It is the studio's tradition that
the Khru will take our members on a training camp at the beautiful Teluk Nipah
beach of Pangkor Island; a paradise destination just under four hours drive from Subang Jaya. Pangkor is Perak's most talked about island; where fresh air, pearl white sand beaches, clear
water, coral fishes, hornbills and monkeys await the arrival of visitors. On
top of all these beautiful stuff, our beach is just opposite Pulau Giam, a beautiful
coral island, home of many coral fishes and delicious calamari. No sharks off
course! All these plus us (studio members) make Pangkor one AWESOME place to
be!
On the April 13 2013, as early as
7 am, members arrived and gathered at the studio. There were little Izzat, Big
Ali, Jet, Wevind, Navee, Zaid, Orochi, Bekzod, John, Faza, Ainaa and Naemah,
all looking very excited. Khru Nizam and his instructors Ken, Puteri, Ruch and
Jordan were early too. They were expecting five participants to drive everyone to
the destination. Unfortunately by 8.15 am only three were available that morning. The
other two for some reason cannot be contacted. We had eight participants stranded without
transport. You should see Khru Nizam’s face at the time. Ajarn Jak arrived with his family solved the
problem. He volunteered to take some and also allowed instructor Ken to drive
his other car (vintage red hot BMW) to take the rest of the members on board. Around
9 am, the group left for Pangkor Island.
Around 12.30 pm all five cars and
Dato’ Paduka Dr. Ishak’s Perdana arrived at the Lumut Jetty terminal. Meg and
fiancée Praveen were there too. They drove separately from the group. Pendekar
Ed Chard were already on the island the day before as he had things planned
for a longer weekend. They all had lunch
before getting on board to the ferry to Pangkor. Approximately 2.30pm the journey
continued. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and they could see
Pangkor island not so far away.
Khru Nizam called for a briefing at the open air deck of the ferry. Ajarn Jak was there to greet the
participants and he spoke about the local customs, do's and don’t on the island.
This was necessary because 30% participants were foreign students. He also
talked about the guest, Grandmaster
Dato’ Dr. Ishak Hassan who is one of his martial arts mentors. Khru Nizam briefed
the participants on camp schedule. It was all nice and easy, since it was
holiday camp. The special classes will be at 5.30pm of the first day, where the
Dato’ will be teaching old school methods of strengthening the body. Ajarn Jak
will take the sarong fighting class on the next day at 10 am. Apart from these
classes, it was holiday in paradise. ‘Enjoy yourself. The beach is yours! ’, he
concluded the brief.
Around 3.30pm they arrived at the
D’ Senja Resort which is situated right on the beach. The hotel rooms were OK.
Clean, cool air- con and Ok lah bed with hot showers. The guys recovered quickly from the ‘roller
coaster’ish taxi ride. They wasted no time. Headed straight to the beach a few
steps away from the hotel rooms and jumped into the beautiful clear water. It
was fantastic! They loved it!
Dato’s class
Around 5.30pm they all gathered
at the garden of the hotel for the first class of the camp. The Dato’ stepped out
of his room all dressed up in his season Silat Seni Gayong attire. He looked
like a warrior from the ancient time. Ajarn Jak introduced him to the participants
and the Dato’ started his class talking about his tutelage days under the
modern icon of Malay silat that is the late Mahaguru Dato’ Meor Abdul Rahman
Uda Hashim. He showed the participants his album of photos with the legendary
Grandmaster. He emphasised how his teacher taught him that a martial artist
must have strong mind and body to excel.
In order achieve these; one must first learn to relax the mind, before
working on the body to make it strong. There is no short cut. Just train. Train
and keep training! He talked about cultivating one’s will power which will
change martial artists into real warriors. Suddenly with one swift move the
Dato’ turned and strike a palm tree with his bare hand. Full blast! Just like
you see in the movies! Some fragments of the bark flew off the tree! The
participants were stunt! There was one damaging move! He then proceeds to teach
the participants old school training methods to strengthen the body. Everybody
tried the exercises and loves it. Everybody was so engrossed with the old
school training methods, time flew so fast and around 7 pm the Dato’ concluded
his class. He was honored
with a standing ovation by the participants. Everybody headed back to beach to
catch the last moments of swimming before sunsets. Around 7.20pm they gathered
on to see the spectacular view of the sun setting behind Giam Island. Simply
breathtaking!
