By Yasmin Latif
SilatCekakUstazHanafi (SCUH) is one of the Malay martial arts many of IIUM community members are familiar with. SCUH has been established in IIUM for nearly 21 years and within 21 years it has produced many calibre fighters mostly among IIUM students. Every year SCUH will send its team to compete in a championship called Wajadiri.
A bit of details about Wajadiri. The instructor for SCUH, Che Muhd Husni Che Yusof, explained that Wajadiri is more of a tournament that involved members of Seni Silat Cekak Ustaz Hanafi, with many categories, in group or in pair. The objective is to gather all members of Silat Cekak Ustaz Hanafi that come from various branches so that they can get to know each other, at the same time, they can share their knowledge.
Besides that, the objective is to test the skills of the members when they become opponents and to explore the talent of members to uphold the Malay Martial Arts which are inherited from previous generations.
Husni added, “Wajadiri can be said as a performance to value the winning team based on agility and originality from the team.”
Some members have participated in Wajadiri for several times, but for Latifah and Salam, both of them are joining Wajadiri for the first time. They must be feeling excited and nervous since they are still new and they need to face the challenges in terms of time and the chemistry among the team. However, they hoped that they could give their best for the team.
An alumni and a trainer, Mahfizah Mazlan, also shared her experiences. She said Wajadiri is the platform to challenge ourselves in terms of bravery and confidence. She advised the new team to give their commitment and try their best in this championship.
Previously, the best record that IIUM Gombak team had held was in 2005 when the team obtained second place for IPTA category. They managed to bring back a number of gold medals and had raised the good name for IIUM.
The beat of Wajadiri has come and it looks like the team is struggling to give its best again. All the sacrifices of time, the pain and the tiredness need to be paid off. They are confident and will do their best to grab all the medals.
This year’s Wajadiri2016 will be held at Stadium Paroi, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan on 9 April.***