Pencak Silat

In Indonesia, the official name used to indicate more than 800 martial arts schools and styles spread across more than 13,000 islands is "pencak silat". However, this is actually a compound name consisting of two terms used in different regions. The word "pencak" and its dialectic derivatives such as "penca" West Java and "mancak" (Madura and Bali) is commonly used in Java, Madura and Bali, whereas the term "silat" or "silek" is used in Sumatra. The ambition to unify all these different cultural expressions in a common terminology as part of declaring Indonesia's unity and independence from colonial power, was first expressed in 1948 with the establishment of the Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia (Indonesian Pencak Silat Association, IPSI). However, it could only be realized in 1973 when representatives from different schools and styles finally formally agreed to the use of "pencak silat" in official discourse, albeit original terms are still widely used at the local level.

Many of the readers may wonder what pencak silat actually is. In the Philippines, with its many martial arts forms, pencak silat is still relatively unknown. And yet, pencak silat is part of our common Malay culture which covers Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines and some small islands close to them. In all these countries pencak silat can be found although its name may vary. In Malaysia, people talks of "bersilat" to indicate their self-defense techniques comprising more than 260 different styles.

The same term is also used in Singapore and in South Thailand, while in Brunei Darussalam and the Southern Philippines people use the shortest version of "silat". In other Philippine regions, the term "pasilat" is also used. According to Mark Wiley, pencak silat entered the Philippines from Riau and together with the Chinese martial art of Kuntao influenced the development of "Kali", which he and other martial arts experts consider the "mother art of the Philippines" or the source of all martial arts in the country.

In my country, Indonesia, the official name used to indicate more than 800 martial arts schools and styles spread across more than 13,000 islands is "pencak silat". However, this is actually a compound name consisting of two terms used in different regions. The word "pencak" and its dialectic derivatives such as "penca" (West Java) and "mancak" (Madura and Bali) is commonly used in Java, Madura and Bali, whereas the term "silat" or "silek" is used in Sumatra. The ambition to unify all these different cultural expressions in a common terminology as part of declaring Indonesia's unity and independence from colonial power, was first expressed in 1948 with the establishment of the Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia (Indonesian Pencak Silat Association, IPSI). However, it could only be realized in 1973 when representatives from different schools and styles finally formally agreed to the use of "pencak silat" in official discourse, albeit original terms are still widely used at the local level.

The richness of terms reflects a wide diversity in styles and techniques across the regions due to the fact that pencak silat has been developed by different masters who have created their own style according to their preferences and to the physical environment and social-cultural context in which they live. Lets take as example West Java, Central Java and West Sumatra. West Java is inhabited by a specific ethnic group with specific cultural and social norms. For them, pencak silat is part of their way of life or as they say is "the blood in their body". In their language they say "penca" or "menpo" (from "maen poho', which literally means play with trickery) to indicate their main four styles Cimande, Cikalong, Timbangan, and Cikaret and all the schools and techniques which have derived from them. The Sundanese people have always utilized penca/mempo' for self-defense and recreation, and only recently have started to use it as a sport in national and regional competitions. In its self-defense form, using hands fighting techniques combined with a series of characteristic footsteps such as langka sigzag (zigzag step), langka tilu (triangular step), langka opat (quadrangular step) and langka lam alip, penca can be very dangerous. Therefore it is kept secret and, especially its magic (tenaga dalam or inner power) component is only taught in phases to selected students.

Penca as art (penca ibing) has been a source of inspiration for traditional Sundanese dances such as Jaepongan, Ketu'tilu', Dombret, and Cikeruhan and actually it resembles dance in its use of music instruments. These instruments, called "pencak drummers" (gendang penca), are devoted exclusively to penca performances and consist of two sets of drummers (gendang anak dan kulantir), a trumpet (tetet) and a gong. Pencak performances also use standard music rhythms such as tepak dua, tepak tilu, tepak dungdung, golempang and paleredan. Penca as art is not considered dangerous and can be openly shown to everyone. From generation to generation until today, penca performances animate wedding parties, rituals of circumcision, celebrations of the rice harvest and all kind of national festivities.

