Malaysia has an original version of silat known as Silat Melayu. The Malay Peninsula traditional art of Silat has been practiced in the Malay society especially in villages. This martial art had its origin from the Malay art of war that had strengthened the Malay Champa Empire, Kedah Tua, Silat Bunga, Seri Patani, Silat Melayu Asli, Silat Kedah, Silat Seni Gayung Fatani and there are also other forms of school without specific that only use the word bersilat or bergayung.
Seni Gayung Fatani (Grandmaster Anuar Abdul Wahab, succeeded by Grandmaster Aminuddin Anuar) is most successful self defense among groups that mastering the Silat Melayu. This school maintains the original practice of Silat Melayu covering the art, self-defense, sports, silat baku music, culture and Islamic spiritualism. This school is an independent founding member of Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia (PESAKA Malaysia). It has branches all over the country and international branches overseas including among others Austria, France, New Caledonia, German, Thailand, Switzerland, Spain, Wales and many others.
Seni Gayung Fatani was the overall champion in the Kejuaraan Silat Kebangsaan (National Silat Championship) in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1995. This association participated in the presentation involving 11 types of the world’s best self defense in 15 German cities (2004). This school became the champion for two years successively for Best Performance Group in art of self defense which was participated by 40 other countries from 14 types of the world’s best art of self defense under the International Martial Arts Games Committee (IMGC) organized by International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) in Pyongyang, North Korea, 2004. Seni Gayung Fatani also was a champion in the competition that organized by Kung Fu/ Wushu in Perugia, Italy, 2005.
Seni Gayung Fatani had groomed a number of athletes in Silat Seni, Silat Olahraga, Wasit Juri, Coaches and Team Manager who were successful in the International Pencak Silat Championship. This martial art has successfully improved the teachings of silat traditionally from the arena to modern Silat Curriculum.
Throughout the main training centre Pusat Cemerlang Silat (PCS), this school has developing numbers of international coaches from all around the world. PCS has played an instrumental role in creating athletes for Silat Seni, Silat Melayu and Silat Olahraga. In addition to that, this training centre holds martial art training, motivational and leadership courses on national and international levels. PCS has also paved the way in the creation of many martial art instructors and assistant instructors who aid instructors in each school in Malaysia. Besides this, PCS also holds lessons in muzik silat baku or gendang baku which is traditional silat music. Among the instruments used are the gendang anak and gendang ibu, the serunai (roughly translates to pipe or flute) and the gong.
Using the systematic syllabus that recognized by the Malaysian government (2002), this school plays an important roles to develop and spread Silat Melayu all around the world. The syllabus has been acknowledged as a Malaysian heritage martial art and its curriculum has become the basis for the Malaysian Seni Silat Curriculum practised all over Malaysia today. The comprehensive curriculum used ensures clear and concise execution and teaching.
In its curriculum, Seni Gayung Fatani teaches self defense, art of war, techniques, combat and also trains exponents for Silat Olahraga. Thus, one does not only learn how to fend off attackers but how to face an attacker who knows how to fight back. Fitness is also stressed for each exponent. A healthy body helps the exponent become stronger and achieve better results. Training is also provided for those interested in competing in Silat Olahraga, the competitive fighting sport of silat. Many techniques learnt are applied here which gives the student a better understanding of these techniques and their applications as well as conditioning the athlete’s mind and body to combative situations.
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