(8th December, 2006)
Of late, I have been thinking about Seni Silat Gayang Lima or Buah Pukul Mersing. In Malay, 'Seni' means Art, 'Silat' means Fighting Techniques, 'Gayang' meaning Swaying and 'Lima' is Five. On the other hand 'buah' means fruit and pukul means 'to hit' or 'beat'. Our 8 bodily weapons namely 2 knuckles, 2 elbows, 2 knees and 2 feet represent the 'buah' which readily divert, block and attack our opponent/s under the inspiring movements of our divine master known as 'Lian'.
"Lian itu Pukul, Pukul itu Lian, Lian itulah Guru kamu" meaning "Lian is combat, combat is Lian, Lian is your Master"
In Gayang Lima, there are 12 disciplines of Lian which are taught in the Gayang Lima syllabus. Upon completion of the 12 Lian, the student will further master the advance techniques of 'Buah Tingkatan'. These consist of 36 types of single blows within the reach of our weapons known as 'langkah maut' or deadly steps. It's all translated in the lian, in which our weapons to us, are secret to our enemies.
Frankly, and with due respect to other martial arts, if a student just completes 3 Lian disciplines and adheres to them strictly, he or she can be involved in fights and win brawls. By the nature of it, Gayang Lima teaches offensive techniques as compared to self defence methods.
I studied this exciting combat art from Abdul Rahman Bin Abdul Majid aka Pak Atan Air Batu. According to him, this art was inspired to Sayidina Samaon Al-Radzi, an Arab immigrant to Yunan Province in China. Later on it was brought to Malaya (now Malaysia) by Syed Abdul Rahman Al-Yunani in the 19th century. He then taught it to a prominent majistrate of Mersing town in the State of Johore by the name of Awang Daik. Awang Daik named it Gayang Lima . It is also known as Buah Pukul Mersing or Buah Timur. It was further taught to Pak Teh Mat Yasin who then passed it on to Pak Atan. Pak Atan also trained under Chu Aman, his senior under the same master.
The thing about this martial art is that you never enter it to leave it for other types of martial arts. By all means, if you do learn and master all the other types of martial arts, it's a refining process, as natural as Gayang Lima itself.
There is no room for arrogance in us. God created us, and everything that we do with the knowledge that we have acquired are all at His mercy. Gayang Lima emphasizes these humble traits in our quest to master our skills. After all, we are only human.
