Kumango Pencak Silat

Since this fighting form developed along sandy beach areas, it prefers an upright posture and has shaped its tactics to terrain with a loose topsoil where ordinary speed of operation is hampered. It has influenced a few other major styles, all of them Sumatran. Kumango is, on the whole, a well balanced system, using both arm and leg tactics, but quite often the arms serve only to distract the enemy. This may be done by extending one arm and slapping the other resoundingly against the thigh, or it may be accomplished by means of throwing sand. Skillful footwork combines with real and simulated kicking actions to make frontal positioning against a Kumango fighter very dangerous. The characteristic, combative posture of Kumango can, when combined with its rhythmic movements, tend to lull the enemy into a feeling of false security.

Harimau Pencak Silat

The Minangkabau people of west-central Sumatra have made the Harimau ("tiger") style a very effective and dangerous fightinq form that is respected throughout Indonesia. Its technical fundamentals can be found, to a greater or lesser degree, in every other major orthodox pencak-silat style, but important reasons for differences arise from the fact that uneven and slippery ground surfaces are most common in Sumatra, and that under these conditions, the Harirnau fighter considers an upright combative posture detrimental to effective fighting since it offers him only two bases of support-i.e., his legs. He prefers to hug the ground, sometimes actually getting down on it, thus making effective use of five supports-his two legs, his two arms, and either his back, side, or belly. To assume that, while in this unusual recumbent posture, the Harimau fighter is incapable of moving quickly and effectively would be to make a gross and possibly dangerous-mistake. From the low posture he assumes, he can deliver very powerful kicks as well as make use of other cunning tactics; further, he can spring quickly and forcefully up at the enemy, clawing him with terrifying ferocity.

Note Of My Blog: The Indonesian Fighting Art : Pencak Silat

The authors have avoided, so far as possible, the use of Indonesian to identify and describe the intricacies of the various pencak-silat techniques dealt with in this blog. Because each style has its own terminology and because even commonly executed actions have no standardized names, the number of Indonesian words required would become an unwieldy burden on the reader who does not speak Indonesian.

Madura

On the island of Madura, the pencak-silat fighter is usually either a sailor or a farmer with a volatile temper. He has borrowed what he liked from other pencak-silat styles, and has achieved good balance between arm, leg, and grappling tactics. His combative postures, thus, are quite variable and tend to make an encounter with a Madurese fighter a difficult and dangerous proposition. This fact is recognized by Indonesian peoples, most of whom genuinely fear him.

Pamur Pencak Silat

Java

Javanese systems of pencak-silat tend to make a balanced use of the body, although most combative postures seem to suggest that fighters prefer hand and arm tactics and choose postures from which these tactics may be instantly applied; postures of the orthodox styles are very varied, ranging from the upright to the low crouch. Javanese fighters use both the open and closed hand with equal facility. In addition to tactics of the usual striking variety, they are capable also of grappling actions executed from close infighting situations. Javanese pencak-silat exponents are extremely supple and lithe-a fact that probably accounts for the characteristically soft and willow like movements produced by changing combative postures.

1. Cimande Pencak Silat
2. Mustika Kwitang Pencak Silat
3. Cingrik Pencak Silat
4. Setia Hati Pencak Silat
5. Perisai Diri Pencak Silat
   

Sumatra

All Sumatran pencak-silat styles make extensive use of leg tactics. Due to the environment of the people who reside on this large island, fighting tactics have come to rely on well developed leg flexibility and strength. These special qualities have been made possible by the daily exercise involved in labor chores that require full-squatting, climbing, and jumping actions. Whether a lowland, coastal, or mountain resident, a Sumatran pencak-silat exponent demonstrates an unusual ability with leg maneuvers, but is not at a loss when the hands and arms must be brought into use.

