Logo

[Dawn]

Hello,
Can you tell me a little bit about the AKS logo? Like what's with the skull? And why is the triangle inverted instead of pointing upwards, that sort of thing. Is it just because it looks better that way or does it mean anything. Thank you. :bow:

[KaliGman]

Sorry for the lateness of the reply, Dawn. I recently moved to accept a new position in my law enforcement agency. I am now reconnected to the Internet, but am faced with the daunting task of unpacking and finding all of my "stuff," as well as learning my way about a new city and state and new office and work responsibilities.

Now for the logo:

The logo has gone through a couple of revisions over the years. No major changes occurred (the latest version is a multi-layered graphic that was developed by a good friend to make the logo look very good on a computer screen--he did such a good job that it works very well on our "training uniform" T-shirts as well). The original logo was drawn by Apohan Tuhan Hasting Albo. He developed it when he made the decision to teach outside the immediate Albo family. He showed me the logo and we discussed its various components. The central feature of the logo is the skull. This symbolizes that the art is deadly. Albo Kali Silat is for combat and is true to its combative roots. The object is to end the fight quickly. As we expect our opponents to be armed and to have the means to seriously injure or kill us, Albo Kali Silat practitioners focus on disabling opponents. Quickly disabling someone who is trying to seriously injure or kill you often involves the death of that opponent. The skull is to remind us of this at all times and to let new students know that they are going to be learning potentially lethal skills.

There are three bastons and three knives on the logo. The number three and the triangle are integral to any number of beliefs and belief systems. I will not get into Apohan Tuhan's belief system, but the number three and the triangle were important to him. At the basic level, the bastons are on the outside as they are the first level of training. The outer triangle is the stick, as stick trains knife (the second "tier" of symbols in the logo), and knife trains empty hand. Everything leads to the skull, as all aspects of the art are for combat and real combat involves lethality. The red triangle immediately follows the blades and precedes the skull. This symbolizes blood. When blades are drawn for real, blood soon flows.

The triangle is inverted, as you point out. Part of this is aesthetic, as Apohan Tuhan Albo thought it looked better this way. There is some symbolism behind the inverted triangle as well, though. Having your system's name "Albo Kali Silat" inscribed above the point of a triangle can be taken by some as indicating that you view your art as "the pinnacle" of arts. Apohan Tuhan Albo was incredibly skilled, but he was a very humble person in many ways and had respect for many systems and honored his many teachers. He saw Albo Kali Silat as very valuable, very effective, but would never say it was "THE way" or exalt it above all other arts and systems. Secondly, the inverted triangle symbolizes some of the angled stepping, into lateral attacking movements conducted in some Albo Kali Silat footwork. Thirdly, the point of the triangle seems to point to the viewer rather than to heaven or the name of the art. This is a good way to remind the student that, in real combat, you are the focus of the attack. Your actions and skill will determine whether you live or die, not the actions that could be performed by your teacher, not the skill sets contained in the art, but what you, right now, are capable of doing.

[WuLord187]

That's deep I always wondered what the logo meaned.