Curriculum Overview

Sikal draws from several systems of Filipino and Indonesian martial arts.

The Filipino arts are referred to as Kali, Eskrima or Arnis. They are weapon based systems, mostly blade based but some are stick oriented. They also have well-rounded empty hand fighting methods.

The Indonesian martial arts are known as Pentjak Silat (or Pencak Silat, same pronunciation) and are commonly referred to simply as "Silat". There are many systems of Silat to be found in the Indonesian archipelago. Sikal draws primarily from a few of these. The core of our Silat uses striking to disrupt the opponent's balance and set them up for brutal sweeps and takedowns.

The Sikal curriculum is separated into phases. In broad strokes the curriculum starts with a focus on elements from Filipino martial arts - specifically stick work and Filipino boxing. The initial focus is on developing fundamentals of motion, body mechanics and balance with and without weapons.

After building the basic attributes the curriculum focuses on refining them. After some refinement the curriculum starts building on this foundation to address blades and flexible weapons and starts focusing on the Indonesian aspects. The aspects we draw from Indonesian martial arts are, primarily, striking and balance disruption for sweeps and takedowns. The focus here is on extremely close range combatives.