Silat Kuntau Tekpi Origins & Syllabus

Seni Silat Kuntau Tekpi was founded by Panglima Taib (General Taib Bin Wan Hussein). He is Cikgu Sani's great-grandfather. I'm still trying to determine the exact date of origin, but it appears to be around 1890. I'm going to Kedah next week to meet with Cikgu Sani, and I'll get precise answers then.

Panglima Taib learned various forms of Silat Kedah (Silat from the Kedah region), including the Silat from Panglima Ismail, which is the root of Silat Cekak and Silat Kalimah. This is why Cekak, Kalimah and Kuntau Tekpi have a strong resemblance to one another. Panglima Taib added the use of the Tekpi to this Silat (as well as other elements) and created Silat Kuntau Tekpi (although at that time it was simply called Silat Tekpi). Since Panglima Taib was a General in Kedah, he put the 7 wave Keris in the Silat Tekpi logo.

Panglima Taib organized his original syllabus into 360 Buah, which taught and covered all of the basic principles and pecahan (variations) of the Silat system. He taught his daugter (Siti Aminah) and passed the system on to her. Siti Aminah is the old woman in the photograph in an earlier posting. She taught her son (Pak Guru) who taught his son, Cikgu Sani.

The modern syllabus was organized by Cikgu Sani. He studied the art from his father and six other relatives who knew the art in order to insure that he had a clear understanding of the entire original syllabus. All seven of his teachers agreed upon the basic 360 Buah, but they had their own interpretations as to the details.

Here is the modern syllabus for Seni Silat Kuntau Tekpi:

Level One:
21 Buah (Basic) - Teaches fundamental footwork, entries, throws and locks

Level Two:
21 Buah (Intermediate) - More "direct" combative Buah that draw upon the lessons and mastery of the first level

The material in Levels One & Two are broken into thirds. In other words, the first seven buah constitute a rank. After you learn the first seven buah, you must pass a test before you learn the next seven buah. They are actually using belts now in Kuntau Tekpi (they openly admit to taking the idea from TKD). Level One is a white belt. After you pass the test on the first seven buah, you get a yellow stripe on your belt.

You have to get all three yellow stripes before you're allowed to take a test on all 21 Buah. Upon passing the test, you get your yellow belt which means that you're studying the Level Two material. The Level Two material is also taught and tested in groups of seven, which earn you a red stripe upon passing the tests. When a student has completed Level Two and has passed the comprehensive test on all of the Level Two buah, he or she is qualified to be an instructor (a red belt).

Level Three:
Senaman Tekpi - Tekpi exercises for conditioning and combat
Counters for all 42 Buah (from Level One & Level Two)
Seven Buah Pukulan - These are counter-offensive responses to an attack that depend only upon striking, and not entering or locking
Five Buah - These are five advanced Buah only taught to Level Three students
21 Buah Tekpi - These are the Buah that teach how to strike and fight with the Tekpi

Level Four (by invitation only):
Variations of 42 Buah - This is the pecahan for the Level One & Level Two Buah
Level Four Buah (unknown number)

Level Five (by invitation only):
Spiritual Training & Religious Teachings

Silat Kuntau Tekpi Logo Comments

I've been doing some research on the Silat Kuntau Tekpi logo. I'm fascinated by some of the symbolism and meanings attributed to the logo's elements:

Colors – The logo is made up of three colors: white, red, black. The White stands for purity and Islamic values. The Red stands for bravery & brotherhood. The Black stands for secrecy, for this has historically been a secret art.

Weapons - There are four weapons represented in the logo. These are the weapons of Silat Kuntau Tekpi. The weapons are:

Rantai (Chain) - Two chains are shown with 13 links each. Each link symbolizes one of the 13 Federal States that make up the country of Malaysia.
Cindai (Cloth) - The word TEKPI is written on a long thin cloth sash called a cindai. The cindai is used in Malaysia as a belt or sash worn with traditional clothing.
Tekpi - The tekpi (a.k.a. sai) is the primary weapon of Kuntau Tekpi, giving the art its name. This is because the tekpi is not a Malay weapon - it is of Chinese origin, so it is considered unusual for a Malaysian form of Silat to use the tekpi.
Keris (Kris) - This is a 7 lok (wave) keris which is what is worn and used by the Malay Panglima (Generals). Seven waves is the most that a keris can have for someone who is not of royal blood. That's why Seni Silat Lok Sembilan (9) has a keris with 9 waves - it is a Royal form of Silat for Princes. The Keris of a Sultan can have up to 13 or 15 lok.



