Customer Reviews

Indonesian Fighting Fundamentals: The Brutal Arts Of The Archipelago

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Author Bob Orlando has written something which is sadly rare these days: a martial arts book for people who think. If like many, you scan through a book and just look at the pictures, you will probably be unimpressed with the volume of techniques. If,on the other hand, you actually READ this book, you will be presented with material which cannot help but enhance the martial art which you practice. Even if the art you practice already contains these concepts, seeing them presented in such a clear and accessable form can help you to understand the "why" of many techniques, and can assist in applying these concepts to other moves in your system.
I held off on buying this book for years (primarily because of the price), but now I could kick myself for procrastinating. This book is written in a straightforward and reader-friendly style, and the photos are large enough and show enough contrast to clearly demonstrate the ideas represented. I'm kind of stingy with five star ratings, but this book is clearly deserving. If your pursuit of the martial ways is mature enough, I feel that you will truly appreciate Mr. Orlando's book. If, on the other hand, your idea of a good martial arts book is one which tells you how to kick butt like Van Damme (hint: it's just a movie, it's just a movie, it's just a movie...), this book is not for you. If you know any grownups in the arts you might want to buy it for them, though.

The title is a little decieving. This book doesn't really profile silat or kuntao. Rather, it is one of the best books on concepts that I've ever read. I'd place it up there with "Tao of Jeet Kune Do". The concepts of gyroscopic rotation, shearing, adhesion, etc. can be applied to any art, given a little imagination. While the reader will learn something on the history of Indonesian martial arts, it is really the underlying principle that recieve the most attention. One won't really learn HOW to do silat or kuntao, but will gain an understanding of WHY the practitioners of such arts do the things they do. There is nothing on weapons, which I thought was strange, and nothing on Kali, which I thought was Indonesian, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this is one of the best books on martial arts principles out there. No matter whether one is looking for asthetics, self-defence, understanding the "arts", or sporting aspects of martial arts, there is something in this book for everyone. I'd recomend it to anyone serious about the martial arts, but those with a more casual attitude towards the arts may not find anything useful here. If I could only have five martial arts books, this would be one of them.

This is not a book that you read just once. It is a well of information that you will continue to return to again and again. Everytime I read it I come away with new understanding of the depths of martial arts. No matter what style you study, the principles here will help you better understand your own art. Marc Animal MacYoung

Indonesian Fighting Fundamentals (IFF for short) is a different from your average martial arts book. You won't find a collection of techniques or "moves" that will make you a better fighter. Rather you will find a collection of physical principles that are the foundation of many of the techniques of Silat and Kuntoa which are the major systems covered in this book.

As an example here's what you *won't* find in this book,

how to punch how to kick how to block how to evade

What you will find are principles to maximize the effectiveness of your techniques and more importantly (in my opinion) how to analyze and learn martial arts techniques and strategies.

What also sets this book apart from most martial arts is that the bulk of the book principles are all focused on how to "in fight" i.e. what are the main principles to use when fighting is up close and personal, when you are close enough to bite, head butt, elbow, knee and trip as primary weapons and techniques. For example the foundation principle the author discusses is "adhesion". This is the principle of using full body contact with your opponent during a confrontation. For most people this principle is completely counter intuitive i.e. if your a 110 pound female the last strategy in the world you'd use is infighting with a 220 pound male. The author goes into tremendous detail on this very concept.

Besides the section on principles the author spends some time on principles on learning martial arts by analyzing his personal learning experiences in learning and teaching martial arts and leads you into understanding and hopefully questioning how you learn and analyze your current training (for those that are thinking of starting up in martial arts or switching to a different "style" see the author's other book "Martial Arts America" is a must read).

This book also has valuable sections on integrating principles, comparing and contrasting different martial art systems, some historical notes on Silat and Kuntoa, some basic drills to illustrate how a principle can be drilled into your physical system and even a chapter called "Learning How to Hurt Someone" which deals with some questions in martial arts which few people take the time to think about.

Negatives? The book is only 180 pages and $40. The price is justified because the book is filled with large, sharp B&W photo sequences that illustrate the principles and these are expensive to produce. The shortness of the book is really a shortcoming created by the author's excellent analytical and tight writing ability that makes you sad that you came to the end of the book but for me the beginning (well actually a renewal) of my martial arts journey of discovery.

The one real negative I have is the book is very sparse on "entry" i.e. how to close the gap to use the weapons/principles in this book. From a street perspective this probably is not important because most real physical confrontations are going to start when someone is in your face but I think some more detail on principles and strategies to get you safely inside would have made the book more complete.

I only learn Pencak Silat for two months in high school, simply because it is part of the curriculum. Some sundanese style I don't even know the name.

Like many other Indonesians I know, I consider pencak silat as silly, ineffective, traditional, etc. ... in short, learn karate, jujitsu, tae kwon do, or any other martial arts... but not silat... (shame on us, but it is the popular perception)

Reading this book I looked back at the only two jurus I know, and realized that there are more in there than some silly dance...

Now I am a proud Indonesian.

However, I doubt that many Indonesian masters really understand the materials they are teaching... this is really a remarkable work of Indonesian art from western perspective.

A great thank you to Mr. Orlando...

Bob Orlando did a great job on this book. The contents of the book is primarily a blend of Kun Tao -Silat. I trained in the Indonesian Martial Arts some, by way of Hanshi Bruce Juchnik, who like Bob Orlando, studied the Indonesian Martial Arts from Willem de Thouars. Bob has also trained in many other martial arts.
Train hard and have fun!
Guro Dennis Servaes

The book does an excellent job of teaching several important fundamental principles of Silat and Kuntao and using techniques to demonstrate how they work. Regardless of what style you study, an understanding of these principles and how to apply them will make you a more effective martial artist.

I also highly recommend Bob Orlando's video, "Fighting Arts of Indonesia - Combat Secrets of Silat and Kuntao" which makes a great companion to the book.

It's rare indeed that a martial arts book can teach a reader much that they can incorporate into their own practice: usually the techniques that they teach are too difficult to learn from a book, or so simple that any student knows them already. But by focusing on principles and logic of combat rather than on specific techniques, Bob Orlando gives the student of martial arts not only insight into Indonesian styles but methods of practice and training which a student of virtually any art can incorporate into their own.

In addition, this book is an excellent companion to Orlando's video "Fighting Arts of Indonesia". They cover much of the same ground and reinforce each other. It had an immediate and transformative impact on my martial arts training.

Without a doubt, this is the most useful martial arts book I have ever purchased.

This well-written, easy to read tome is a thinking martial artist's book. It is filled with sound principles and great explanations of why they work so effectively in actual combat. There's some techniques too, but that's not really the heart of this tome. Pentjak silat and kuntao are, at their core, functional fighting arts and Sifu Orlando is master of these brutal styles. He places rarely divulged applications in context, artfully explaining why and how they work. I wasn't too keen on his work 'Martial Arts in America' so I held off on buying this one for quite some time. Having finally gotten around to reading it I really wish I'd bought this one sooner. I am thoroughly impressed with this outstanding volume even at its rather steep price. Very highly recommended!

Lawrence Kane
Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

Yes a bit pricey, but worth every cent. Have been through the tape that goes with the book, and the tapes on Reflex training drills. Mr. Orlando is on the cutting edge with only a hand full of other martial artists. I teach Aikido, after 911, I was not happy anymore with what and how I was teaching, so and I am trying to integrate some of the prinicples and techniques (yes you can see several if you watch the tapes long enough, oh and read the book) into what and how I teach. GREAT STUFF!!!! Larry Hartell's books (have 4 of them) are very very good also, but in a different context. VICTORY CORPS!