The Hari Kampung Melayu 2021 took place in Roermond from 8 to 10 October 2021. It was an event dedicated to Malay Silat but also to its culture. It was organized on the initiative of Guru Rob Brandt, President of the European Silat Melayu Federation (ESMF) for the visit of several members from Pertubuhan Seni Gayung Fatani Malaysia / France (Culture Silat) to The Netherlands.
This Hari Kampung Melayu was the occasion for a cultural and martial exchanges between both organizations Culture Silat and the Persekutuan Silat Melayu The Netherlands (PSMN):
The Culture Silat team traveling to the Netherlands was composed by five Guru/Jurulatih : Guru Jérôme, Guru Muda Audran, Cikgu Matthias and Cikgu Bertrand, representing respectively the Gayung Fatani gelanggang from Köln (Germany) and Paris, Bagnolet, Metz (France).
Upon their arrival in Roermond on Friday evening, the PSMN team had prepared a welcome snack. They spent a few hours chatting before going for a sleep.
The next day, the Hari Kampung Melayu participants met at 10:00am at the PSMN gelanggang for breakfast.
Just before the openning ceremony, they couldn’t resist the urge to play with the gendang on display in the room. They spent several minutes discussing the styles of Malay music and the ways of playing.
After that, Guru Rob gathered all the participants to officially launch the Hari Kampung Melayu. He invited Guru Jérôme and Guru Muda Audran to perform an openning Bunga form. Then Guru Rob took over for 2 hours to introduce Keris Lok 9 to the participants, a traditional Malay Silat style very focused on the use of Keris, which has its roots in the famous sultanate of Melaka.
Once Gur Rob finished his introduction to Keris Lok 9, the participants had a lunch pause. On the menu: Malaysian food with nasi kudung and ayam goreng!
After this exellent meal, everyone put their baju Silat on to continue the program of the day. This time, the team from France would introduce their guests to Seni Gayung Fatani Malaysia.
For another 2 hours, Guru Jérôme assisted by the rest of its team explained the general principles of Gayung Fatani and their applications in different types of situations. Being already initiated into Malay Silat, the PSMN members were extremely receptive to what was shown.
After this two hours dedicated to Seni Gayung Fatani, it was time for Guru Rob to introduce Senaman Tua, a traditional gymnastics whose goal is to maintain a good health and a good body mechanics. This method, inspired by ancient malay practices, was developed by Guru Azlan Ghanie, the Guru of Guru Rob. For another hour, all participants followed the exercises shown by Guru Rob.
After this long day, the members from Culture Silat and PSMN met in Roermond for a little night time in a cafe. They stayed there until around midnight discussing about Silat or projects for the ESMF.
Then the urge to go home to rest begins to be felt. Everyone split up for a good night sleep.
The next day, Culture Silat team and PSMN team met at 11:00 am for a last breakfast together before going for the closing ceremony. During breakfast, Guru Rob also presented several pieces of his weapon collection.
After the closing ceremony, members from both Culture Silat and PSMN warmly said goodbye to eachother. We hop we can soon reniew this experience together with other Silat Melayu teams in Europe.
