The Traditional Pencak Silat Preservers Forum

[nasigoreng]

Hello to everyone.
I would like to bring to everyone's attention a relatively new organization based in Jakarta Indonesia whose purpose is to attempt to research, document, and preserve traditional pencak silat: The Traditional Silat Enthusiasts and Preservers Forum (Forum Pecinta & Pelestarian Silat Traditional


Their website is silatindonesia.com and features articles written by teachers as well as current events in the area.

I've been asked to translate some of these articles and i've been doing the best i can with my limited Bahasa Indonesia skills but i'm in way over my head. I would like to invite anyone with competant Indonesian skills to volunteer their time for this worthy cause. Please PM for more details.

This article introduces the group (translated by yours truly):

The Traditional Silat Enthusiasts and Preservers Forum

Pencak Silat, as an Indonesian and Southeast Asian art form, has been experiencing rapid development. The evidence for this can be seen in all the competitors from many different foreign countries becoming more and more active in the regional and international competitions. The numbers of Pencak Silat training centers in foreign countries have been mushrooming, especially in Holland, France, England, and even The United States.

This is certainly gratifying for the Pencak Silat community. The process of standardizing the training methods, jurus (forms), and competition rules will make it even easier to spread Pencak Silat to all corners of the world. However, in the middle of this process, something has been left out and that is what is people refer to as Traditional Silat. Traditional Silat is now arduously trying to maintain its existence but is currently threatened by the presence of foreign martial arts in Indonesia that are incessantly promoted. The lack of organization amongst Silat advocates and the exclusiveness or esotericism surrounding Pencak Silat training have allowed these foreign martial arts to flourish.

Pencak Silat is a martial art from Indonesia. It is a very old discipline, it’s even been suggested that it has been in existence since the Indonesian archipelago began to be populated several thousand years ago. The movements and principles of Pencak Silat were applied in the daily activities by the early Southeast Asian cultures. Some of these simple movements can even be seen on several relief decorating the Borobudur Temple.

Pencak Silat was born from the unique cultural perception of early Indonesians in how they viewed the relationship between the natural environment, themselves, and God. This continuously developing interaction and deep contemplation has given birth to the concepts “Olah Rasa”(spiritual training), “Olah Raga” (sport or physical training), and “Olah Pikir” (mental training). These concepts are the foundation for Pencak Silat philosophy, which in practice, are diverse in conception and in implementation.

Aside from the philosophical aspects mentioned above, traditional Pencak Silat has been influenced by individuals and culture since its beginning. This has made present-day Indonesia one of the world’s largest resources for combative science. Because of the multi-tiered nature of most regions in Indonesia, there can be many different kinds of Silat styles in every province.


Traditional Pencak Silat is of such importance in Indonesia because it can be considered a kind of investment capital for the (mental and spiritual) development of the nation. With a little bit of attention, planning, and good management, Pencak Silat can become the foundation for the development of Indonesian national character (“National Character Building”)

This is because Traditional Pencak Silat contains the fundamental philosophy necessary to build or form the human character or national identity (The element of feeling which is concerned with the spiritual/religious, the physical element which is concerned with the health of the body, and the mental element which is concerned with intellectualism and civilized behavior). Aside from being one of the tools that can be used to develop the national character, Traditional Silat also has the potential to become a cultural legacy that is highly valued. When managed using the principles of modern business, Pencak Silat can function as a medium to introduce the Indonesian culture to the world and improve the country’s reputation abroad.

Using the framework above, our goal has been to re-introduce, promote and preserve Indonesia’s martial arts’ through documentation and writing articles. After considering suggestions and opinions from our peers regarding how to proceed, we decided to focus our first article on a style of Traditional Pencak Silat that comes from the Tanah Abang neighborhood in Jakarta. This style is called Silat Sabeni (named after the founder Engkong Sabeni).

We are often processing articles like the one regarding Silat Sabeni mentioned above and our goal is to eventually document different styles and release the information in the form of a book. The Internet is one of our most important tools for finding and sharing information.

During our search for more information online, we found something very interesting. The number of Pencak Silat websites from Indonesia was less than those originating from outside of Southeast Asia. Not only that, these foreign websites offered information on Pencak Silat that appeared more complete, up to date, and better organized. While it’s encouraging to know there are so many aficionados of Pencak Silat throughout the world, it can also be considered ironic that foreigners are more committed to preserving information about Indonesia’s cultural legacy than Indonesians themselves!