Please note that the keris in the above logo has a Malay peninsular handle and 7 loks.

Silat Kuntau Tekpi Historical Photos

Here's a photo of Cikgu Sani, the current Guru Utama of Seni Silat Kuntau Tekpi. This photo was taken in 1969 just after the national riots:



Here is a historical photo of Pak Guru - Cikgu Sani's father and the former Guru Utama:



Here's a photo of Pak Guru from several month's ago (in mid-2004). The photo was taken in Kedah:



If you look closely, you will notice that he has had his legs amputated. This was due to a very bad case of diabetes. Sadly, he just passed away only three months ago...

Here is a picture of Siti Aminah - Cikgu Sani's Grandmother. She was the key Silat Kuntau Tekpi instructor in this system. She taught Cikgu Sani's father and she also taught him! This photo was taken in the 1960s. She is 97 years old in the photo. She died when she was 100 years old! They say that at the time that the photo was taken, she could throw a large piece of firewood incredibily far with only one hand!



Here's a photo taken earlier this year just before Pak Guru passed away. The man on the far left is my Kuntau Tekpi instructor, Cikgu Norazlan. The man standing in the back (second from the right) is Cikgu Nadzrin, my Silat Kalimah training partner. This picture was taken at the main gellanggang for Seni Silat Kuntau Tekpi in Kedah. This is ground zero for Kuntau Tekpi!

Pukulan Tujo Hari Targeting

Here's what's interesting about Pukulan Tujo Hari's (PTH) hitting system. They apparently have seven key targets. These targets are optimized for empty-handed striking as well as for striking with the three PTH weapons. These targets also have a specific time of day associated with them. So at any one time of the day, you will emphasize one target over all others.

When I asked a bit more about this, I was told that the time of the day wasn't so much based upon the clock, but upon the opponent's breathing. I'm learning that many Silat systems focus upon the breathing patterns through the nostrils. Like in Yoga, these systems know that throughout the day our breathing shifts from one nostril to the other. I - of course - asked how in the world am I supposed to know which nostril my opponent is breathing from!?!? I was told that I simply notice which nostril I'm breathing from and assume that it is the same with my opponent.

I have to do a lot more research to do in order to determine whether or not someone is pulling my leg. Perhaps this is the Malaysian equivalent of a "snipe hunt"...

Some Early Thoughts on Pukulan Tujo Hari

Pukulan Tujo Hari (7 Day Hitting) is a well-known system from Malacca (West coast of Malaysia). Another is Pukulan Buah Malacca (the Fruit of Malacca Hitting). Both trace their roots back to the Bugis invasions of Malaysia. They are cousins of Silat Sendang (sideways). The Bugis-based Pukulan and Silat systems assume that you have a weapon hand and a shield hand, so they fight sideways to maximize the utility of their shield and to bring their weapon hand closer to their opponent. This sideways profile also makes for very effective group and military tactics, since the Bugis warriors would line up on the battlefield or on their boats side-to-side. By standing sideways, you can have more warriors "per foot" if you will.

Pukulan Tujo Hari is an empty-handed and small weapon system based upon the Bugis methodology that is designed to be taught in 7 days (7 days X 8 hours = 56 hours). The system has four "modes" - empty-handed, kerambit, adak badik (son of badik) and the buku lima (five books - or brass knuckles). All of the weapons utilization and the empty-handed application are exactly the same. The key to the art is in their careful selection of targets that are fight-ending when struck properly (empty-handed or weapons). Tujo Hari assumes the same sideways posture of its cousin Silat Sendang, but its emphasis is on bela diri (self defense) and not on being a complete system for war. They train so that no matter what is launched at them, they can respond with a single debilitating hit. They do teach a manner of flow and counter-for-counter, but only so they can deliver their one hit. Isn't that interesting?

My teacher has said that Tujo Hari is "open", but I'm not sure if that is a Malay "yes means no" or a "yes means yes". I will continue to explore this. It is my intention to be able to package the curriculum and teach it over four weekend seminars.