AMOK 2020

​Salam hormat. Hello subscribers and friends of HarimauBerantai.TV! Good news! The Prof will kick off his new Silat seminar tour on the 29th of February 2020 in Malaysia and then he will travel to the USA and Europe to conduct seminars and close door apprentice instructors’ courses. Cities confirmed to host him in the USA are Fayetteville, North Carolina, Houston, San Antonia and Dallas of Texas, Bowing Green and Florence of Kentucky.  We are still negotiating for Europe which will be in May and June 2020. So far UK, Netherlands and Italy have agreed. We are waiting for Germany to get back to us. This is the AMOK seminar tour we are talking about! I caught up with Prof between his crazy travelling and teaching schedule and got this interview done for all of us at HarimauBerantai.TV and friends. Enjoy the interview!
​Guru Ilmi Khalid
Director of HarimauBerantai.TV
Salam Hormat Prof. How are you? Tell us a bit about what have you been doing in the last two months?
Wa'alaikumussalam Guru. December 2019 and Jan 2020 went really fast, huh?  I was back at the university working on stuff which needed to be done for 2019. I teach at JOKMAS both battlefield Silat and Combat Kickboxing classes as much as I can. Guru Ammir and his instructors were on duty teaching at the studio. I just assisted them. I did the last ‘Langkah or Die’ seminar at my studio. It was a great success.  Jan 2020 kicked off slow but promising.  I went on a 12 days trip to Saudi Arabia with some friends, did Umrah (lesser pilgrimage) Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah, I enjoyed the Arabian adventure very much. Foods were delicious and I am putting on a bit of weight now. Lol! That’s about it!
So, the AMOK world tour? Why AMOK?
Good question sir. To understand the REAL meaning of AMOK you must know the history of Nusantara the Malay world. To cut the story short, Nusantara was the center of trade and religion since the 1st century. Great nations from the east and west came to trade and promote their religions here. Due to the same reasons, we were constantly under attack for hundreds of years. We defended our lands from intrusions. We fought them and send them back packing to where they came from. But as time goes by, greed, jealousy, bad decisions and betrayals from within the Malay empires led to the downfall of Nusantara. When the Malays were attacked and challenged beyond their patience and sanity by these foreign powers, their AMOK mode kicked off! 
​Amok have many interpretations and quotes by non Malay authors. You can see it all over the internet now.
Yes sir. First, let me highlight the real meaning of AMOK. It is a Malay word, a Malay way and obviously unique to us. So no other race could define it better then the Malays themselves. AMOK is a state of mind and action triggered when the Malays are challenged beyond patience and sanity. The safety of their homes, personal rights and love ones are at stake. They will react with AMOK, meaning fight all out to defeat the enemies, never give up till the last breath. They will stop only when the threats are neutralized or die fighting to the last drop of their blood defending their honor and belief.
Can you control the Amok state of mind?
Of course you can. It is a reaction to fight with all your might to defend what is yours. You are not afraid to die because of it.  So you are sane not insane! Fight to the defend what is yours. When it is no longer in danger these warriors will stop fighting. They fought the enemies with Silat for hundreds of years.  
There are quotes like Amok is some kind of sickness, a disease where warrior gone crazy killing everyone in their way including his own tribe, insane! What do you think of that?
Obviously, these are misinterpretation for sure. Most of quotes are by authors from ancient nations who fought the Malays of Nusantara in battles. They were our enemies. They fought us man to man and experienced the madness. Facing warriors in Amok mode were bad news. These guys are not afraid to die. They have nothing to lose. So with the skills and art of war of Silat, the Malay warriors became the enemies’ worst nightmare. Here is the common scenario, the Malay warriors fought to defend their honor, rights and love ones. The enemies were army fighting for their Admirals or Viceroys who was sent by their Kings in search of gold and wealth. Which one is better in battle? We were desperate to lose everything. Those guys were here fighting for wealth and power of their Kings.
​So these quote are all personal interpretations, after experiencing the battles with the Malays?
Yes sir. It is more like the love and hate situations. Since we were their enemies their quotes were bias. They hated us because we fought them with Amok. We gave them hell. We scared the shit out of them. Since they were warriors too, they do respect our ways after crossing swords with us. However, it is easy just to condemn the enemy’s ways.  “Amok is a sickness. It is a psychological disease. These Malays were possessed by spirits and many more.” they said.  No. These are all misinterpretations by victims or witnesses of AMOK.
So Amok is not a disease and it is not some kind of warriors way to be possessed by spirits?