Differently from West Java, in Central Java, Javanese people have traditionally used pencak only for self-defense and are not inclined to show it in public. Furthermore, the spiritual aspect (kebatinan) is much more dominant. This is probably related to the fact that pencak silat in Central Java developed from the Sultanate of Yogyakarta and later expanded to surrounding neighborhoods after

the kingdoms lost their political role in the XV and XVI centuries. In the keraton (Sultan's palace) pencak silat had undergone a transformation from pure martial art to be used in combat, to an elaborate form of spiritual and humanistic education. In this later form it spread outside the keraton walls where it developed the use of self-defense techniques to reach spiritual awareness as well as the use of inner powers to attain supernatural physical strengths.


Again pencak silat in West Sumatra is a different cultural expression in both its forms and meaning. Similarly to West Java, in West Sumatra a distinction is made between self-defense, called sile' or silat, and the related art version called pencak which has influenced many traditional dances such as Sewah, Alo Ambek and Gelombang. The ethnic group of Minangkabau who lives around the Merapi Mountain in West Sumatra regard silat as their village's heirloom (pusaka anak nagari) which is meant for the youth to defend themselves while traveling ashore and it is not intended for outsiders. Instead, pencak as a dance is accessible to everybody. In this region almost every village (nagari) has a different style (aliran) of silat as reflected by the many names, some of which refer to the founders (like Silat Tuanku Ulakan, Silat Pakik Rabun, Silat Malin Marajo) and some to the original locations where the style was developed (Silat Kumango, Silat Lintau, Silat Starlak, Silat Pauh, Silat Painan, Silat Sungai Patai and Silat Fort de Kock). These styles can be classified into two main groups according to the foot-stands (kuda-kuda) they use. In the coastal area, silat styles use a very low kuda-kuda and prefer hand techniques whereas in the mountain area the kuda-kuda is higher and foot techniques are dominant. This is due to the different environments in which silat has developed. On the sand, a high kuda-kuda would not be stable and in the mountain, where the ground is oblique and uneven, a low kuda-kuda would be impossible to practice. As a Minangkabau proverb says: "Alam takambang menjadi guru" (the surrounding nature is our teacher).

These styles and regional diversities are only few arbitrary examples to show what a rich cultural phenomena pencak silat is in Indonesia. Much more needs to be said about its origin, history, techniques and social role, but this will be for another time.

In Indonesia, the adventures of women warriors are often depicted in traditional theater forms, such as the wayang kulit (leather puppets) and wayang orang (human puppets). In the story of Mahabarata, Srikandi is a women warrior who uses her arrow and piles to kill various giants symbolizing wickedness. This story from the Hindu epics serves as guidance to the Javanese people and symbolizes that from time to time 'Srikandi' will be born to defend the country.


And indeed, Javanese history is full of examples of women warriors. Since the Hindu times, women in Java and Bali fulfilled leading roles. For example, after leading many battles, Queen Sima reigned the Kalingga (842 ca) and Queen Rakryan Binihaji Parameswari Dyah Kebi ruled the Singasari Kingdom (1015 ca). In more recent times, during the Java War against the Dutch (1825-1830) Prince (Pangeran) Diponogoro employed two women as commanders, while during the Aceh War (1873 -1892) one of the most famous leader was Cut Nya'din who with her rencong (Acehese kris: double -bladed dagger) courageously fought against the Dutch colonialists.

