The Twenty Rules of Silat Zulfikari

This is taken from The Traceless Warrior

The Rules
(with commentary)

1. I hit you

"We are but a simple people."

It is good to always remember that the point of the exercise is to deliver energy in the form of destabilize shock to one's opponent. This may be in the form of a strike with the hand, elbow, knee, or the whole planet. It may also be in the form of a strike with the mind, using words, body language and such, but in combat things need to be kept simple, so "I hit you".

2. I don't get hit

Not getting hit means that your structure is good, and it also means that you can absorb and shed the shock your opponent tries to give you. Not getting hit also means that your intent is to protect yourself.

3. When in doubt, I hit

Rather than ruminating indecisively, deal with the situation. Do not be in denial about what is going on. Strike with the spirit, strike with the mind, strike with the body.

4. Centerline is MINE!

While there is the obvious meaning to this statement, keeping your structure so that you protect and control "centerline" between you and your opponent, there is a deeper meaning to this. Centerline is where you define it.

5. While we are on the subject, so is everything else

Own your whole space, utilize everything.

6. It's all in the Jurus

A juru is a series of bio-mechanical exercises grouped together in a closed kinetic chain. They contain the motions and teach the principles from which technique can be spontaneously generated. Jurus become more useful when one learns to open the chain.

7. My __fill in the blank____ are ___fill in the blank____ until they aren't

Don't get stuck in thinking that rules are anything more than guidelines, know when to break the rules to your best advantage.

8. Elbows DOWN!

Maintain good structure throughout your movement. Make sure that you are using proper power generation, don't give your opponent openings. Oh yes, and keep your elbows down.

9. If it goes physical, I WILL be the one who walks away.

Keep your priorities straight. If you have to act, do so with commitment. Not protecting yourself from someone who is trying to hurt you is a sin against yourself.

10. It ends NOW!

When you have to become physical, do so in a way that ends the confrontation in the quickest appropriate manner. Do not leave anything for later, don't win just this fight, win in such a way that you are not making future trouble for yourself. This could mean anything from NOT gloating over a victory to making sure your opponent knows that looking for a rematch is foolish.

11. How badly I hurt you depends on how much of a physical threat you offered me

Use only the degree of force necessary to the situation. If you are dealing with a drunk friend who is just getting a little out of line, breaking his arm is usually not what is needed. If you are attacked by a man with a knife, acting as if this is not a life or death encounter will get you killed.

12. I am so dangerous I can afford to be polite, reasonable and mellow.

Only the weak, the insecure and those who live in fear need to "woof" or show everyone how tough and dangerous they are. Always treat others with respect, strive to understand all points of view, never let yourself be controlled by negative emotion.

13. Gravity is my friend, on the other hand, it doesn't like you very much.

Use gravity to help power your movement and make your work easier by being supple, help your opponent to work against gravity by making his structure more dense. When appropriate hit your opponent with the ground.

14. I not only have the right to think at all times, but the responsibility to do so.

When you look around this planet, all the human problems you see may just be caused in large part by this one thing, giving over ones responsibility to think for themselves. If you're given the ability to do great damage to your fellows, then you MUST take responsibility and never let yourselves be controlled by unconscious memes.

There is an old saying, "If you make yourself into a donkey, there will always be someone willing to ride you."

15. When it feels too easy, then I am doing it right.

Good Silat is not about effort and strain, it is about integrating breath, movement and structure in such a way that what you do happens with an "effortless" flow.

16. Effective Silat means moving in four dimensions.

While some martial arts rely on two dimensions, forward and back, right and left, good Silat will use all dimensions of space, changing levels, taking the most useful vectors in relation to the opponent. Good Silat also uses time.

17. The strongest lever is the screw.

This is of course basic physics.

18. A screw moves circles through time and space.

If you don't understand this you are not doing good Silat.

19. Make sure your opponent is 'Screwed'.

Draw your opponent into the natural spirals of your movement. Use what the internal arts call "reeling silk energy", which is what is described in rule 18.

20. It's ALL Kebatinan

Kebatinan means "inner" or "secret" teachings. This rule was first articulated when a student asked, "so when do we start learning the Kebatinan (secret stuff)" To which I replied "It's ALL Kebatinan". Silat Zulfikari hides all its "secrets" in plain sight, in other words, you learn the "secrets" from the beginning. There is enough mystery in a "simple" strike that you can spend your life exploring it and never reach the end of new discoveries.

