Unlimited Martial Arts: August 2008

Maen Pukulan Jiencin

Filed under: indonesia, pencak silat by: Donny

In the past, silat wasn't a widely recognized word to describe the indigenous martial arts. People (in the Sunda area) called it maen pukul, which literally translates as maen: playing and pukul: hit or to hit.

About two weeks ago, a heavy rain drenched the pavillion with woven bamboo walls located in the font of Book Cafe in Duren Tiga Street, South Jakarta, where a group of people were gathered. Lightning streaked across the skies creating a foreboding atmosphere.

Kretek cigarettes and glasses of hot coffee were served and it was as if the cold and damp gradually receded as the talk about the history of Jiencin (one of Betawi's silat schools) began to flow. A middle aged man known as Muhammad Nurdin seemed to be unaware of the inclement weather outside as he sipped his hot coffee. His hands were flowing animately, describing a combat situation.

Based upon hearing the name Jiencin, it would be understandable if one were to conclude that the founder of the style (or the guru besar) was Chinese. This however, is not the case, for maen pukul Jiencin is a pencak silat style from Betawi.

"Jiencin was my father's nickname, the late Haji Husein bin Haji Utsman," said Nurdin (known affectionaly as Bang Udin) who is the current inheritor of the Jiencin silat style.

When he was younger, H. Husein was more commonly known as Bang Encin, however after completing his pilgrimage to Mecca, he became known as Ji-Encin. (Ji is a shortened form of Haji and Encin a variation of Husein).

"Maen pukulan is the Betawi terminology for pencak silat. In the past, people here were unfamiliar with the term 'silat', they called it maen pukul," he said.

According to Bang Udin, maen pukulan Jiencin was a style that spread and grew energetically among the youth of Betawi. During this period, silat was used in the fight against the Dutch occupiers.

Husein himself was no exception to the norm of the day, as he volunteered a portion of his life to participate in the revolution to free the motherland of the occupier by joining Tentara Keamanan Rakyat (TKR - transliterate to Soldiers for the Security of the People and translates to The Peoples Security Force).

As a member of the revolutionary guerilla forces, the young Husein moved from village to village and from district to district with his unit. Consequently, the places he became familiar with included the areas of Bekasi, Tambun, Karawang, Cikampek, Cikarang, Bogor and Ujung Kulon in Banten.

During his journeys, Husein had the opportunity to meet many well known silat stalwarts, capitalizing on these frequent exhanges with silat personalities from whom he was able to glean and internalize new ideas. "It was rare that the process didn't begin with them testing each other's skills, one against the other," said Bang Udin.

From the personal experiences he accumulated, and supported by talent and intelligence, Haji Encin was able to successfully fuse silat moves and principles from a number of pencak silat styles, which included Cingkrig, Bandul, Beksi, Suliwa and Gerak Rasa, to become a unique silat without a name. "Consequently we called the style Jiencin as that was his name," he said.

Upon his return to Jakarta, the providence provided by his experience and wealth of knowledge made him a respected figure by friend and foe alike in the areas of Kampung Baru (now known as Warung Buncit), Duren Tiga, Tegal Parang, Pancoran and Mampang Prapatan.

There is one note-worthy principle that this style firmly adheres to. Haji Encin always advised, don't ever sell, but if other people want to sell, then we buy, which is a metaphor for, don't go looking for an enemy, but if we are confronted by one, we don't run.

"The adherence to principle combined with the good-will he commanded, as well as having never been defeated, helped to enhance and elevate his already considerable reputation," said Ahmad Fikri who is the head of the Jiencin style.

Haji Encin was born in 1922 and died in the year 2000. A number of his sons and students continue with his lifetime effort to expand the style, which has its headquaters in Mampang Prapatan XV No. 20, Duren Tiga, South Jakarta.

Jiencin's 12 jurus are characterized by their hard and fast hand work. "Each strike and move has to be filled with power," said Bang Udin. Additionally, the body's movement should also be hard and fast.

In the early stages students are taught to develop and hone the skills of striking jurus (with the hands), defensive footwork and "ngeles" or the ability to evade an attack. In the latter stages they exercise to develop rasa, which functions to hone reflexes to anticipate an adversary's attack.

Even as a combination of styles, the Jiencin style contains a complete and comprehensive technique including an arsenal of strikes, locks, blocks, evasions and elbow strikes, with the exception of kicks. It doesn't have kicks, but does include knee strikes to the groin and leg sweeps.

As well as learning the arts of self defence, the Jiencin student learns amalan (morality). The method is by performing routine invocations of prayer before physical exercise and breath development with prayer chanting after exercise. "These activities are relevant to the purpose of the school, which is to strengthen Islamic faith," said Fikri.

Taken from:
http://silatindonesia.com/en/2007/08/the-history-of-the-aliran-style-of-betawi-silat-jiencin/

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Silek Kumango

Filed under: indonesia, pencak silat by: Donny

Surau Sumber Gerak - The place of devotion, from where the source of movement comes. Locks are the distinctive feature of gerak Silek Kumango.

Translation note: Silek means silat in the traditional language of Minangkabau, West Sumatera in Indonesia. Gerak means movement in Indonesian and Surau indicates a communal place of devotion e.g. the place to learn about religion and silat.

Guru Tuo Lesmandri grimaced as he attempted to withstand the pain, his neck subjected to a what would normally be fatal locking combination (jurus). There was a moment of intense labored silence, then as he signaled his surrender, he gasped, "yes, yes, enough, enough!"