The combative role of women is also reflected in the developments of pencak silat. We cannot forget that women have contributed to the origin of pencak silat, at least according to various legends and myths. In Indonesia people believe that pencak silat was first practiced by a women who imitated the movements of animals she had seen fighting to defend herself from her angry husband. For example, in the small island of Bawean on the North coast of Java, the dominant legend claims that a woman was the pioneer of pencak silat learning her techniques from some monkeys:

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 enthusiast 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 Java, the Cimande style is said to derive from the wife of Aba Kaher who learned her techniques from a tiger fighting with a monkey. 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)

Women are not only present in the myths, but actively practice and teach pencak silat. Some of them are also widely recognized for their knowledge and skills. The most famous today are Ibu Soekedja, pendekar of the Perguruan Pencak Silat Reksa Diri, Bandung and Ibu Enny Rukmini Sekarningrat, Guru Besar Himpunan Pencak Silat Panglipur West Java, the largest and one of the most respected perguruan in West Java with branches in The Netherlands, Japan, and Vietnam. In her persona she combines pencak silat and combative skills as the following case of her life shows:

On March 1949, when the Dutch colonialists came back again to bomb Yogyakarta, Enny Rukmini joined the battalion Pangeran Papak and fought against the Dutch in the districts of Wanaraja and Garut. To defend the capital city of Yogyakarta she joined the long march from Garut to Yogyakarta (about 400 km.) with the Batalyon Major Rukman. Since guns were limited and anyway she did not know how to use them, she was satisfied with using the sword (golok) in combination with jurus pencak silat and ilmu kebal as her weapons in the battlefield.

After the war was over, she came back home in Garut and took over from her father the perguron pencak silat Panglipur. She then went to Bandung to bring together the students of her father and start to train pencak silat together. The first training was in her house, in a small street still called Gang Panglipur in honor of this important pencak silat school. From that time on Ibu Enny Rukmini Sekarningrat rebuild the Perguron Pencak Silat Panglipur and more generally pencak silat in West Java together with other pendekar such as Pak Uca, Pak Uho, Hadji Sapari, and M. Saleh. She was instrumental in promoting pencak silat in schools and university and greatly advanced pencak silat seni (art). She was the first to drastically reform pencak silat seni and to use it as a form of performance, by changing the black pencak silat custom with glamorous uniforms of bright colors.

Her innovative ideas often provoked critics from more conservative groups, but finally received official recognition in 1953 when her group performed at the 1st Asian-Africa Conference in Bandung. Ibu Enny was also the first to support IPSI in developing competitions of pencak silat seni. At the moment, she is one of the 'elders' (sesepuh) of IPSI and recognized as the leading pendekar or Guru Besar of the renamed Himpunan Pencak Silat Panglipur, the biggest pencak silat school in West Java. At 85 years she is still totally devoted to the development of pencak silat in West Java and more generally the world.

It would seem then that women have played a great role in the development of pencak silat from the beginning up to today. Their contribution should be treasured and highlighted in an effort to make present-day pencak silat more accessible to women and enhance their position in institutionalized pencak silat organizations, such as IPSI and PERSILAT.

There is no overall standard for Pencak Silat. Each style has its own particular movement patterns, specially designed techniques and tactical rationale. The richness of terms reflects a wide diversity in styles and techniques across the regions due to the fact that pencak silat has been developed by different masters who have created their own style according to their preferences and to the physical environment and social-cultural context in which they live. Lets take as example West Java, Central Java and West Sumatra. West Java is inhabited by a specific ethnic group with specific cultural and social norms. For them, pencak silat is part of their way of life or as they say is "the blood in their body". In their language they say "penca" or "menpo" (from "maen poho', which literally means play with trickery) to indicate their main four styles Cimande, Cikalong, Timbangan, and Cikaret and all the schools and techniques which have derived from them. The Sundanese people have always utilized penca/mempo' for self-defense and recreation, and only recently have started to use it as a sport in national and regional competitions. In its self-defense form, using hands fighting techniques combined with a series of characteristic footsteps such as langka sigzag (zigzag step), langka tilu (triangular step), langka opat (quadrangular step) and langka lam alip, penca can be very dangerous. Therefore it is kept secret and, especially its magic (tenaga dalam or inner power) component is only taught in phases to selected students.