The war on terror and what not

It's been a little over a year since I've been back from Iraq, and it still boggles my mind how much my perspectives have changed. While I has there, I actually believed in what we were doing. I believed that we were helping to make a better world for the Iraqis. Such naivete. I'd say I was hardcore conservative and right-wing. Many a times I've debated with my more liberal friends, a rarity in the Marine Corps, on such political subjects as the Gulf Wars: Episode II - Clone of the Attack

Coming back to American soil made me slowly see the other side. The side that, being in the military, we were not exposed to very often. I remember visiting my friend in UCLA, we were meeting at the neighborhood bookstore. There was a crowd of people outside at the busy intersection, protesting the war. I naturally walked up to them, asking what exactly they were protesting about? I was still under the illusion that I fought for the freedom of the American people, you see, that I helped make a better world "over there." They explained to me that they were not protesting against the troops, Americans have learned since Vietnam I guess, but the reason why we are at war. They said that Bush lied to us on many accounts and our young men and women should not even be there right now. These words fell on deaf ears, as I was still puffed up. "I fought in the war, I'm a combat veteran dammit!" I felt pretty self rightous as I slowly explain to these civilian, as one would explain to retarded children, what terrorists are and what we need to do about them. God, such arrogance. Well, I walked away feel pretty satisfied with myself after rebutting everything the protestors tossed at me, purely by the virtue that I'm a combat veteran, only to feel foolish now, after a year of self reflection and education about the real reasons behind the war. Yay.

Love and what it entails...

I've been thinking, what does it mean to love? I love my parents, and I love my grandma. So what did it mean? Is it expressed through action? Saying it? Or is it rather just a state of being? Coming from an Asian family, I was brought up with a strong sense of "honoring thy family," but I can't help but wonder if it is a completely accurate expression of love. If I love my parents, does that mean I should do what they desire and want for me? Does love mean subvert my own desires for someone else, even at the cost of my own happiness? Me thinks not. I remember my grandma told me that an ex-girlfriend of mine was no good. I listened to her reason why and I don't agree with her logic. I love my grandma, but do I take her advice? No. I think most people in this world confuse love with validation. We are insecure about someone's true feeling and motives so we seek to validate their love, whether through getting them to do what we want, saying "I love you" ten times a day, or making them think the same way we do. That's not love, that's about power and control. It may seem completely contradictory, but think about it for a second. Speaking of contradictory, would you believe that self pity is really a form of pride? Sounds like the opposite doesn't it? But by entertaining our bouts of self pity, saying "Oh, I can't believe I cheated on my boyfriend/girlfriend. I'm such a bad person," or something to that effect, we are essentially saying that we FELL from a higher plane of being, so perfect and blameless, into the mire of filth that everyone ELSE is in. The example above may seem a bit extreme, but it's only a matter of degrees, the principle and truth of the matter remains. Self pity draws attention to ourselves the easy way, without actually working for it. It is self dramatization. Self pity is a vicious cycle that must be cut. Someone once told me: "People get addicted to their struggle. It starts to define them." So true. Depression is a choice, I don't care how many reports of chemical imbalance you read. Who do you think funds the scientists writing the reports? Who benefits from you taking the Prozacs? It's time to take responsiblity of ourselves.

Deceiving to make a buck

No matter the industry, I am still surprised at the amount of bullshit and deception involved in making a buck. You got the bullshit "gurus" and snakeskin oil salesmen in martial arts/self defense community. You got them in the seduction community. Real estate, get rich quick and easy, without too much hard work or sacrifices. You got them everywhere. They're pervading, seeping inside the pores of our very being. Our society breathes and breeds them. I'm disgusted by this. I'm even more disgust at how I still fall for that same shtick. Maybe I'm too idealistic. I think it's easy to spin it as me not afraid to forrow my dream. Live the dream, man! But no, ideals must be balanced and tempered by wisdom. The truth is, I'm just gullible. I WANT to believe that someone discovered the secret formula. I WANT to be on the receiving end of the little known secrets, to set myself above the general population. I WANT to, mostly I think, deviate and disprove the conventional wisdoms I was brought up with. I don't care much about money, beyond paying my rent and food, but if I come across a way of making money contrary to how everyone is making it, then I'm all in. Greed? Laziness? Just plain Stupid? Probably guilty of all three. I actually believed I would actually retire at age 35. I'm sure it's possible, but it takes a lot more that I hoped for. In religion that type of secret knowledge is called "gnostics." Gnostics are the little secret, forbidden details not open to public. I'm sure that whomever knows the secret sure does feel special. Double goes for the ones seeking it. I'm guilty of that myself. I want to feel special. I want to posess these secret teaching. I want to delight in knowing the formula for sucess that everyone somehow all missed. That makes, and made, me (and all others like me. Yes there are MANY like me, we'd all like to think we're so special and unique, but we're really not) a prime target to all the scam artists and con men out there in the business. It's time to grow the fuck up. It's time to give up those childish ambitions and desires. I'm trimming the fat. I'm chipping away the superfluous part of the statue. I'm unblocking my flow to greatness. If anyone is wondering why in the world would I show how stupid I can be, then I'll tell you. I'm human. I'm not special. I'm not better than anyone. I just made good decisions in some aspect, and really dumb ones in other respects. Life is all about choices, and choices start with our thinking. Miyamoto Musashi said to not think dishonestly. That does not just mean not to be dishonest with other people. That means not to even be THINK dishonestly with ourselves. No more self deceptions. No more rationalizations. No more excuses. I think that's the way life is meant to be lived, ya?