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