The young pesilat drew a deep gasping breath as the powerful lock was released easing the pressure from around his neck. "If he'd continued, most possibly I wouldn't be going home," said Lesmandri, while rising and placing his kopiah (a black velvet rimless cap usually worn by Muslim males in Indonesia) back into position on his head. Judging by the reaction of the group of eye witnesses' to the event, it was clear that the prevailing emotion was one of respectful awe. The remarkable old man who had just demonstrated the application of the painful lock described above was Guru Gadang (Guru Besar) Lazuardi Malin Marajo.

Lazuardi along with his group of West Sumatran pesilat were visiting Jakarta last week with the specific purpose to strengthen the bonds of friendship within the Sahabat Silat community.

As guests of the head of the DPRD, Asrul Nurhasan (who is also the head of the Pencak Silat Group of Tanah Datar) as well as of Aslim Nurhasan, head of the Limpapeh Foundation, the group were able to share and explain a lot about their style (aliran), Silek Kumango.

Translation Note: DPRD or Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah is The Peoples Representative Council for a Region similar to a regional senate.

According to the known history, the name "Silek Kumango" had its origins in the name of the village from where the originator came, Syekh Abdurrahman al-Khalidi who was better known as Syekh Kumango.

The guru who as a young man was known as Alam Basifat, was born in Nagari Kumango (the Kingdom or Land of Kumango), in the sub-district of Sungaitarab (Tarab River), in the district of Tanah Datar, West Sumatra. According to accepted history he was born in 1832 and passed away in the year of 1932. He lived to the age of 100.

However, what is more amazing is the following discovery by a researcher of Silat Kumango, Agoes Tri Mulyono. Based upon the retelling of family history by direct descendants of the guru, it transpires that Syekh Kumango was born in the year 1782, which means that he actually lived for 150 years.

For 15 years, Alam Basifat drifted to and fro as a misfit on the streets. However that all changed as he applied himself to the teachings of Islam under the supportive patronage of Syekh Abdurrahman, until eventually he became a religious scholar/leader (Ulama). His experiences over the previous 15 years as a street waif had a major impact on his knowledge and understanding of the principles of personal combat, said Agoes.

In addition to that, the religious teachings of Islam also provided a strong influence, in that it shaped the characteristic philosophy that underpins the physical techniques of Silek Kumango. These influences are also the reason why Kumango is different than other silek aliran (silek styles) in Sumatra, many of whom take their inspiration from the movements of animals, for example from the tiger.

Our moves begin their journey from the surau (devotional place to study Islam), said Guru Gadang Lazuardi Malin Marajo. The same applies to the source of our underlying philosophy. In the Minang language we say, hiduik nan ka dipakai, mati nan ka ditumpang, he said.

It means that the courtesy and behavior a man chooses to use in their daily lives, should always be motivated by piety and an uncontestable morality, because there will be judgement on all of our actions, both good and bad on earth when we eventually die.

It's not surprising therefore, that the over-arching character of Kumango is one based on the concept of defense, and it only takes the offensive initiative when truly pressed to do so and all other options are exhausted. Defense is the major characteristic of Silek Kumango because it is forbidden to retaliate straight away, he said.

Should a Kumango pesilat be attacked by an adversary, the first attack should be compared to that of a mother who is angry toward her child. What that means is that one should sincerely focus on the incident as if our mother were giving advice, such that it falls on us to try to understand and not to retaliate with aggression. Translated into the application of a physical nature, what needs to be performed is a jurus of evasion, said Guru Tuo Lesmandri.

Furthermore, should the adversary continue to press the attack a second time, a Kumango pesilat has to consider it as the motivation of a father who is angry at his child, such that we must still use a jurus of evasion and resist the impulse to retaliate.

So to if the adversary attacks for the third and fourth time, the analogy to be made is that they must be considered in the light of a guru (teacher) and a relative who are angry at us.

Only after the fifth attack, should a Kumango pesilat be obliged to retaliate with locking maneuvers to incapacitate the enemy, in order to reach a speedy resolution to the conflict and to seek forgiveness. If the enemy attacks using a weapon, the locking techniques must then be performed with speed and force, said Lesmandri.

Indeed, locking techniques are a unique and specific feature of Silek Kumango. Out of the 11 jurus within their arsenal, nearly all of them aim to incapacitate the adversary using locking techniques. One jurus contains within it tens of pecahan or extrapolations of method and possibilities contained within the jurus.

The murid (student) who wishes to learn has to firstly internalize and understand all of the jurus so that they can continue to pursue the multitude of knowledge contained within. Those who succeed in internalizing the 11 jurus are called khalifah.

While those who reach the level where they understand all the knowledge there is contained within the jurus (isi or pecahan) is known as a guru tuo.

What is interesting, is that in Tanah Datar we can observe the level of skill a pesilat has achieved by the way they wear their sarung (also known in the west as a sarong). If the sarong is rolled on the hips, it indicates a pesilat who is still in the early stages of training. Because the sarong has the additional function to store weapons and to shield the stomach from the slash of a sharp weapon.

However, if the sarong is slung across the shoulders, it indicates that the wearer is in the middle stages of their training. The sarong can at any moment be used as a weapon to tie and lock the adversary, he said. An skilled pesilat artist, will wear their sarong on top of their kopiah. In this case, we can't even begin to imagine how they would use their sarong against an adversary.

Taken from:
http://silatindonesia.com/en/2007/08/silek-kumango-locks-are-the-distinctive-feature-of-gerak-silek-kumango/

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