1. Harimau Pencak Silat
   
2. Kumango Pencak Silat
3. Patai Pencak Silat
4. Baru Pencak Silat

The Emphasis In Pencak-Silat Is Spiritual

The emphasis in pencak-silat is spiritual rather than physical; more so than the emphasis in the fighting arts of Japan (bugei as opposed to budo forms). That is to say, the soul or the heart of the fighter is of the utmost importance. His purity, or his lack of it, will be reflected in his techniques; experts claim they can read the nature of the trainee's heart simply by watching him practice. For that reason, pencak-silat is not the activist discipline that the fighting arts of Japan are: it places tremendous importance on the attainment of self-perfection by means other than its own physical techniques.

Yet in spite of its spirituality, pencak-silat is, quite obviously, founded on the harsh reality of possibly deadly hand-to-hand combat, and in its exercises it imposes the rigors of a real combat situation upon trainees. They are expected to consider not only the weapons being used but
also the climate, the time of day or night, and the terrain upon which the combat occurs; these all combine to establish the prevailing emotional as well as physical atmosphere of the fight. Trainees must always bear in mind that the weapons they are using are real objects capable of inflicting serious injury.

Basic Postures for Combat

Every specific style of pencak-silat has its own technical characteristics, chief among which are the combative postures and movements. By observing the posture an enemy has assumed, and his subsequent movements, an expert can tell immediately what particular style of pencak-silat he is up against, what attacks and defenses he may expect, and what defenses and countermeasures may be most safely and effectively used in coping with the enemy.

To categorize all the various combative postures pencak-silat makes use of would be a herculean task, and one obviously beyond the bounds of an introductory blog of this nature. However, there are certain typical combative postures that may-and indeed must-be recognized if the novice is to make any progress in acquiring skill in the art. He should study each as it is presented and learn to identify its essential technical characteristics; this, in turn, will give him invaluable clues as to its combative purpose and advantages.

In preparation for the emergencies of actual combat, pencak-silat exponents make use of extremely varied and interesting training exercises. Above all, they presuppose a strong and flexible body-one capable of executing specific movements with speed, force, and precision. Because a pencak-silat expert can go through his training exercises with such skill and grace, displaying a smooth delivery of action that is so subtly pleasing to the eye, many casual observers become convinced that what they are watching is in reality a dance form. Nothing could be further from the truth. Pencak is preparatory training for actual combat. Before taking up the all-important question of training exercises, however, some typical combative postures need to be described.

Mustika Kwitang Pencak Silat | Method C

Another Mustika Kwitang technique to combat attack by an enemy armed with a knife is illustrated here in the sequence shown in # 1 to # 10. In # 1, it is evident that the assailant has positioned his knife for an overhead downward thrusting attack and is crouched ready to spring. When he makes the attack, the defender moves forward to meet him and arrest the attacking arm while it is still in an upright position (# 2). It will be noted that the defender's left hand, held open, as it contacts the assailant's arm just above the elbow, presses up and in toward the assailant's head, while the palm of the right hand, also held open, is pressed against the underside of the attacker's forearm, near the wrist. # 3 shows the process by means of which the defender gets control of the attacking arm. First he changes the grip of his left hand so that it cups the assailant's elbow, and then he stretches his right hand further around the top of the assailant's forearm. Once these grips have been accomplished, the defender steps forward on his right leg and moves through to a position behind the assailant; simultaneously, he swings the enemy's captured right arm downward and up around to carry it in front of his forward movement. The defender now brings the assailant's arm to a new high position (# 4) and then ducks under it by pivoting on his right foot, the position of which he has just changed, and bringing his left foot in a short arc behind him; as he comes around to the back (and somewhat to the right) of the assailant, the defender pulls the captured arm down (# 5). He must now immediately work the arm up the assailant's back in a hammerlock (# 6 and # 7). Releasing his left-hand grip, the defender pushes hard against his a5sailant1s hack, sending him sprawling to the ground; he must, during this portion of the action, keep up the hammerlock pressure (# 8 and # 9). The defender completes the action with a right forearm strike to the head or neck of his enemy (# 10).