Two of the websites we visited were kpsnusantara and silatindoneisia.com. Through the silatbogor@yahoogroups.com discussion board, we posted our first article entitled “The Sabeni Silat System from Tanah Abang. The response we received through the message board was appreciative and posting the article resulted in a lot of discussion that was productive and enlightening. These online discussions eventually led to real-world meetings with the goal of establishing camaraderie with the Sabeni clan and practicing this style together.

As our real-world meetings became more frequent and on-line discussions became more in-depth, the scope of our research became broader. Suddenly, our focus wasn’t discussing the single Silat style above but many different Silat systems from Indnonesia (this was rather unexpected).

Through the yahoo discussion group, our peers offered many thoughts and ideas, which were all accompanied by a commitment to promote and preserve the Traditional Pencak Silat systems. This became our goal and we tried to develop a basic framework about Indonesia’s traditional martial arts. From this interaction came the idea to begin an informal organization unaffiliated with other organizations, but inclusive of all groups. Thus was born the Forum Pecinta and Pelestari Silat Traditional (The Traditional Silat Preservers and Enthusiasts Fourm), an organization for all people interested in the development of Traditional Silat.

While still in its developing stages, an event was successfully held which was historical for the organization. This event was the first meeting at the Padepokan (training center) Pencak Silat Indonesia on Saturday, June 10, 2006 where our organization received the support and assistance of one of Indonesia’s Pencak Silat icons: Mas O’ong Maryono.

This and subsequent meetings were attended by respected figures like Mas Suhartono, Bapak Edward, Bapak Haji Aziz and Ki Sawung and representatives from the Suci Hati organization. We were touched by their support and interest in helping to preserve traditional Indonesian Martial Arts. During the course of these meetings, the goals of our organization were refined thus:

1.The documentation of Traditional Pencak Silat (the scope of our research for the time being, limited to the greater Jakarta area).

2.Promotion of Silat to the young generation.

3.Training in Traditioanl Silat

4.Establishing the Forum as a legal organization (Yayasan)

The most important result of the meetings above, was the crystallization of our organization’s Vision and Mission which are:

Vision: Traditional Silat can become a cultural asset for the nation of Indonesia and function as a tool for the education and formation of national character and pride.

Mission: To inspire and promote love for and preserve Indonesia’s traditional martial arts.

In order to achieve our Vision and Mission, it will be necessary to develop a strategy and a program to implement both long and short-term goals along with a process for budgeting. At the time of this writing these programs and goals are still being devised by members of the Forum. Because the Forum members are all pressured by their own work constraints, progress has been slow. Already active, however, are the monthly meetings that discuss and analyze one Silat style in all aspects including: history, philosophy, forms (jurus), and application.

The monthly discussions represent the Forum’s initial program and it is hoped that these meetings will facilitate the mapping and compellation of data on different styles. Apart from that, these meetings also allow devotees to interact directly with a genuine source and this will hopefully put an end to any distortions or untruths that arise when information isn’t spread directly.

The Forum’s journey indeed, is still long and if we can make the comparison, the Forum is like a new baby learning how to walk. Always beginning with small steps and the inevitable tumbles before the baby can walk and run. It is hoped that our small steps can become big and meaningful for the continuation of Pencak Silat for the public, and Traditional Silat in particular.

Eko Hadi S. (Member of SilatBogor emailgroup)
July 18th,2006. Jakarta.

[Gajah Silat]

Interesting post Nasigoreng(about time we had something interesting to disagree about ).

To illustrate a point, I suggest going into a bookshop in Indonesia. You will struggle to find a book on silat. However, the shelves will be full of Karate, TKD, JJJ etc. books.........

Now, in the kampung, things are a little different. Look below the surface and there is a lot more silat going on than meets the eye-although this may be hard for your average westerner to unearth.

Although I would never underestimate the importance of IPSI in the preservation of silat, I do sometimes worry about the homogenisation of silat. I shudder at the thought of some pan-global standardised sport silat....bosan sekali For me at least, that loses part of the essence of adaptability and we end up back with, "counter move A with move B".

Silat, as I know it, has a degree of commonality, but surely part of it's strength is it's diversity

What would be a great loss is this....

That guy in a village in Indonesia, who might be a farmer, builder, school teacher, a professor of anthropology (I've met all of these )...........you try an attack and he counters with something that you are not familiar with, it catches you completely off guard, and it worked.

His father taught him that, his grandfather taught his father and so on.

I think, standardisation can lose those unusual, quirky, dirty, viscious & nasty moves and even worse lose the mentality that uses them.

What do you guys think?

