Pencak Silat Culture
Pencak silat or silat is a martial art which is rooted in Asian culture of the Malays. This martial art is widely known in Indonesia, but can also be found in different variations in different countries spreading the Malays, such as Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and even the southern Philippines and southern Thailand. Thanks to the role of the trainers from Indonesia, Vietnam is also currently has a formidable fighter-fighter.
According to history, the tradition of “Silat” is derived orally and spread from mouth to mouth, are taught from teacher to pupil. Because it’s written record of the origin of martial arts is hard to find. Most of the history of martial arts legend is told through a variety from one region to another. As an example, the origin of martial arts called Cimande stream which tells about a woman who witnessed the fight between tigers and monkeys, and he modeled the movement of animals fighting. The origins of Indonesian martial arts are likely evolved from the skills of Indonesian indigenous tribes in the hunting and fighting with machetes, shields, and spears. As is now encountered in the Nias tribe tradition until the 20th century relatively untouched by outside influences. And now Silat Martial Art has officially entered as a branch sport in international matches, particularly competed in the SEA Games. To understand what Pencak Silat is, one must have an understanding of the history and geography of Indonesia and Malaysia. A string of large and small islands, it's history and cultural development is as diverse as the surface area of the thousands of islands that make up the archipelago. The cultural and administrative center is Java, which has an ancient history of both conquest and invasion, and that enriched the world with a royal culture of great depth and refinement. Most of the best known Pencak Silat styles are from this island. Java's urban centers have given rise to very practical, streetwise forms like Mustika Kwitang and Tjinkrik, as well as the highly practical Pukulan forms. Middle Java created the deceptive style of Setia Hati, while East Java's most famous style is the highly organized Perisai Diri. This form is characterized by it's upright stances and staccato execution. The second-most important island, Sumatra, created the highly characteristic Harimau form, which is sometimes called the crawling tiger form, as opposed to the standing tiger Macan (Matjan) style. Harimau was created by the Minangkabau people. A lesser known style is Kumango which seems adapted for use on a sandy surface, like a beach. Patai hails from the mountainous Bukittingi region, and the combatant seems to try and position himself on higher viewpoint than his opponent. The highly cultured island of Bali, a modern tourist destination, has it's own style called Bhakti Negara Pencak Silat. Deception and evasion characterize this arm and hand technique based style.Pentjak Silat is often divided up into two components - the Pentjak or exercises in proper movement, which are sometimes even dancelike and always graceful, and Silat, which are the highly destructive and lethal applications of the Pentjak. Rather than seeming without use, Pencak is needed to create the proper power generation and reflexes through the creation of leverage and learning to move the entire body as one. Unlike more stylized martial arts, the practical history of Silat never lets its practitioners forget that it is better to have a weapon than not. Knifes, sticks, swords, Okinawan (karate) weapons and more exotic implements are used, sometimes in combination with poisons. Psychological preparation is a necessity of combat as well, and the preparation of the mind takes great care. Pencak Silat practitioners will often prepare themselves mentally to take great punishment from sticks, swords and knifes. The spiritual training can go far beyond that and is intended to create harmony within the practitioner as well. Kebatinan is often still kept secret, although there are more and more teachers who are opening up about this spiritual aspect of Pencak Silat. The Indonesian equivalent of "beserk" is "mataglap", which is a concept that is very important in effective self-defense. The ability to call on one's primal instincts and lose oneself in the moment of the attack can mean the difference between life and death. Pencak Silat is an Indonesian martial art, and practiced extensively in Indonesia. Because Indonesia was a Dutch colony for several centuries, many of the people of Dutch- Indonesian descent came into contact with Pencak Silat, and brought it with them when they emigrated to Holland after Indonesia became independent. It was popular after the war for Dutch people emigrate to countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA, and many Dutch-Indonesians took up this opportunity, spreading Pencak Silat and Pukulan to the USA. Especially Rudy ter Linden and the de Thouars brothers became famous in California, as did masters Willie Wetzel and Jim Ingram in Washington state. Even though Pencak Silat in Indonesia has become more stylized (strong central governments aren't very keen on citizens practicing deadly arts - the same can be seen with Wushu in China), this art will survive and is probably more alive than ever. Source: Pentjak-Silat, the Indonesian Fighting Art, by Howard Alexander, Quintin Chambers and Donn F. Draeger published by Kodansha International (Out Of Print) |
