Tanah Abang, one of the centers of commerce in Indonesia's capital city is known as the biggest garment market in Indonesia and perhaps in Southeast Asia.Aside from being a large textile market, Tanah Abang has also been known for a long time as a place that produced a lot of Silat champions (jago-jago). One of these men was Sabeni, who became famous because of his unique fighting style.
The Sabeni style is known for its speed and practicality. One of the unique characteristics of this style is fighting in close quarters and quick hand movements. Upon closer examination, the jurus (forms) of the Sabeni style seem to emphasize attacking and not purely self-defense. Unlike other silat styles from the Jakarta area, the Sabeni style doesn't have an artistic or dance form (kembangan, ibing).
Sabeni was born around 1860 in Kebon Pala Tanah Abang. He earned a name for himself by defeating another champion from the neighborhood of Kemayoran who was called 'The Tiger of Kemayoran". The challenge was issued after Sabeni proposed marriage to a girl who turned out to be the daughter of the Kemayoran champion. Another notable event was "The Battle at Princen Park" (an area now called Lokasari) where Sabeni successfully defeated a Kuntao champion from China. The Chinese fighter was brought to Indonesia by a Dutch official named Mr. Danu who didn't approve of Sabeni teaching his fighting techniques to the youth. The most phenomenal example of Sabeni's expertise was his victory against Judo and Karate experts in Kebon Sirih Park (now called Gedung DKI) in 1943. At this time he was 83 years old. After his victory Sabeni was rewarded with a shirt and a towel. Sabeni continued teaching his fighting style until he died peacefully at the age of 85 on the 15th of August 1945. He was buried at Jalan Kuburan Lama Tanah Abang (Old Graveyard Road) and later the street name was by the local government from Jalan Kuburan to Jalan Sabeni (Sabeni Road).
At this time the Sabeni style is preserved by the children and descendants of Sabeni and is still practiced in Tanah Abang. Bapak M. Ali Sabeni, the 7th child of the silat champion, is not only continuing to teach his father's silat style, but his is also an artist belonging to the Sambrah Betawi organization. Now at 72 years old, he has passed on the torch to his own son Bang Izul. Bapak M. Ali Sabeni has expressed his desire that his family's Silat style can be preserved and developed by the new generation so that his family's legacy will not be lost.
The Sabeni style a type of Maen Pukulan, or Pencak Silat, created by Engkong Sabeni (1860-1945) and come from the Tanah Abang area in Jakarta. Its unique characteristic is close-quarter fighting with quick hand movements synchronized with leg sweeps to knock down an opponent.
In the Sabeni style, speed is the most important attribute (there is story that says when Engkong Sabeni demonstrated his jurus, his feet never touched the ground). It is difficult to apply the techniques correctly without speed. The Sabeni style was both feared and respected while Engkong Sabeni as alive, some of his applications were even adopted and incorporated into other styles.
The Sabeni style has 15 basic jurus (forms) that are divided into Jalan Jurus and Jurus Inti. Some of the techniques that have become legendary in the Jakarta are Jurus Kelabang Nyebrang and Merak Ngigel. The combine quick and unrelenting upper body attacks along with sweeping leg movements that can be done on the left or right side. When done at high-speed, these moves are hard to counter because the opponent's concentration is split between the upper body and lower body attacks.
Jurus Merak Ngigel has been used successfully against other Silat fighters in the Jakarta area and beyond. This is a very unique movement that looks like the peacock (merak) performing it's mating dance; showing off its feathers while shaking it's backside (ngigel). In the application, the attacker's hands are held close to the chest. They seize and pull the opponent into an elbow strike while the attacker uses his hip to attack the opponent's stance. When done with speed and accuracy, the opponent can be flung far away. This technique is typically used in a close-quarters situation where there is little room to move.
Although the Sabeni style focuses on empty-hand fighting, weapons are taught to the high-level students. The Golok (machete) and Cukin (cloth worn around the waist or shoulders) are some of the weapon used
At first, there were no student levels but they were created later in order to simplify the training methods so that every student had a clear goal. The ranking system is as follows:
1. Foundation level
2. Completed jurus level
3. Combination level
4. Teaching level
For the basic level until the combination level, the standard length of training is around 3 years if meeting twice a month. Reaching the teaching level (upon which a certification to teach is given) requires 2 years acting as an assistant teacher while at the same time their character and morality are assessed by their teacher.
The spreading of Silat Sabeni is very limited because it is a family system but now it is blossoming and in accordance to the pursuit of preservers, this style of Pencak Silat is now taught openly and focuses on teaching young children in Tanah Abang.
I hope this writing can be of some use,
Eko Hadi S
Taken from: http://silatindonesia.com/en/2007/07/maen-pukulan-aliran-sabeni-the-sabeni-fighting-style/
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