Islamic martial arts:developement and description....

[Abdul-Hakim]

:salam:
Often when muslims are selecting martial art to themselves or their children, they are forgetting that there are arts which have been developed in islamic communities. In those arts there is combined islamic wisdom and effectiveness. You or your children will not have to do anything against religion as reis (bows to master ).
I am not here to preach about this but tell you that You have possibility to choose an islamic art.
Read more from these sites

Silat mubai homepage (www.mubai.cc)
Pencac silat homepage (http://www.combat-silat.com)

[Abdul-Hakim]

What makes Islamic Martial Arts Islamic?
Hussein Al-Khanjar

This is a question that I have had thrown at me from the first moment I launched my website and now I will answer it. For the most part the styles that are referred to as "Islamic Martial Arts" like Silat, Cha Chuan, Tan Tui, and others all existed in one shape or another before the founding of the Islamic religion, so what exactly is it that makes them Islamic? Firstly in the Islamic mentality the concept of a country is secondary to the concept of the muslim "ummah" which is the community as a whole wherever they may live throughout the world. Indonesia, Malaysia, Sudan, Oman, Bangsamoro(southern Phillippines), Mauritania, Niger, and Yemen are a few of the Islamic countries which have a very strong martial tradition with countless methods and strategies of warfare with weapons and without.

I will use as example Silat which was created and used by the indigenous people of Indonesia and Malaysia before the arrival of Islam in that part of the world. It is a fact that Silat was created by non-Muslim people, the descendants of these people who founded the systems adopted Islam and the ideologies it is founded on as their own, integrated them into their culture and accepted to live according to the teachings of koran and the prophet Mohammed(pbuh). The first warriors who went on jihad to propogate the teachings of the prophet were also very experienced and skilled fighters with many battles behind them, with them came techniques, methods, and strategies which were shared with the indigenous people of the areas they went to, mixing the systems which would later develop into the Silat that is practiced largely by Muslim people today in Indonesia and Malaysia. This does not mean that the originators of systems should be deprived of credit or respect for their achievements in boxing just because they did not have Islam as their faith when they formed their style. It means that the exponents of the systems who are descendants of the founders have chosen to act in a most Islamic way and put the ummah(Muslim world community) before country or tribal affilliation and amongst themselves refer to their specific styles as "Islamic fighting styles", thus making the style part of the culture of the ummah rather than belonging to one specific area or tribe of people.

When reading articles or speaking with Muslim martial artists from Malaysia or Indonesia it is normal to hear Islam and Silat in the same sentence, martial arts is tradition in Islamic culture since the beginning of the religion, the flags of countless Islamic countries carry the sword as a logo, so the people don't see a separation anymore between Islamic culture & martial arts, all they see is a paragraph in the koran that states martial training as an obligation to muslim men and part of the jihad which is a fundamental part of the Islamic religion.

It could be argued that just because a Muslim person practices a martial art that was developed by someone of another faith and he changes it, mixes it and creates something new that his style could not suddenly become Muslim, it is just a combination of other methods. At what point does it change? at what point can one stop adding water to flour and say now it's dough? a completely different thing, the answer to the question is not in the physical because the physical is just movement and all systems no matter where they come from were influenced by an outside source at one time or another, through war or trading. The answer is in the spirit of the person who creates the system, for a Muslim person he will take his religious beliefs cupled with his cultural practice and infuse the style with them creating a new method, like the Buddhist, Taoist and Christian does. There is only one difference which sets him apart from the others who have combined and created, The Muslim respects the ummah first, and shares his style with the worldwide Islamic community and not just one country or region. The style becomes an "Islamic Style" when the creator decides to infuse Islamic ideology into the system thus immediately adding it to the culture of the Muslim ummah the world over because it is one culture sharing different practices from one set of people to the other , like a household, all the brothers are different but all are the same, one does not have exclusive right to a specific thing in the household more than the other does, sharing of fashions,foods,languages and information is quite normal between people in Islamic societies everywhere , so sharing of martial arts also becomes normal. It is not unusual to find a Kuwaiti or egyptian martial artist travelling to Malaysia to study Silat, why should it be unusual? he is going to study with his brothers. This is a fundamental aspect of the Islamic mentality and the basis for using the term "Islamic Martial Arts" to refer to combat methods developed and practiced by the Muslim ummah. There is no me only us, my brothers and I, that's the real Islam and the essence of our martial arts.

From Silat Mubai homepage (http://www.mubai.cc/articles/art7.htm)

[Abu.Talha]

I know a brother who became muslim after having learnt panchac silat from a non-muslim. Very inspiring to hear his story. He tried so many different ways of life (even turned vegetarian) and then came to islam, mashallah.

