TECHNOLOGICAL advancements, popular cultures and heritage are the main influences in the modern interpretations of silat performances currently evident in Malaysia.
Digital cameras, mobile phones and websites have made it possible for such performances to be recorded and broadcast to the global community.
Martial arts exponents from North America, Europe, Japan and Australia have made trips to Malaysia and Indonesia to learn the various styles of silat.
Some of them used the Internet to search for different styles of their liking, and then contact the practitioners who posted the video demonstrations for future learning arrangements.
Silat masters who can speak English are highly sought-after by individual martial arts exponents and foreign media.
The Discovery Channel, National Geographic and other documentary-based media companies have showcased silat to the global audience. Silat masters and their students have also been exposed to state-of-the-art technology, such as motion capture. Therefore, silat masters have had to improvise a way to perform their silat in front of high-tech cameras.
Some silat masters, practitioners and musicians see this development as something positive, but others may see it differently.
Unfortunately, in real life, only a handful of elite Malay wedding organisers have sought the services of silat performers. Many people in big cities have been influenced by Western wedding traditions, such as cutting the cake and engaging modern music bands for the main performance.
Some Malay weddings in rural villages too have also foregone silat in lieu of other popular performances, such as traditional bands and singers, or even a disc jockey to entertain guests with selections of Malay folk song and rock ballads.
Nevertheless, there are youths in big cities who realise that silat is their heritage and have taken the initiative to learn as much as they can. Their motivation, however, is sometimes influenced by mythical heroes who can become invisible, walk on air, transform into animals and perform other great supernatural feats.
The element of heritage has also influenced some silat practitioners in Kuala Lumpur to find photographs of past Malay warriors in archives and museums to emulate their clothing (especially the style of the warriors' headdress) and learn about the weapons that they used during pre-colonial and colonial times.
They have even begun a campaign to convince other silat groups to adopt the attire of past warriors, as well as to train in the art of using bow and arrows, which has almost gone extinct due to the introduction of firearms.
As silat masters come from diverse groups, styles, schools and organisations, their view on "authentic" silat and silat performances may not be the same as those of their fellow practitioners. Current silat masters who have inherited their martial art from previous generations view their silat as already authentic.
Their students also believe that what they are learning is authentic enough, and their uniforms and badges are unique. Other silat masters and practitioners have taken a neutral stance.
But, it is the knowledge and skills that have been transmitted by previous generations and practised by the current ones that are more important and should be recognised as Malay heritage.
In 2007, the government, through the then culture, arts and heritage ministry, proclaimed 50 objects and practices as the country's national heritage.
Silat was one of those that received this status. This move had been met with mixed interests.
Major silat groups and organisations had taken advantage to expand their gelanggang (silat court) to schools and universities to spread their martial art to the younger generation.
Other lesser-known groups and masters have continued their practices and classes as usual.
There is no standard form of silat or silat performance that is specifically recognised as a national heritage.
Now that silat has been acknowledged by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation as an intangible heritage of humanity, a new era has emerged and the possibilities are endless.
The success of the movie Mat Kilau: Kebangkitan Pahlawan has sparked interest in silat. Will it continue to see a new revolution? Only time will tell.
The writer is senior lecturer at the School of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management in the College of Law, Government and International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia