Indonesian Pencak Silat is a traditional martial art that has been known since a long time ago. The ancestors have used pencak silat movements for ritual worship activities or for self-defense. The martial arts movement used by the ancestors came from the movement of animals mimicked into the martial movement to defend themselves from harm.
Increasingly, martial arts is not only used for self-defense, but martial arts has evolved into an art, life style and health movement. Pencak Silat movement is so artistic make pencak silat looks beautiful and much preferred national and international society. Pencak silat is also often displayed as a dance, because its movements have regular patterns and have high artistic value.
Image : Pencak Silat
Pencak Silat movement that requires the whole body to move can make pencak silat as an effective activity to exercise. By combining between gestures and art, pencak silat becomes a sport that is contested in SEA Game matches. To know more about Indonesian pencak silat, @AllAboutArts will discuss more in depth about all matters of Pencak Silat. Let's check it out....
History of Pencak Silat In Indonesia
Silat has been known in Southeast Asia southeast 1948. Some countries in Southeast Asia that also have pencak silat such as, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Southern Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. In Indonesia itself, the word "silat" is better known as "pencak silat". The word "pencak" used to be widely used in Java, while "silat" is widely used in Sumatra, Borneo and Malay Peninsula. To equate the mention of silat in Indonesia, then combined words "pencak" and "silat" to "pencak silat" as a designation for martial arts in Indonesia.
Image : Silek Minang
The ancestors of the Indonesian people used to have a self-defense movement for protection from threatening dangers. They created the defense movement by observing animal behavior such as the movement of tigers, apes, snakes, or eagles, which was then used as a silat movement to defend themselves. The origin of this martial arts movement comes from tribes in Indonesia who have skills in playing sharp weapons such as, spear, parang (English :machetes), keris, kujang (English : cleaver) and more. Nias tribe for example, this tribe has a tradition of martial dance that lived until the 20th century is almost not affected by the outside world.
The spread in Indonesia is estimated to have been ongoing since the 7th century AD, but the origins of this source of distribution are not yet known. The great empire that ruled at that time as the Majapahit and Sriwijaya kingdoms were called possessed by powerful warriors and possessing soldiers whose skill in self-defense was undoubtedly. Proof ever existence of martial arts in Indonesia can be seen from artifacts that exist in Borobudur and Prambanan Temple. There are many relief sculptures that display the movements of pencak silat such as kuda-kuda (English : Truss), hitting, kicking.
Image : Keris
In addition to relying on body movement, Pencak Silat is also closely related to spiritual relationships close to the culture of Indonesia. The influence of martial arts from China and India also influences the value of Indonesian martial values. Pencak silat has been known by the majority of the Malay clan community in various terms. In Singapore and Malaysia, silat is better known as gayong and cekak. In the southern Philippines known as pasilat, while in Thailand known as bersilat. From there, we can know that the mention of martial arts widely used in Southeast Asia is the word silat.
Spread of Indonesian Pencak Silat
The spread of Indonesian pencak silat is spread verbally and word of mouth, taught by teachers to their students, so that the written documentation of recognizing the origins of pencak silat in Indonesia is hard to find. The history of Indonesian pencak silat is told through folklore and legend, told from one area to another. Minangkabau legend, silat or in Minangkabau language "silek", created by Datuk Suri Diraja from Pariangan, Tanah Datar at the foot of Mount Merapi (11th century).
Image : Betawi Tribes Pencak Silat
Silek is then distributed by Minangkabau immigrants to the entire mainland of Southeast Asia. Similarly, the pencak silat genre, Cimade, which in this genre is separated from a woman who observed the movement of monkeys and tigers and then mimicked into a silat movement.
Each region usually has a figure of a fighter who is proud to be the icon of a particular martial arts stream, such as Hang Tuah Malaka commander, Prabu Siliwangi as Pencak Silat figure from Sunda Pajajaran, Gajah Mada which is from Majapahit kingdom, and Si Pitung silat fighter from Betawi tribe, many more silat fighters who became the figure of a pencak silat genre.
Image : Prabu Siliwangi
to be continued to part 2
Thanks for read my article. Follow @AllAboutArts if you interested everything about art.