[Ular Sawa]

I completely agree. Standardization will naturally promote sport ready, competition oriented techniques. The quirky, nasty stuff and the accompanying mentality will eventually disappear. You might end up with something that looks real nice at demonstrations though.

One of the great things about Silat is the diversity. The danger is that someone's nephew may have no interest in learning the family system and it eventully is lost. Any effort to preserve traditional Silat is admirable or someday people may be doing something watered down that looks more like karate or tae kwon do.

[Wali]

How can you standardise so many different elements and systems, without effectively killing off 99% of an already diminishing art.

Having set standards for all is great for competition, as it places eveyone on a fair and level playing field. This doesn't apply to non-competition, specially if we all remember how these silat styles first developed, for example, by the surrounding environments. So a Sumatran silat man would required different tools to a Bandung silat man, etc... etc...

It's a noble effort to bring back silat to the peoples attention, but they should be careful that they don't take away from the essence and spirit of the art.

Cheers,
Wali

[Kiai Carita]

Originally Posted by Wali

How can you standardise so many different elements and systems, without effectively killing off 99% of an already diminishing art.
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ........
It's a noble effort to bring back silat to the peoples attention, but they should be careful that they don't take away from the essence and spirit of the art.

Cheers,
Wali

These guys are very aware of the danger of standardising all silat and that is NOT what they want to do. At the moment what they are doing is more identifying traditional silat and bringing teachers to Jakarta to teach or demonstrate. We have had Sabeni fro Tanah Abang Jakarta, Cingkrik Goning from Jakarta too, we have had a Cikalong tour and so on. There is no attempt to standardise moves and philosophy like IPSI has done.

This group grew out of the silatbogor mailing list, when discussing events in the USA: Sera being trademarked, Mustika Kwitang having a Grand Master in the USA, the best Cimande coming from California, and other things. So it is more a network rather than an organization, at the moment. To date we have only been able to bring silat masters from around Jakarta, but in the future we plan to have a Malay family-wide silat festival, with groups from all over the world. Especially as some silat styles through Dutch Indos are extinct in Indonesia but are alive in the West, for example silat Kuntao Macan in Canada.

There is some effort to standardize language though, but that is natural. What is more important is the old hidden teachers are now getting the opportunity to get seriously silat minded students who have a commitment to preserve their art. For Western pesilats, this grup and its network is a very handy contact point as they meet once a week in Jakarta and have information and contacts with nearly ALL the silat in this country.

Warm salaams,
Bram

[Wali]

Originally Posted by Kiai Carita

These guys are very aware of the danger of standardising all silat and that is NOT what they want to do. At the moment what they are doing is more identifying traditional silat and bringing teachers to Jakarta to teach or demonstrate. We have had Sabeni fro Tanah Abang Jakarta, Cingkrik Goning from Jakarta too, we have had a Cikalong tour and so on. There is no attempt to standardise moves and philosophy like IPSI has done.

This group grew out of the silatbogor mailing list, when discussing events in the USA: Sera being trademarked, Mustika Kwitang having a Grand Master in the USA, the best Cimande coming from California, and other things. So it is more a network rather than an organization, at the moment. To date we have only been able to bring silat masters from around Jakarta, but in the future we plan to have a Malay family-wide silat festival, with groups from all over the world. Especially as some silat styles through Dutch Indos are extinct in Indonesia but are alive in the West, for example silat Kuntao Macan in Canada.

There is some effort to standardize language though, but that is natural. What is more important is the old hidden teachers are now getting the opportunity to get seriously silat minded students who have a commitment to preserve their art. For Western pesilats, this grup and its network is a very handy contact point as they meet once a week in Jakarta and have information and contacts with nearly ALL the silat in this country.

Warm salaams,
Bram

Hi Bram,

I didn't specifically mean these guys, but just generalising....

Hope your keeping well....

[slipthejab]

Not a Silat practitioner myself but gotta say... very interesting thread.

[Kiai Carita]

Originally Posted by Wali

Hi Bram,

I didn't specifically mean these guys, but just generalising....

Hope your keeping well....

Hi Martin, I am keeping well thank you. Still in Jawa Timur at the moment, untill the end of the year. I think I'll try to get back for the Xmas shoppers.

Standardizing in silat is going on anyway, whther people like it or not. As the government wants silat to be an Olympic sport, there needs to be standards and athletes need to be guaranteed that they will stay alive after losing a fight. So the silat becomes sport oriented, and becomes a sport. It becomes uniform, like IPSI's kembangan and jurus-jurus, are boring and uniform.