My blog is All About Pencak-Silat

Since pencak-silat was intended for instantaneous use in the emergencies of daily life, the costume used is simply that ,normally worn, and this remains true today of many of the
styles. Others, however, perhaps through reasons of economy as much as anything else, have developed a special training suit. There is no overall standard; each style that has designed a special suit has incorporated in it certain unique features. The reader may decide, following the photographs in this blog, to make his own training suit, but the matter is of little practical importance; any costume, such as that used forjudo or karate-& exercises, will be found satisfactory.

The spirit of combat, of actual fighting-in other words, silat-must underlie all orthodox pencak-silat training. Any other attitude negates the meaning of the art. For that reason, trainees practicing together are called "enemies," not mere opponents, and each should regard the other as someone who is trying to take his life. If you train alone, you train against an imaginary enemy orenemies; if you train with a partner, you must always think of him as an enemy.

The Development of Pencak-silat

Although pencak-silat is practiced today by all classes of Indonesian society, the people of the kampung ("village") take to it most readily. It may be seen in the remotest jungle or mountain village and on the most inaccessible island; hardly a schoolboy (or girl, for that matter) is without some ability to demonstrate the particular style practiced in the region they live in.

There are no national standards by which the great diversity of styles may be regulated, not any nationwide organization to further the development of pencak-silat, although efforts are being made on a minor scale-largely by exponents of unorthodox systems-to produce and popularize it as a national “sport”. It seems unlikely that these efforts will succeed: the changeover from genuine self-defense to a sport entails too severe a loss of combative reality and a negation of the actual purpose and function of this art.

Mustika Kwitang Pencak Silat | Method B

The second method of defense, illustrated in # 1 to # 5, is even more dynamic. Once again, the assailant armed with a knife in his right hand confronts an unarmed defender. In # 2, the upraised left arm of the assailant is met by the defender's right arm, since there is always the possibility that the knife has been switched; but in #3 the assailant makes his lunge, with the knife in his right hand, toward the belly of the defender. The latter evades the attack by shifting his body to the left, and simultaneously renders the attacking arm helpless by an open-hand interception along the top-inside of the assailant's forearm and by downward and inward pressure of his hand, forcing the arm between his thigh and abdomen (# 4). The defender does not let the fact that his right arm is still raised go to waste; using his wrist-forearm area as the contact point, he brings that arm down hard, in a striking action, against the cervical region of the assailant's spine. The result is that the armed enemy is knocked unconscious (# 5).

Mustika Kwitang Pencak Silat | Method A

The Mustika Kwitang style also offers unarmed defense against a knife-bearing (pisau belati) enemy. Two different methods of defense are illustrated here; both begin with # 1, where the defender (on the left side) is confronted by an assailant holding a knife in his right hand. The first method of defense is shown in # 2 to # 4. In the first of these, the assailant has lunged deeply forward in an attempt to thrust his knife into the belly of the defender, who has evaded the thrust by adroitly shifting his body to the outside of the knife-wielding arm. Simultaneously, his right hand catches hold of the attacking wrist, his palm covering the back of the hand, his thumb pointing downward. He then pulls the captured arm across his right thigh toward his hip, rotating the arm to bring it elbow upward. The knife-wielding arm is now securely wedged between the defender's thigh and upper body. At the same time, the defender strikes the assailant's captured elbow with a hard downward blow of his left wrist-forearm; the force must break or otherwise severely injure the joint. With the attacking arm now rendered useless, the defender, while keeping it pinned against thigh and body, releases his right hand to deliver a hard upright fist directly into his assailant's face or side of head, and with his left hand he grips the enemy's hair (# 3). Twisting his body to the left and using his left hand to pull his assailant's head, the defender wheels the assailant over onto his back and then completes the subduing action by striking his knife-edged right hand against the throat of the enemy (# 4).

