An Aidilfitri Visit

Over the last one week, emails, SMSs, chats, phone calls and wall comments were exchanged by a group of friends we call the Bukit Mas team, a group of silat-mad folk who bounce around looking for masters to study from. Together.

The gamut of communication was to arrange a trip to visit several of our masters for Aidilfitri.

I know, I know, Aidilfitri lasts for only a day in Makkah and most of the world, but this is Malaysia, where we love a celebration and will absorb as much fun from it before it passes. Therefore, Aidilfitri lasts a month over here.

Unfortunately, only 3 of the original 8 members of the team could make it as we live closer to our masters. One is in Sarawak, 2 are in Johor and another one simply too far away to make it on time. Our eight member, Mahrizal, passed away several years ago. May Allah bless his soul and relieve him of his burdens in the hereafter.

Several days before, I represented the group to arrange a visit to guru Dahlan Karim's (Silat Setiabakti) house. I called him again just as I was leaving the office at 6pm, and he confirmed that we should be arriving at his home at 8pm. We normally wouldn't visit him that early, but he had a 9.30pm class last night and we didn't want to impose on him.

We did a virtual roll-call. Who would be attending? Myself. Cikgu Norazlan Wahid of Silat Kuntau Tekpi (and also administrator and co-founder of SilatMelayu.Com - yes... there are plans to rehabilitate that site) and cikgu Zainudin Ismail, whom we call 'ustaz' because of his penchat for religious coffee table talk (which we love, by the way).

Tagging along, is the mercurial cikgu Firdaus, whom we call Maulana for his facial similarity to the sheikhs of old and cikgu Yazid Abdul Rani and family of Lian Padukan Pak Mat Kedidi, who would be meeting us there.

I left Putrajaya a little after 6 and made my way through the mad traffic and heavy rain along the MRR2 and managed to land at Surau Al-Taqwa in Keramat where I studied Silat Kuntau Tekpi an hour later. After Maghrib, I intended to stop by my instructor's house, but it was dark inside, and I didn't want to be late. It was already 7.30pm.

I called cikgu Norazlan, whom I call 'Coach' and requested that he begin making his way to cikgu Dahlan's house while I rush over to ustaz's house to pick him up. The traffic was worse than I thought. It was already 8 when ustaz jumped in my car. At least, Coach and Maulana would be there early.

It took us another half hour of wading through cars and water only to be shocked by a phone call by Maulana asking for cikgu Dahlan's address! They weren't even there yet! In all the confusion, I got lost and it took the two of us another 30 mins to find his house. It was now 9pm.

Cikgu Dahlan was gracious as ever. He invited us in. Coach and Maulana were already there, browsing through the dozens of Silat Setiabakti books cikgu Dahlan had written, but had yet to publish. As we entered into his humble double storey terraced home, signages, logos and weapons hung on the wall greeted us, the Setiabakti brand adorning all of them.

Cikgu Fuad, SENI BELADIRI's current editor, was also present to visit cikgu Dahlan.

"I'm getting old," cikgu Dahlan told us over a bowl of sumptuous noodles. "I worry that no one wants to continue studying silat," he confided to us. "But I will continue doing what I'm doing to keep this art alive."

"Quick, simple and effective," he declares, as he quotes Setiabakti's motto.

"That's why I can produce instructors in a short time. The system that I've spent years to build is now complete. Anyone who wants to be an instructor, I welcome wholeheartedly," he baited us.

Just then, his student, Tengku Musa, walks in. "Nadzrin, right?" he asks me and we greet each other. We recognised each other immediately. Tengku Musa is the elusive TM of http://gayanglima.blogspot.com and http://silat.tv.

Tengku Musa recently appeared in SENI BELADIRI magazine with his master, Pak Atan "Air Batu", master of Silat Gayang Lima. Tengku Musa was given permission by cikgu Dahlan to teach Gayang Lima under the auspices of the Akademi Silat Setiabakti in the bangsal he built. The roofed gelanggang cost him RM18,000 to build and includes basic amenities like electricity (by generator), running water and male and female toilets.

"I'm open to anyone who wants to use the gelanggang to teach their styles. I pity those masters who depend on an open air gelanggang. When it rains, they're forced to cancel their class. I built the bangsal for that reason," he sighed.

"Now, I don't hold anything back. If anyone wants to come and learn, I will teach. I'll show them the most effective techniques, nothing kept. Come one day," he said excitedly.

Coach suddenly asked cikgu Dahlan, "Are there no more gendang classes?"

"None. The kids aren't interested. I paid for the lessons," he replied with a sad smile as we chatted over cups of black coffee.

To be continued...

The Origin of Pencak Silat as told by Myths

It is not easy to trace back the history of pencak silat because written documentation is limited and oral information handed down from the guru or masters cannot fully answer all the riddles.

In particular, it is very complicated to determine when and from where pencak silat begun, and who pioneered its spreading. Still, all the experts believe that our Melayu ancestors created and used pencak silat as self-defense technique already in prehistoric times.

Mariun Sudirohadiprodo, a renowned Indonesian pencak silat master and pendekar, for example claims that the animal's character was an inspirational source in the creation of pencak silat techniques and styles:

At the time, the ferocity of wild animals threatened the life of prehistoric people in the archipelago. Being the wild animals their natural enemy, humans had to pay attention to the animals' moves and adopt similar movements as self-defense techniques. They copied the movements of tigers, eagles, snakes, crocodiles, monkeys, scorpions and dragons.

