SAPSA - The South African Pencak Silat Association (est 2010) members had met in Johannesburg in the past 2 weeks. Members of the Cape Town Silat branch (PSSPMSA aka Pukulan Melaka) was also invited. 

Pak Sariat Arifia, President of SAPSA along with two pesilats Satrio and Tazkiah took the time to travel to South Africa for 2 weeks, taking time to develop Pencak Silat in South Africa. 

With just 25 days to go, excitement builds up as two representatives of the Cape Town Silat Team sets off to Malaysia and Thailand on the 29th October 2012. Mr Mogamat Gielmie, affectionately known as Tuan Hilmy, along with his student Faheem Jackson will be travelling to various parts of Malaysia and Thailand in search of more knowledge of the ancient Malay martial art of Silat. 

They will be attending the Pencak Silat World Championships in Chiang Rai, Thailand, to learn more and observe the high standard required for our next South African Silat team, Insha-Allah. The tournament takes place between 18th - 28th November. 

Tuan Hilmy is currently the chairperson of SAPSA (South African Pencak Silat Association), a national regulatory Silat body which was established in 2010. This organisation is currently led by Indonesian businessman Sariat Arifia, who was also responsible for the establishment of Permai Martial arts Silat group in Johannesburg in 2009. To date, SAPSA has successfully taken an official silat team for representation at the Pencak Silat World Championships in 2010. 

On the local scene, Faheem Jackson manages the PSSPM (persatuan Seni Silat Pukulan Melaka) of South Africa, which has its headquarters in Melaka, Malaysia under Tuan Guru Haji Mokhtar bin Hj Yahya. Tuan Himly and Faheem has vowed not to return empty handed to South Africa, as one goal of the trip will be to bring back Silat equipment and weapons and items which cannot be sourced locally. Items include Keris daggers, Kerambit, Parang, Golok, Cindai, Baju Silat, costumes, books, DVDs, Olah Raga Silat body protectors, Training mats and much more. 

For this reason, the "I WANT MY SILAT STUFF" (a collection or fund raising drive) was initiated whereby the community is called upon to generously donate via our website http://www.senisilatcapetown.co.za/i-want-my-silat-stuff-drive.html/. Silat students and members will also be selling THE TREASURE magazines, as the latest issue holds an article and pictures about our silat training. 

Our Silat school would like to further enhance and develop Silat practice amongst the youth of Cape Town, as there are many benefits to be derived from silat training. Confidence, Self defence, strength, aglity, ability, skill, spirituality, art and culture, humility, sportmanship etc, are words which are associated with silat training. 

Short and long term goals include gradings, setting up a central silat training centre, establishing silat training at local schools, opportunities for  students to train abroad, and hopefully to host the International Silat Tournament in Cape Town, which takes place every 2-3 years. 

To make a contribution to this worthy cause please contact pukulanmelaka.sa@gmail.com for Pukulan Melaka banking details. We sincerely appreciate your support :)