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Blaise Loong
click here for related link "Hulubalang" Blaises title, bestowed upon him by his adopted Father Mahaguru Dato' Meor Abdul Rahman
I was a private student of Cikgu Sulaiman bin Sharrif -- a master of several silat systems. Cikgu Aiman was appointed by my adopted father, Mahaguru Dato' Meor Abdul Rahman, to head Silat Seni Gayong Amerika. I was taught the basic Gayong techniques by Cikgu Aiman, the Mahaguru himself, Cikgu Kalsom -- Dato's daughter (herself a Gayong master), Gayong master Din and by Dato's 2 grand daughters. Dato' also showed me some cool ways to jack an opponent w\a sarong. Cikgu Aiman also showed me some tricks from a Minangkabau system called "Tolu" -- it is based on the lawi ayam (karambit). On my first trip to Malaysia, Cikgu Aiman was my guide & interpreter. He introduced me to Pak Jaffar, a master of Silat Jawa Cimande. I got to learn some important lessons in grounding and leg trapping from Pak Jaffar. He also loaned me his car to cruise the country in. I got to live and train with a Wali Suci. The "Wali" is the silat equivalent of a "wizard warrior". His name is Pak Radin Sumarto. He is a Javanese shaman who now lives in Malaysia. His physical silat is very powerful and is centerline oriented. I know many (many) in the martial arts don't believe in the metaphysical or supernatural. We all know the matrix style is green screen & wires (same in modern kung fu movies). Chi & Ki, we all take that stuff w\a grain of salt. I am a skeptic. However, I have seen healings (of physical ailments) on villagers coming to visit Pak 'Marto and roving (hungry) street dogs being flung backwards by unseen hands. Very unsettling. I am sticking with perfecting my physical silat technique. Pursuing "magic" is a dangerous quest... Another esoteric silat master that I visited was Pak Isa. He was a master of Minangkabau silat and mysticism (spells and curses). He wanted to make me bullet proof. He also had a .45 to test his "blessing" on me. I respectfully declined. He had great lawi ayam technique though! I got to work out with Pak John DeJong of Pentjak Silat Serak. He helped me understand leverage in the langkah atas (stand-up style takedowns). He, too, was a master of "batin" -- silat "magic". The silat I encountered in the Malaysian & Indonesian jungles was physical AND magical. One couldn't separate it if one was training in the "traditional" manner. Ask around, Pendekar Herman Suwanda had a special "belt" w\body parts (finger bones I was told) of other dead silat wizzards that he dug up. There were also certain incantations in special pouches on that belt. The Moros I have dealt with were all very superstitious. Anting-anting is very important to their warcraft. Same w\Oracions (magical prayers). Every single silat master I ever trained under tried to explain to me the ideas of batin or gayong --"power". I have seen silat tricks from many other silat practitioners over the years & I'm sure I will see many more. There is so much data out there now for us students of warcraft. I'm so glad that the silat masters of the world are opening up to the public, sharing their knowledge that was here-to-fore a secret.
 
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