Pamur Pencak Silat | Method B

Exponents of the Pamur style have developed a tactic designed to counter the failure of the tactics described above and to enable the defender to regain his lost advantage. The attempt to throw the knife-wielding assailant has failed, and # 1 shows how the latter has been able to throw the defender to the ground instead. The assailant has reversed the position of his knife, a tactic at which Madurese fighters are highly skilled, and is now about to strike it downward at the apparently prostrate defender. The latter, however, has a tactic at his disposal by means of which he will regain control of the situation: he quickly rams his right foot, sole flat, into the assailant's armpit and at the same time grabs hold with both hands of the assailant's knife-wielding right arm (# 2).

Note in this figure that the knuckles of the defender's left hand face upward and those of his right hand face downward. The pressure, upward with the right hand and downward with the left, with the right foot still jammed into the assailant's arm, will be very painful to him. The defender, however, has further action in mind which requires very careful timing and synchronization. He slides his right hand down the assailant's captured right arm (# 3j and at the same time rolls quickly toward his left with a violent upward thrust of his right foot. His hands snap downward. The assailant attempts to save himself a nasty fall by stretching out his left arm; the knife he is still holding in his captured right arm can, however, only prove a source of danger to him, and he drops the blade as he falls out of fear of cutting himself (8 4). The defender, now that the assailant is unarmed and on the ground, can snatch the blade himself and take whatever steps are necessary to subdue his enemy.

Pamur Pencak Silat | Method A

Tactics of Pamur pencak-silat exponents on the island of Madura, in dealing with an overhead slashing knife attack, show a remarkable similarity to the Cingrik methods just described. In # 1 the assailant, wielding a knife (todi) in his right hand, has been intercepted by an open left-handed catch on his right wrist; the defender has also put his right leg behind that of the assailant. Without using a striking action, the defender has secured his right hand under the left armpit of the assailant. He then wheels the assailant backward to the ground by the combined use of both his arms and a sharp twist of his body to the left (# 2). An interesting method of controlling the assailant is illustrated in # 3. As the assailant hits the ground in front of the standing defender, the latter keeps control of the knife arm with both hands as he stamps his left heel or foot-edge into the head of the fallen enemy. (This latter action is symbolized in the photograph by the juxtaposition of head and heel.) By pressing his foot on the enemy's head or by repeatedly stamping on it, the defender can force the knife out of the enemy's hand and so gain control of the situation.

Cingrik Pencak Silat | Method B

Method B is shown above (# 1-# 3). In the first two, the defender has used a left-hand catch on the assailant's attacking right arm in order to "float" the assailant upward and forward by pulling the captured arm toward him on a plane more or less parallel to that of the ground.

Simultaneously, he has taken two other actions; he has put his right foot just in front of his assailant's right foot, and he is in the process of delivering an open-handed knife-edge blow to the left side of his assailant's head or neck. In # 3, he uses the combined power ofhis arms and a sharp twist of his body to the left in order to wheel the assailant backward to the ground.

Note that in Method B the defender steps forward immediately, at the moment that he pulls the assailant forward and delivers his open-handed blow. To have remained behind would have invited a kick from the enemy, perhaps with devastating results for the defender. Once the defender's response to the unarmed assailant has been perfected in both methods, a weapon may be placed in the assailant's right hond and identical responses to the attacks shown practiced. Under these conditions the the addition of certain weapons changes nothing in the
mechanics of defense-but does serve to heighten the emotional atmosphere of the combat.

Cingrik Pencak Silat | Method A

In #1, the assailant (on right) is standing with his left side to the camera, and his right hand, though empty for the purpose of the illustration, could easily be holding a weapon with which to strike at the defender, whose responses may well be the same whether the hand is empty or not. Two methods of defense will illustrate this point.

