Is Silat allowed in MMA? The answer is yes and no

For those wondering, Silat is a martial art that was founded in Southeast Asia. Silat has similarities with other martial arts in that it has fighting stances based around striking whilst some forms of Silat can also feature elements of grappling and takedowns too. However, where Silat differs drastically from most martial arts is that it focuses heavily on knife fighting.

Whilst other martial arts do feature weapon training, Silat’s main identity revolves around knives. For obvious reasons, weapons are not allowed in MMA or UFC. This means that a significant amount of Silat’s training is not appropriate for MMA fighting and is mostly a martial art based around street fighting and self-defense.

Having said this, Silat also does feature training without knives. Below we shall go into further detail about the effectiveness of Silat in MMA when weapons aren’t allowed. In other words, we will be looking closely at the striking system used in Silat and whether it works inside a cage.

Silat’s fighting system away from knives

Perhaps the closest comparison to Silat away from knives is Taekwondo. Taekwondo often prioritizes kicks over punches and this is similar to Silat. Often Silat will use punches, but won’t allow head strikes. Because of this, you could argue that Silat is a safe way of sparring as it avoids concussions and brain damage. Similarly, Silat competitions take points away for hitting below the belt which means Silat fighters will only train to hit the midsection of the body.

At the same time, these are some of the risks you need to take to become a good fighter. Basically, you need to learn how to strike the head of the opponent and equally how to defend head strikes with your own movement. Because of this, Silat may not be the optimal way to train for MMA when compared to the likes of kickboxing and Muay Thai which involve strikes to the head. It should be noted that some forms of Silat will involve strikes to the head, although many schools do not.

One of the main benefits of the striking found in Silat is the point scoring system. Basically, Silat will often favor the number of strikes over the intensity of strikes. Because of this, in training Silat you may improve speed and precision when striking. By doing this you will naturally develop timing to dip in and out at the right moments. By picking your spots to land strikes, you will develop as a fighter as a result. Talking of timing, Silat will also improve your ability to block and dodge strikes which are also a big focus on fighting within the world of MMA.

Not only this but takedowns can also be found in Silat. As well, joint locks also feature similar to those found in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It should be added that generally, this is less common with more of a focus on striking. With this said, Silat does offer a guide towards fighting in MMA and offers a fairly varied curriculum. Much like Hapkido, it looks at various avenues of fighting and puts them into one. Whether it’s better to look towards a specific martial art is up for debate, but it can’t be argued that Silat isn’t diverse. Having said this, due to the lack of Silat practitioners involved in MMA, this speaks volumes about the art regarding its applicability to fighting without weapons.

Silat isn’t meant for MMA, so it should be compared to MMA either

As mentioned previously, Silat primarily involves knives which are often called the karambit. Typically, those training Silat will learn how to both attack and dodge strikes with knives. The whole idea of this originated in Southeast Asian street fights where the prime objective was to survive. With this in mind, there simply wasn’t the need for learning how to fight without weapons. This meant Silat was born out of urgency as much as anything.

For instance, in more traditional martial arts you may find an ideology around spiritual enlightenment. Whilst practitioners can and do benefit from this line of thinking, the reality of Silat was different. In short, Silat required its users to defend and protect and often with the use of blades. This means the direction of the art never had MMA in mind and shouldn’t be pigeon-holed into trying to appeal to an MMA crowd either.

What this also means is that Silat has a large focus on knives. Often its student base train specifically with knives in focus, whereas the hand-to-hand combat is more of a secondary idea. Because of this, if you did happen to train Silat with MMA in mind – this idea may be flawed. Due to the nature of Silat, you would spend too much time devoted to fighting with blades and weapons.

Obviously, MMA doesn’t allow weapons so this would take away time that could be used to develop your skills surrounding your fists, grappling, or legs. In fairness, it should be remembered that there are variations of Silat so some may focus more on MMA than knives. However, for the sake of generalization we’re looking at most, regular Silat training methods.

Final thoughts

In terms of weaponry, Silat is not allowed in MMA. There are several, banned techniques and weapons are probably at the top of this list. However, in terms of other areas – Silat is allowed in MMA. As looked at, these moves include striking, grappling, and submissions with a priority geared towards striking. With this said, there are some comparisons to Karate in this respect. However, it is rare to find MMA champions with a strong background in Silat. This isn’t an insult to Silat because we’ve already discussed that the motives of Silat lie away from MMA. Instead, this means that most people training Silat aren’t bothered about MMA fighting.

Going back to the original question, a simplified answer is that Silat knives and weapons are not allowed in MMA. However, other techniques such as kicks, punches, and grappling are all prohibited in MMA which are also taught in the realms of Silat.