On the other hand there is the preservation of silat, like the guys in Jakarta are doing with Cikalong, Sterlak, Cingkrik Goning, Mustika Kwitang and others. This is important, or else we will end up with silat only as a sport.

And there are also the new silats, hybrids like Tarung Drajat Boxer in Bandung, repackaged ones like Satria Nusantara or Hikmatul Iman, and the silat now developing in the West.

I think all these kinds of silat and all this development is legit even though myself I prefer traditional silat taught traditionally. Silat moves and doesn't stay still.

Warm salaams,
Bram.

[slipthejab]

Originally Posted by Kiai Carita

And there are also the new silats, hybrids like Tarung Drajat Boxer in Bandung

anyone have any more info or clips of this style of Silat?
A quick search didn't turn up much in english language... but a fair bit in bahasa.

http://duel.melsa.net.id/ProfilAA02.html
http://www.presidensby.info/index.ph...2/03/1333.html
http://aaboxer.blogsome.com/2006/05/...rung-drajat-2/

[Pekir]

If this group attemps to enlighten more on the 'kampung' silat it would be a big gain for the whole of the silat community. On my (to few) visits to my relatives in Jakarta I really got the idea that there still is a lot under the surface of what is obvious to see. We have all heard about the bigger well known aliran, styles and pergeruan. Up to the extend that they almost have 'no secrets left'. I have this theory that because we know these big aliran so well we've come to describe silat's history by their development. I wonder if this image would be still true when we got to know more about those very small and little 'kampung' silat activities. So if this initiative is an attempt to get an insight on these traditional 'kampung' persilats it would be a very valuable addition to what we know now.

I agree that it seems the most attention is directed to the sports side of silat and I'm one of those who have a dinstinctive perspective on it's influence on the development of silat in the future. It's O.K. that there is sports but I also think it's a shame if within ten years we only know olah raga and have forgotten about bela diri and the original variaty of styles. Watching the olah raga competition internationally doesn't make me all to happy. You can't debate they are fighting fiercly, but you can debate if it has something to do with silat. Just a humble opinion btw... Aby serious attempt to safeguard the traditional silat should have a fair chance a far as I'm concerned.

As far as Kiai Carita point in regard to dutch indo silat that has become extinct in Indonesia. I personally think it would be great if there was a means to find out if there still are connections to make, even if the styles have drifted apart a bit. It would probably also shed some light on 'claims' and the usage of origin names that sound (to say the least) somewhat peculiar to he Indonesians. In regard to this I believe most of those situations are due to misunderstanding and lack of communication and not so much ill intentions.

Pekir

[nready]

Agree interesting an i for once got taught something about tone in writing hum! Ask, and you receive well there i see tone is the ability to create in the subtext a vision of what you mean! At lest that is what i got from you post -nasigoreng. I am quite moved by the fact you put your heart right out there.
I can only hope you get a positive end to this.

So, the only thing i can say being from another style of martial arts (Chinese Martial arts) is that do not drop the medical side i have heard involved an do encourage festivals based around your cultures ideas both in India an in other countries(America, France, England, wherever you can).

What i have seen of the India system of martial arts marmon so on an silat and the Penka system is interesting like this thread.

[Rebo Paing]

Originally Posted by nasigoreng

Hello to everyone.
...
Traditional Pencak Silat is of such importance in Indonesia because it can be considered a kind of investment capital for the (mental and spiritual) development of the nation. With a little bit of attention, planning, and good management, Pencak Silat can become the foundation for the development of Indonesian national character (“National Character Building”)

This is because Traditional Pencak Silat contains the fundamental philosophy necessary to build or form the human character or national identity (The element of feeling which is concerned with the spiritual/religious, the physical element which is concerned with the health of the body, and the mental element which is concerned with intellectualism and civilized behavior).

Aside from being one of the tools that can be used to develop the national character, Traditional Silat also has the potential to become a cultural legacy that is highly valued. When managed using the principles of modern business, Pencak Silat can function as a medium to introduce the Indonesian culture to the world and improve the country’s reputation abroad.

....

Eko Hadi S. (Member of SilatBogor emailgroup)
July 18th,2006. Jakarta.

Maaf ya Mas Eko for my disagreement (yes, it's a translation by nasi-goreng) ... but 'national identity'?
That is also about homogenity. It would be a mistake to make "silat values" the yardstick for a national identity. In the end, "silat values" are followed by an individual through choice ... not because it's foisted on us because it is part of some groups notion that it should form part of a national identity!

My other disagreement is perhaps more predictable of me, that I think there is no such thing as 'traditional silat' ... unless it has been codified and is static, not accepting outside influence ... in other words a museum exhibit.