Around 8pm everybody went to the beach
restaurants. It was free and easy. They were divided into several groups. Ajarn
Jak and wife had Chinese. They had sambal prawns, fried kalian in oyster sauce
and Cantonese taufoo. With good food and drink for two, the Ajarn spent just
RM50. The Dato’ and wife had grilled fish at a Malay restaurant on the Teluk
Nipah side walk. Wevind and his gang also ate their grilled seafood at the same
restaurant. Khru Nizam took the rest of group to a cute seafood restaurant
right on the other end of Teluk Nipah beach. They had grilled fresh fishes,
sweet and sour siakap, fried squid, grilled cockles and stirred fried
vegetables with white rice. The dinner cost them RM12.50 per head, food and
drinks. That was a bargain.
Around 10 pm the party games
commenced at the foyer of the hotel with game masters Meg and Jordan. Everybody
except Pendekar Ed ,the Dato and wife; joined the games. The Pendekar hired a
cheap bike and went too Pasir Bogak town to watch the Arsenal vs. Norwich game
at a pub. The Dato’ and wife took a moon light walk on the beach. Ajarn Jak and
wife stayed for an hour or so before retiring for the day. But the party games
was kept going till 1 am in the morning. Lights out for the last man standing
was 2 am. Zzzzzzz........
Good morning
The early birds for the group
were up at 6am. They were Kru Nizam and his instructors. They went looking for
sea shells on the beach. By 8 am they had collected a vast array of shells and
the most unique species are the one that look like semi precious stone.
According to the Ajarn, in ancient times the natives believe these stones are
good luck charms. Today, they are just left on beach of Pangkor no longer used
for that particular purpose. Khru Nizam, Jordan, Ken and Meg took back a few homes
with them. So these guys are going to be rich soon. Ha!!!
Typical Malaysian breakfasts were
served at the beach stalls and restaurants. The guys spent an average of RM 5-7
for breakfast which was not bad at all. Around 10am the Dato’ and wife left
home early to prepare for another event which he was going to anchor in Melaka
the following Monday. Everybody came to greet the Grandmaster goodbye and
wishing him for a safe and pleasant drive back to Seremban.
Sarong swinging with the Prof.
At 10.30am the participants
gathered on the beach with their colourful sarongs. It was time to learn sarung
fighting techniques with our Grandmaster; Ajarn Prof. Jak Othman. He started
with striking techniques using the sarung. Everybody was taught to tie a knot
at one of the ends of their sarung. According to the Ajarn, in ancient time
knuckle duster, coins and sometimes stone were hidden in this knot. With one
simple overhead swing, he blasted his sarong at a wall and huge beach rock
nearby. Bang!!! It was stunning to see a
common item of clothing can instantly turn deadly in the hand of an expert. The
participants wasted no time, they hacked their sarongs on the walls and rocks
nearby. The overhead smash was similar to the hammer fist which a phase 2
technique. Another is the side swing which is parallel to the ground, blasting
the target from the side like the hook. The last striking method taught by the old
Prof was the whipping technique. It works like the back fist , where it was
shot straight out to the target with a snapping motion. The guys loved it. They
strike the wall and huge beach rocks hundreds of times with those combos.
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The Ajarn then move on to tying
techniques. He demonstrated how you could tie your opponent up silly and
completely helpless with a sarung. Can you imagine being tied up with your arm
folded behind you and neck wrapped by the sarung? With one last simple move by
the old man, the victim was choked! The finally technique of the day was even
scarier! Imaging how your whole head is covered by a sarung and in that blinded
situation your neck is wrapped and choked helplessly. This old man is a
dangerous man! Around 11.15am the Ajarn ended the class promising the
participants that he will do a revision session on sarung techniques when they
all return to the studio.
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The guys wasted no time. They headed back to beach for the last dip in the clear and refreshing water of Teluk Nipah. Around 1pm everybody checked out. It was brilliant quick getaway training cum holiday as Pendekar Ed Chard summarised it as ‘ a top weekend’. The next 4 ½ hours was a safe and obedient speed limit driving for everyone heading home. All participants would like to thank you Khru Nizam and his instructors for making the trip a great holiday for all.
When is the next Pangkor trip?
There are talks about having
another trip with our UITM Shah Alam group, possibly in May 2013. It could be
the 18 & 19 May 2013 before the coming school holidays. Other possible dates could be 15& 16 June
2013 after the school holiday rush. Don’t worry we will keep you posted.
A
totally satisfied participant.
Subang
jaya 15th April 2013.