[Abdul-Hakim]

People tend to find their own way to islam. Your friend is one of those who found his way from silat.
Read Steven Krauss (Abdul-Lateef Abdullah´s) reversion story
Steven Krauss (Abdul-Lateef Abdullah´s) reversion story (http://www.islamonline.net/english/journey/2004/07/jour01.shtml)

[Abu.Talha]

Jazakallah. . .Inspiring

[ilmwear.com]

:salam:
Often when muslims are selecting martial art to themselfs or theire children, they are forgotting that there are arts which have been developed in islamic communities. In those art there is combined islamic wisdom and effectiveness. You or your children will not have to do anything against religion as reis (bows to master ).
I am not here to preach about this but tell you that You have possibility to choice an islamic art.
Read more from these sites

Silat mubai homepage (www.mubai.cc)
Pencac silat homepage (http://www.combat-silat.com)

Extracts:

CHA CHUAN
and MUSLIM SYSTEMS

An important system in China is Cha Chuan, a fighting style developed by members of the Muslim faith. Muslim immigrants have lived in China for over 1000 years and began an especially large in-flow around the Sung Dynasty (960-1279). In China they are known as the "Hui" people. The main Muslim communities centralized around HeNan, HeBei, ShanTung and ShanXi provinces.

In 1219 when after capturing China Chingiz-khan went to the west many Arabians and Persians became moved to China. Such people were called "semu" ("men with colored eyes"), they had less rights than mongolian but more than chinese. In official documents of Yuan dynasty they were called "huihui". Moved on the east Muslim infantrymen and artillerymen in 1275, due to order of founder of Yuan dynasty "in all places entered in communities of border inhabitants", became peasants. From these people, Arabian immigrants (came to China on ships during Tang and Song dynasties), and chinese men converted to islam the "huizu" nation ("moslems") was formed. During more than seven hundred years huizu was indissoluble connected with wushu. They considered wushu as self-defence and as holy action, stimulated Muslim's spirit.


Though at times powerful and influential in China the Hui people have often been considered "outsiders". As an act of integration, protection and - as some Hui leaders described it - "holy practice" they not only took up the study of Chinese martial arts but excelled. Due to their differences from the typical Chinese population (wearing a white cap, not eating pork, worshipping differently) they were often "caught in the middle" much like European Jewry. As political ping pong balls they soon developed the realization that knowing martial arts was to their advantage.


The Muslim Spring Leg

If there is one universally recognized set for the Muslim style it is the spring leg or tan tui. At first blush tan tui seems colosally unimpressive.

One of the most famous sayings in Kung Fu was specially modified in their case to: "Southern Fists, Northern Legs and in Shan Dong: Cha Boxing."


CHI SHI QUAN: also known as "Chi Shi" or the Seven Warriors. Originally the name memorialized the Seven "Saints" of Islam but was altered to the "Seven Forms." Starting among Muslims in Henan it eventually reached ShanXi. The style, as the name implies, is based on seven essential postures from which sets are constructed. Its skills include:

Shi Lu Tan Tui (10 Road Spring Leg)
Qi Chi (Seven Forms)
Shi San Shi (13 Weapons)
San Lu Pao (Three Road Canon Punch)
Wu Tang Shen Quan (Five Section Spirit Fist)
Liu Lu Zhuan (Rotating Six Roads)
Shi Ba Qiang (18 move Spear)
Er Chi Jie Dao (Twenty-four cuts Saber)
Ma Shang San Shi Liu Dao (Knight's 36 Saber)
Ba Zhan Shi Ba Dao (Entering Battle 18 Saber)
Shu Gong (Lance work)
Co Gong (Friction work)
Tie Sha Zhang (Iron Sand Palm)

Hui Hui Shi Ba Zhou (Muslim 18 Elbows)

Like Cha this style of Muslim Kung Fu is based on the Semitic alphabet where recombination of vowel-less roots can create artistic creations of great beauty. Eighteen Elbows is a style divided into three parts. The first contains 18 separate actions. The second section is composed of 18 "sets".

This style was so secret that it was considered lost until the late 1970's when Wu Shu researchers found a teacher Ju Kui who knew the style (like the famous case of the Book of History being remembered by a wood cutter after Emperor Chen Shi Huang Ti "burned all the books.") Ju Kui (b. 1886) was from a Muslim family in Tong Xian County, Hebei. At age six he started learning from Sun De Kui of De Zhou, Shandong. He trained for 17 years, learning 19 types of martial arts. At age 33 he also tried to improve himself by studying with Yang Wan Lu, a priest of the Tong Shou Mosque. The style passed to him then was the Eighteen Elbows

[Clipped Pic]

Mod Note: No pics of people or animate objects are allowed to be posted on the forum. Refer to SF rules. :jazak:

[Abdul-Hakim]

Extra information from IMA (Islamic Martial Arts) (http://www.mubai.cc/articles.htm)

[Waqar642]

Salams,

Interesting information all round. Does anyone know of any Islamic Martial Arts instructed in the UK (South East/London) area. There is a real need for something, especially for some of our local youth. I have been looking for something that provides an islamic atmosophere as I know a lot of youngsters who would be intrested. Any information would be much appreciated.

Jazakhallah Khair!

[Abdul-Hakim]

I live in Northen Europe, so I do not know about that..
But have you thought about becoming martial art teacher yourself?
I think there were once time free coursing in silat mubai if you wanted to become teacher of it in your local are. You could ask if there is possibility to study somehow silat mubai in your are or GB from http://www.mubai.cc/ ...
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They have there own forum section and local teacher section where you could ask about this in mubai-site!
Ps. if you get contact to them tell me about how things went :)
Wellcome to SF forum "Waqar642". Hope you enjoy here!

[Jawad_786]

Assalamualaikum,
I'm trying to compile some hadiths mentioning martial arts, does anyone know of any inshallah?