I agree with Senor Gajah Silat except I don't over-value IPSI.

And finally ... Bram, what do you really mean when you say " ... even though myself I prefer traditional silat taught traditionally. " Don't hold back now! This is more like it ... "Silat moves and doesn't stay still". Very true!

Silat is martial insight taught one on one, or through family (which originally began one on one). That is tradition!

An organisation cannot bestow insight, and it's ways are too general for the journey to one's pinnacle.


Salam,

Krisno

[Gajah Silat]

I agree with Senor Gajah Silat except I don't over-value IPSI.

LOL 'Om' Krisno, I was just trying to be diplomatic & give a little credit

"Silat moves and doesn't stay still". Very true!

Absolutely, then we have a bit of a quandry! How do we preserve something that is more of a process than an object?

But then again, silat kampung is subject to change because of the traditional manner in which its taught. Each successive teacher will add their own flavour & influence, maybe leave something out they don't like...maybe add something they do.....

We all express our silat slightly differently to our teacher, don't we?

So we could say, being fluid, adaptive and dynamic is a lot more traditional than a bookful of standard jurus2 & what not

[Rebo Paing]

Originally Posted by Gajah Silat

Absolutely, then we have a bit of a quandry! How do we preserve something that is more of a process than an object?

You have answered already GS! We preserve the process.

Originally Posted by Gajah Silat

But then again, silat kampung is subject to change because of the traditional manner in which its taught. Each successive teacher will add their own flavour & influence, maybe leave something out they don't like...maybe add something they do.....

We all express our silat slightly differently to our teacher, don't we?

So we could say, being fluid, adaptive and dynamic is a lot more traditional than a bookful of standard jurus2 & what not

Exactly!
First we copy. We try to understand principles. We adapt and refine to the dictates of our body and spirit, and it becomes our own expression through the passage of practice over time .

Salam,
Krisno

[nasigoreng]

First we copy. We try to understand principles. We adapt and refine to the dictates of our body and spirit, and it becomes our own expression through the passage of practice over time.

Here's a fitting parable:

"When the finger points to the moon, the fool looks at the finger."

I was told by a Chinese martial arts teacher that in the next 30 years most of the kungfu masters/experts will be foreigners. The same thing is happening with Indonesian martial arts. Can it be fixed? How?

I think the most important aspects that need to be developed are the teaching methodology and promotion.


It's one thing to earn the rank of 'teacher', it's quite another to try and 'teach' your knowledge. Because silat teachers most likely learned 1-on-1 from their teacher, they don't know how to manage a class of 5 or 10 students. I think it would be interesting if local teachers sat-in on a class taught by a Western silat teacher in order to compare teaching styles. Perhaps training equipment can be introduced so the students can develop their attributes (speed, timing, accuracy).

Aside from improving the teaching methodology, i think there needs to be a change in how silat is promoted. I would like to see schools create life-like self-defense scenarios to demonstrate their knowledge. It would be much more interesting to see how a man wearing office clothes uses p.s. than watching the students demonstrate techniques on soft mats in the school.

It would be a mistake to make "silat values" the yardstick for a national identity. In the end, "silat values" are followed by an individual through choice ... not because it's foisted on us because it is part of some groups notion that it should form part of a national identity!

But isn't the individual and their decision-making process shaped by things they have learned and experienced? Can martial arts training impact a person and their character/morality? I've noticed that schools offering children's MA classes in the USA often advertise with statements like "teaches responsibility, respect, discipline, how to set goals, etc...." Why can't PS claim the same thing?

In countries like Japan and Korea the local martial arts are regarded as a cultural legacy and part of the national identity. It was such a big stereotype back when i was a kid: we thought all Asians knew karate or kungfu. In Japan we see Iado/Kendo, judo, jiu-jitsu, akido, various karate, and kenpo. In Korea there's Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, Kuk Sul Won, HwarangDo, etc... So the styles don't have to be homogenized into one mess to be preserved, they only have to remain effective.

An organisation cannot bestow insight, and it's ways are too general for the journey to one's pinnacle.

This group is not a teaching organization. They are trying to research and promote indonesian martial arts to their own people. They research a martial art, write an article about it, and provide contact information for people who are interested and want to meet the instructor.

things are much different in Indonesia than in the West: martial arts from outside Indonesia are openly promoted (TKD, Akido, Capoeira,etc...) while pencak silat is just fading away into obscurity. Unless this changes, Indonesians will have to travel abroad to learn about their own traditional fighting systems.