Tari - Part 2

Tari – the martial dance - can be influenced by animals and/or the natural elements. For example, a student can choose (or be told) to perform their Tari as if a tiger, a monkey, a bird or a dragon, or as if fire or air or water. They can also combine these different influences in one dance, moving from one to another as the dance flows.

It is vital to note that, ultimately, the (perhaps unachievable) aim is for our Tari to become the genuine expression of who we really are – not at a ‘surface’ or egotistical level – but at our most natural.

The question this raises is, ‘Can we ever truly reveal the absolute essence of who we are – the dot at the centre of the circle - through our dance?’

Despite the depth of this challenge, and no matter what the inspiration, or requirement, for our dance, the movements must always be based on and demonstrate the key physical principles (and the strategic/tactical principles if performed with a partner). Tari is, therefore, circular.

Tari is also in all aspects of the syllabus and in all partner work. The phrase ‘We have to know what is within it’ used by teachers of Silat Fitrah when referring to every part of the syllabus and to the flow drills, refers to the fact that Tari is also ‘within it’ - whatever the ‘it’ is - hidden below the surface.

Ultimately, Tari comes from the inside-out and, because it is always present, discipline is needed to perform the syllabus when we are instructed to or when we choose to. Senior students who have experienced the draw, feel and flow of the Tari are not simply demonstrating or practising discipline by making themselves perform the syllabus, they are – even more importantly – practising discipline by resisting the ever-present desire to do the Tari.

Tari can be seductive. This seduction is controlled by the Discipline and Willpower we develop through our practice of the syllabus and associated deliberate training drills.

Discipline can be defined as: ‘Knowing/feeling the full circle and not going there because teacher has told us not to, or because we choose not to.’ In other words, not doing something that is possible and appealing just because we can.

Discipline, therefore, can be demonstrated through both action and inaction.

And the Tari is within both.