Penca as art (penca ibing) has been a source of inspiration for traditional Sundanese dances such as Jaepongan, Ketu'tilu', Dombret, and Cikeruhan and actually it resembles dance in its use of music instruments. These instruments, called "pencak drummers" (gendang penca), are devoted exclusively to penca performances and consist of two sets of drummers (gendang anak dan kulantir), a trumpet (tetet) and a gong. Pencak performances also use standard music rhythms such as tepak dua, tepak tilu, tepak dungdung, golempang and paleredan. Penca as art is not considered dangerous and can be openly shown to everyone. From generation to generation until today, penca performances animate wedding parties, rituals of circumcision, celebrations of the rice harvest and all kind of national festivities.

Differently from West Java, in Central Java, Javanese people have traditionally used pencak only for self-defense and are not inclined to show it in public. Furthermore, the spiritual aspect (kebatinan) is much more dominant. This is probably related to the fact that pencak silat in Central Java developed from the Yogyakarta Sultanate and later expanded to surrounding neighborhoods after the kingdoms lost their political role in the XV and XVI centuries. In the keraton (Sultan's palace) pencak silat had undergone a transformation from pure martial art to be used in combat, to an elaborate form of spiritual and humanistic education. In this later form it spread outside the keraton walls where it developed the use of self-defense techniques to reach spiritual awareness as well as the use of inner powers to attain supernatural physical strengths.

Again pencak silat in West Sumatra is a different cultural expression in both its forms and meaning. Similarly to West Java, in West Sumatra a distinction is made between self-defense, called sile' or silat, and the related art version called pencak which has influenced many traditional dances such as Sewah, Alo Ambek and Gelombang. The ethnic group of Minangkabau who lives around the Merapi Mountain in West Sumatra regard silat as their village's heirloom (pusaka anak nagari) which is meant for the youth to defend themselves while traveling ashore and it is not intended for outsiders. Instead, pencak as a dance is accessible to everybody.

In this region almost every village (nagari) has a different style (aliran) of silat as reflected by the many names, some of which refer to the founders (like Silat Tuanku Ulakan, Silat Pakik Rabun, Silat Malin Marajo) and some to the original locations where the style was developed (Silat Kumango, Silat Lintau, Silat Starlak, Silat Pauh, Silat Painan, Silat Sungai Patai and Silat Fort de Kock). These styles can be classified into two main groups according to the foot-stands (kuda-kuda) they use. In the coastal area, silat styles use a very low kuda-kuda and prefer hand techniques whereas in the mountain area the kuda-kuda is higher and foot techniques are dominant. This is due to the different environments in which silat has developed. On the sand, a high kuda-kuda would not be stable and in the mountain, where the ground is oblique and uneven, a low kuda-kuda would be impossible to practice. As a Minangkabau proverb says: "Alam takambang menjadi guru" (the surrounding nature is our teacher).

Along with the human body, Pencak Silat employs several martial arts weapons. Among the hundreds of styles are dozens of weapons. Listed here are a few examples;

* Keris: A curvy blade made from folding different types of metal together and then is washed in acid, giving the blade it's distinct look.
* Kujang: Sundanese blade
* Badik Buginese and Makasarese blade
* Pedang/Sundang: A sword, either single or double edged.
* Parang/Golok: A machete/broadsword, commonly used in daily tasks, especially those involving farming or harvesting.
* Lembing/Seligi: A spear/javelin made of either wood or bamboo.
* Kayu/Batang: Stick, staff or rod made of bamboo, steel or wood.
* Chabang/Cabang: Three-pronged knife thought to derive from the trisula (trident)
* Kerambit: A small claw-like curved blade or dagger worn in the hair. Easily concealed and is known as a woman's weapon.
* Sabit/Clurit: A sickle, commonly used in farming, cultivation and harvesting of crops.
* Tongkat/Toya: A walking stick carried by the elderly or travellers.