Gradually pencak silat styles were developed out of these observations such as the harimau (tiger) and garuda putih (white eagle) styles. (Marijun Sudirohadiprodjo 1982:1; see also Tisnowati Tamat 1986:15; Murhananto 1993:7)

During my research from 1994 until 1998 I gathered many myths and legends about the origin of pencak silat that stress the role of nature on the development of self-defense techniques in the archipelago. Although the historical value of such myths can be questioned, from an anthropological point of view they are worth attention since they express people's explanations of a certain cultural phenomena.

In this case, pencak silat is considered an integral part and at the same time product of the surrounding environments. For example, in the small island of Bawean on the North coast of Jawa, the dominant legend claims that monkeys were the "pioneers" of pencak silat movements:

Rama Sukana went to the river to do the wash. Suddenly, she saw on the side of the river a pair of monkeys fighting. One of the monkeys repeatedly attacked the other one with a tree's tack while the other monkey was jumping and moving aside to avoid the blows.

Rama Sukana stopped her activities and took notice of the monkeys' fighting techniques. She was so enthusiastic that she did not finish her works and arrived late at home. The husband, Rama Isruna who had been waiting, become hungry and tried to beat her but she used the techniques she had just learned from the monkeys to avoid the husband's attack.

In the end, Rama Istruna became tired and asked his wife where she had learned such fantastic techniques. After Rama Sukama explained to him her experience, the husband asked her to train him. Now these techniques are known as pencak Bawean.

Similar stories are also told in other Indonesian provinces. In West Jawa, the Cimande style is said to derive from the wife of Mba Kaher who learned her techniques from a tiger fighting with a monkey. In Sumatra, the myth narrates how silat techniques were conceptualized by observing the fight of a big bird with a tiger. Also in neighboring Malaysia, such stories are popular:

One day in a village, a housewife who was carrying food in a basket above her head was attacked by a group of birds that tried to steal her food .The housewife tried to move from the right to the left and from the left to the right to avoid the attack of the birds. She also kept moving forward and back, trying to skim them with the hands. Doing so, she lost time and arrived late at home.

She tried to explain to her furious husband what had happened, but he would not accept it. He attacked her and she had to defend herself with the same movements she had just practiced with the birds. The husband was unable to touch her, eventually got tired, and finally asked her to teach him the techniques she had just employed. With dedication, he practiced with his wife and developed what is now known as seni silat. (Tuan Ismail Tuan Soh 1991:36-37)

It is interesting to note that most of these myths give a prominent role to women as the initiators of pencak silat, in sharp contrast with today reality where men dominate the pencak silat world and only few women pendekar can still be found. Women's dominance does not imply that mythology totally neglects men as can be seen from the following Jawa legend:

There was a young man who watched some flowers fall into the river and being carried by the stream flow towards the waterfalls. The young man thought that the flowers would be completely shattered by the waterfalls but to his surprise this did not happen. Every time the flowers ended under a waterfall they soon reappeared pushed up by the upside down stream. From this experience, the young man was inspired to create attack and counter-attack movements. (Summary from Chambers and Draegar in Tuan Ismail Tuan Soh 1991:37-38)

Notwithstanding the different sex of the various protagonists, all these myths concur that pencak silat was inspired by nature. Our ancestors spontaneously developed their self-defense techniques by observing natural phenomena that occurred in their daily life. With this new knowledge, tribal groups were able to contain the many dangers that surrounded them. In the following centuries, these instinctive movements were adapted to new arising needs and in due time became a well-thought self-defense system.

References
Marijun Sudirohadiprodjo
1982 Pencak Silat Kita Dihari Kemudian, Bulletin KONI no.7, hlm.10-14
Murhananto
1993 Menyelami Pencak Silat, Jakarta: Puspa Swara
Tisnowati Tamat
1986 Pelajaran Dasar Pencak Silat, Jakarta: Maswar.
Tuan Ismail Tuan Soh
Silat Sekebun; Seni Silat Melayu Dengan Tumpuan Kepada Seni. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Kementrian Pendidikan Malaysia.

Sourced from Rapid Journal, Vol 4, No. 3 (Book 13, 1999: 38 – 39)© O'ong Maryono
www.kpsnusantara.com

Eid Mubarak 1429

Eid Mubarak, Min al Aidin wal Faizin, Maaf Zahir dan Batin. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all readers of Silat Melayu: The Blog. We will be taking a one week break for the festival and we'll see you back here soon.

In the meantime, do drop by Silat.TV to express your support. That's where everyone is. Is that where you aren't?

SEAArch recommends this blog

A big thank you to SouthEastAsian Archeology Newsblog for mentioning Silat Melayu: The Blog in their Wednesday Rojak #28 post. We appreciate the acknowledgement.

PSSKTM Annual Gathering & Silat Festival

Pertubuhan Seni Silat Kuntau Tekpi Malaysia is organising its Annual Gathering & Silat Festival and cordially invite all interested pesilat and martial artists to attend.

The event will be marked by silat demonstrations and the opportunity to network among different martial stylists, regardless of origin.

For those who know, it will be held at Pak Guru Sani Zainol Abidin's home in Baling.

Date: 30 Nov 2008
Time: 10.00am
Venue: Kg. Siput, Mukim Weng, Baling, Kedah

If you want to RSVP your attendance, click here

For more information on the event or specific address, contact Cikgu Norazlan Wahid