Kelid - The Love Affair

Oh Kelid… How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

There are so many cool techniques in the various martial arts to fall in love with, which makes it difficult to pick just one favorite. Some techniques are so flashy and obscene they make you react like you just heard a “dad joke”, while other moves can be so simple and discrete it’s difficult to see exactly “what the ninja just happened”? These are the techniques that can make you beam with excitement and take a closer look at what’s going on.

In the early 2000’s I was in my early-mid 20’s (transitioning out of Muy Thai into Silat) when I experienced my first “Kelid” (Kuh-leed). Kelid looks like if someone gestured to you for your car keys. It looked too “boring” to pay much mind to, but I gave it respect while training because I am a strong believer in knowing I know nothing.

After drilling the Kelid once or twice a week during Silat class (and any time I’m driving with music on) for a year, I started to notice her. She was there when I clumsily called upon her. She was there to back me up when I didn’t ask. Kelid even showed up at my house when I was opening and shutting doors, cupboards, and cabinets. Before I knew it, this technique became a stage five clinger. She was always there, and I loved it. It was an organic relationship with this “boring” technique.

Kelid soon invited over her friends, Parry and Punch, to the party. Even Pak moved in without any warning. Times were good and we were happy. Then, one evening, Kelid invites her gorgeous friend to the fray, and I’m am simply love struck. Who is it? None other than, the Elbow. (Elbow and I have history, but that’s a story for another time.) Kelid brought the Elbow to the party like long lost friends that never skipped a beat when they met back up again years later.

It’s not only about who Kelid is or what she does for me, it’s also about her relationships with others and what she does for them. She’s a lover and a communicator.

Kelid isn’t a delicate flower but doesn’t need much muscle either. She relies on the skeletal structure to make this technique strong and agile. She’s a point in space but she not fixed to her position. You can take an opponent’s space or Kelid can help you move around the mountain and find some other space to take.

Her intentions are unassuming; Kelid is like a picked-on little girl that brings her older brothers to the doors of the bullies and knocks sweetly.

Kelid is with me when I hold weapons in one or both hands.

Kelid can be anywhere because she is everywhere.

Oh Kelid, How do I love thee? It’s impossible to count the ways.