and tighten
the abs a bit. Then exhale and squeeze belly towards your spine.
Imagine as if your navel area could touch your spine (this produces
anice massage for your internal organs).

This breath is done gently. DO NOT FORCE IT! Relax into it and stay
relaxed. Keep the inner smile going as you practice your posture. So
breath in for a count of 7 hold for 7 in lower belly as you tighten
abs and move navel towards spine and then exhale for a count to seven
(Indonesian Yogictriangle breathing). Mak e sure that as you hold the
posture and breath you keep the spine suspended and straight.

So take the pose hold it firmly but relaxed and perform deep breathing
as you hold the posture. Set a timer for 5 min AND DO NOT MOVE FOR
5MIN! If you get good next time you set timer and hold it for 10 min.
Just relax empty the mind and just focus on your body, your spine,
your lower Dan tien and the breath or any one of those things.
Iusually just keep my mind centered on my dan tien. If its the
VerticalElbow from juru 5 then make sure you are in a LOW stance so
you buildleg power. If you are in a ground posture make sure you still
suspendthe spine.

Believe me this is a BRUTAL but effective work out to develop tendon
strength, INNER POWER (TENAGA DALAM), focus, awareness, energy.
(Sometimes you may even arouse your Kundalini this way. You may find
that parts of the body might tremble or you may find that energy moves
through the body vigorously. If that occurs just relax. When I used to
do a lot of Hatha yoga the real yoga was to hold a pose for a long
time until your body would almost give out. This builds real power.

Trust me but do not take my word do it once and see for yourself.
Youcan apply this to any pose (Yoga, Silat, or just standing like in
ChiKung, or a handstand or a push up plank or any pilates pose
willwork). You can also try to just stand on one leg and hold the
postureas you hold your hands in an elbow or center line cover or
guardian hand or fist etc. Try to do one Posture a day.

You will be surprised what happens when you go back to your Silat
andyou find yourself in that posture the amount of power and energy
youcan unleash.

I remember training with Guru Harold Koning in is garage doing Mustika
Kweetang Silat and he would have us hold an imaginary ball in our
hands and Squat in a low squat so that the legs where in 90 degree sit
but ass off of the ground. You would have to hold that till the legs
and body would tremble and you where SOAKED in sweat. I remember
thinking to myself that it was torture but let me tell you from that
experience I gained very explosive legs, knees, and the ability to in
a blink of an eye squat or jump up. Guru Harold is in his 70's and he
can move like an APE and has GORILLA strength! One of my students
trains with Guru Harold still to this day and he is in his 50's and
also has the ability to squat and jump and move like a cat when need
be.

The ancients never separated the internal trainingfrom the combat.
Things like Yoga and Chi kung or Tenaga Dalam were very much part of
what they did along side of their combative training. Warriors of old
had to walk many miles to get to the battlefield with gear, swords,
shields etc. The conditioning of the old timers was a lot different
than today. I know that in tibet the warrior lamas would train lifting
heavy boulders much like how akettle bell is used today but with yogic
breathing and postures and structural alignment.

Anyhow just see for yourself start holding a POSTURE every day for at
least 5 min. and work deep breathing. Any posture will do.

Real strength comes from relaxation and breathing and the right mind
intent!

Enjoy and TRAIN as much as you can whenever you can.

Peace,
Guru Santiago Dobles
www.DoblesInstitute.com
http://smashanpress.com/guru_secrets.html

Tao Semko's Tantra Tips fromUmaaTantra.com "Learning from Lions..."

Tao Semko's Tantra Tips fromUmaaTantra.com
"Learning from Lions..."

Dear Santiago,

I don't care how you walk the spiritual path - as a lover, a warrior,
a monk, a yogi... you can learn a lot from lions...

Most spiritual seekers get nowhere fast for one reason, and one reason
only...

Boredom.

Nobody is going to do a practice that's boring.

But there is a better way of practicing.

Just look at the lion cub...

Watch lion cubs play. On TV or on youtube, it doesn't matter. Watch
them play. As you watch them in your screen, you'll become absorbed in
the expansion of their awareness, as the cubs stalk, pounce, hide,
chase, frolic, posture, vocalize, seek solitude, negotiate their
surroundings, and each other...

It's fun for them. It's filled with emotion. It's playful. It's
relentless. It's realistic. Their kind of playing requires intuition.

It never stops. It pushes limits. They need stillness and motion,
quiet observation and rapid action. They build timing, awareness of
distance, self-awareness and awareness of the others of their tribe.

Their practice is motivated by primal drives - hunger, reproduction,
social pressures, the need for fun! It builds focus without tunnel
vision. This is the kind of practice that creates expansion (TAN-otti)
to liberation (TRA-yotti)= TANTRA.

What are we talking about here? Learning games... Lion cubs take each
skill they need to perfect in order to survive and prosper, and turn
it into an ever-expanding game.

The game never stops.

Even when they're sleeping, you can see them playing in their dreams -
chasing, hunting, sniffing, listening.

They play alone with their environment. They play with phantom "prey."
They play with their food.

They chase and stalk their brothers and sisters.

They play with (and on) their mother. They learn to hunt, to fight, to
find the best places to eat and sleep, they learn what plants to chew
to settle an over-stuffed stomach. They learn conceal themselves from
each other and their prey...

The cubs constantly create, making more and more elaborate games. They
learn to use all of their senses and emotion to intensify and remember
these useful behavioral memories.

They learn to trust intuition. They learn the effects of facial
expression, posture, roars and whimpers, on themselves and those
around them...

They learn to always observe and be watchful, but to mind their own
needs... To be both social and solitary.

They learn that a lion who manages his surroundings out-competes the
lion who merely reacts...

For lion cubs, practice is never boring. It can't be.

If a cub does something obvious, boring, or repetitive, the other
lions quickly swat him in annoyance...

The more a cub seeks new skills, and the better a cub makes this game
a fusion of creativity, aquisition, intensity, repetition, efficiency,
variation, sensuality, emotion, intuition, and letting go at just the
right time, the more that cub prospers...

Come out of the program for a moment....

This lion's game is in itself more than most people grasp of the
powerful learning process during their whole lifetimes....

Successful tantrics begin here, just like the lion cubs in the
program, acquiring new skills by becoming simultaneously absorbed in
themselves and in the world outside them. They use all the methods the
lion cubs do, but with the goal of discovering their place in nature,
but also their conscious relationship to the Absolute, the Universal.

Tantrics seek one-pointed absorption in the Absolute, while enjoying
their lives in this world... liberated while in this body, constantly
playing (leela) with passion, creativity, sensuality, and intuition...

How can you achieve this feeling?

Pick one tantric practice...

Playfully integrate a that practice with your everyday life. Make it a
part of eating, shopping, watching tv, working, relaxing, loving, or
exercising. Then, all week, play with variations. Just like the lion
cubs, practice constantly while giveing yourself the freedom to have
fun, to play, to enjoy, to improve, to integrate.

Connect your practice with extraordinary experiences, emotionally,
intuitively, sensually. Make it a part of your daily life... Keep
playing and growing.

Soon everything becomes a sadhana (spiritual practice)...

Eating, sleeping, making love, cleaning, negotiation, going to the
movies, everything...

It's simple when you play our way, a little at a time, relentlessly
and joyfully...

The Dalai Lama smiles at every person he encounters. If they don't
smile back, he smiles again. It's simple, playful, powerful, without
attachments...

Smile, breathe right, and keep your tongue up!

Your Friend,
Tao Semko of UmaaTantra.com

P.S.
To "get" the principles and techniques of the tantric path, look
here: http://umaatantra.com/products/secrets_of_laya_yoga.html