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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