Definitely not. Amok is a reaction executed by a Malay warrior when he is challenged by his enemy way beyond his patience and sanity level. When the safety of his loved ones, personal rights and nation are at stake, a Malay warrior will fight back with Silat (the art of war) to defend what rightly his. With the skills of Silat and the ‘never give up till the last breath’ attitude, he had nothing to lose and willing to die fighting to the last drop of his blood. He is not possessed by spirit, he is sane and in control of himself. He is a thinking warrior with one goal, to neutralize the threat.
There are quotes by Malay authors too. Some wrote it “mengamuk masuk hantu”. Go crazy after being posses by spirit.  ​
​Ok. This is just an ancient old folk belief, that warriors fight better after being possessed by spirit. By definition ‘mengamuk ‘is to do amok. ‘Masuk hantu’ is possessed by spirit. This is different case scenario. These are ancient school of Silat that are related to the close encounter of the third kind. They summoned spirits of animals from the wild into their bodies and practice Silat. It is kind of like a taboo and old Malays believe when one being posses by spirit, he is invincible! I fought an opponent possessed in real life once. Guest what? I nailed him clean with a jab and cross combo. He fell flat on his back. Knocked out! LOL.
Wow Prof! You KO'ed a djinn? Tell us a bit more about this version of Silat.
​Yes. I did KO the human. The djinn just left his body. Well there are several theories of origin of learning Silat.  One of the origins is making contact with the unseen being which is the djinn. These djinn can transform their shapes and sizes into animals. They possess the human host and perform Silat. People learn from their moves to perform Silat and later apply some in combat. After performing, the Jin leaves and the host will be back to normal human behavior. It has nothing with the AMOK by definition.
So, the Amok 2020 tour will allow you to tell the world the real meaning of Amok sir.
Yes, sir. It is not going to be easy. It is my words against all written by unhappy authors from the enemies sides. But like I said earlier, I am Malay from Malaysia. I am a Silat man. I am a Silat world authority. I am College professor leading the martial arts science faculty in Malaysia. Amok is a Malay word. So who will know the exact definition of AMOK? Obviously, the Malays right? We are the source. We should tell the world it is our ancient warrior’s way. It is not a disease. It can be controlled. It is not some kind of spirit possessing the warrior body ritual. It is just a fight all out mode a with never give up attitude and not afraid to die until justice has been done. This is Amok my friend.
OK. Great! Good luck for your AMOK tour. Those who are interested please refer to posters for Malaysia and USA. Europe locations and dates will be out soon. So what’s after AMOK?
​Thank you Guru. Please contact my hosts to book for apprentice instructors’ course as well as the open seminar. I would like to invite school owners who are interested to teach Silat Harimau Berantai and Silat Tomoi syllabus to join us the apprentice courses and open seminar. Contact my reps now. After the Amok tours will be the 2nd Malaysia International Silat Summer camp in Malaysia in 13-19 July 2020. We will be conducting training sessions in 3 locations in Malaysia with 6 different authentic Silat styles/schools Grandmasters. Come and train with the Mahaguru and wakil Mahaguru here at the source of Silat.  This camp is the main highlight of Malaysian Silat for 2020. You can get all the details at harimauberantai.tv ​
Tell them about the early bird discounts Prof.
Oh yes, the early bird discounts. Pay $50 USD or equivalent booking fee before 1 July 2020 to the Prof. and get special discounts for the camp. You can pay the Prof during his tour in USA and Europe to get this early bird discounts too. Or follow the details in harimauberantai.tv to make your booking. Book early and get $100 off the camp fee. Don’t wait. Do it as soon as possible.
Tell them why they must come to this camp?
This camp? Diversity. You will train battlefield Silat from Kedah, the 1st Malay Empire by 2 Mahagurus and 3 wakil (reps) Mahaguru. Mahaguru Haji Sani of Silat Kutau Tekpi will teach you the Rantai (the way of the chain). Mahaguru Haji Zainal Awab of Penang Silat Tua Federation will teach the Tekpi. Tok Guru Yusoff Shariff of the Silat Gayung Harimau will teach you the legendary Keris. Tok Guru Mawlid Zaenie of Silat Gayung Fatani will teach you the Parang, Machete. Last but not least Guru Ammir Izzat will teach Silat Tomoi. We also have the fighting art of the Bugis Malays a.k.a the Bogeyman. Tok Guru Mat Putih the White Lion of Silat Seni Gayong will teach you the Lembing, spear fighting methods.  The last edition to this list is I, Prof Jak Othman. I will be teaching the Kapak Kecil, small axe and the world famous Kerambit. On top of all these every Maestro will teach the empty hands fighting methods too. The content is going to blow you away! OK. Thank you Guru for the interview. I will see you all at the AMOK Silat seminar tour 2020!
Thank you Sir.  
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