The defender has already, in # 1, intercepted the assailant's right arm with a sweeping open-handed catch of that arm from the inside, using his left hand to grasp the attacking arm between the elbow and the wrist. Following Method A, the defender pulls the assailant’s attacking arm forward and downward, thus jerking him off-balance and forwards. The defender simultaneously strikes with his opened right hand, using a knife-edged formation, at the assailant's head (# 2). The assailant's reaction to this blow is one of shock as he, at the same time, attempts to resist the forward movement imposed on him by the defender. This he does by straightening his body and leaning backward, putting himself off balance backwards. Even had the defender's intended blow fallen short, the combined action would have had the allimportant
effect of moving the assailant back. The defender utilizes this reaction ofthe assailant to throw him backwards to the ground. He does so by putting his right leg behind the assailant's right leg and, using the combined power of both his arms, forces the assailant further backward over the
outstretched leg (# 3). Note that the defender does not step forward until he has obtained a rearward movement from his enemy. This is a safeguard: if the assailant does not react by moving backward, the defender is still in a position to deliver a forward snap-kick into the groin of his enemy.

Techniques Against Armed Attacks

In studying orthodox pencak-silat, the trainee must sooner or later take into serious consideration how to cope with an armed assailant. He must, whether under conditions of
training or in actual combat, learn the capabilities and limitations of an armed enemy. This he must do both when he is unarmed and when he is armed. (The latter, it must be noted, is beyond the scope of this blog.)

The stress on combative reality cannot be overemphasized when the trainee is practicing the methods and exercises of pencak-silat. He must do nothing in his training routine that he would not do in fighting an enemy who is trying to kill him. By concentrating on this in training he
will be able to adapt the methods he has learnt with complete facility when a real combat situation occurs.

How well or rather how safely the trainee effects the out come in dealing with an armed enemy is entirely dependent upon his understanding and abilities in meeting an unarmed enemy. If he can do that well, the transition to coping with the armed enemy is only a matter of application. The
reader may gain a clearer understanding of this transition through the following illustrations of Cingrik pencak-silat.

1. Cingrik Pencak Silat Method A
2. Cingrik Pencak Silat Method B
   
3. Pamur Pencak Silat Method A
4. Pamur Pencak Silat Method B
   
5. Mustika Kwitang Pencak Silat Method A
6. Mustika Kwitang Pencak Silat Method B
   
7. Mustika Kwitang Pencak Silat Method C

Composite

Weapons in this category may be used with equal facility for a wide variety of actions. One such is the cabang an ancient Indonesian weapon of the truncheon type. It is made ofiron and has double tines fastened at the juncture of shaft and handle.

The pencak-silat exponent is never, in fact, "empty-handed", for almost any object within his reach such as a chair, a bottle, or a stone, may become a weapon of expediency in an emergency.

Projectile

The most important members of this family of weapons in Indonesia are the bow and arrow (panah and anak panah) and the blowpipe (sumpit). Their diversity and ingenuity of design are truly astonishing. Although not used for infighting, the stances and postures adopted in using this sort of weapon are modeled on the pencak-silat training and exercises.

The projectile category also includes weapons which can be thrown as well as used in hand-to-hand combat. A good example is the spear (tombak), which is customarily used in a fencing type of action but which obviously may also be utilized for hurling. The jiau (a small knife for throwing) has many varieties throughout the country, and there' are also weapons of the boomerang type as well as plain throwing sticks.

Four Distinct Characteristics of Pencak-Silat

All these modified forms have technical similarities, but over the centuries they have developed differently and now have their own traditions and identities-in large part the result of a combination ofsocial and geographical influences. Just why this should be true will not be easy to understand until the subject is studied from that precise point of view, but, for the purpose of these preliminary notes, it will be sufficient to list four distinct characteristics of pencak-silat
that are dominant in the following geographical regions:

1. Sumatra | foot and leg tactics (Harimau, Patai, Baru, Kumango styles)
2. West Java | hand and arm tactics (Cimande, Cingrik, Mustika Kwitang styles)
3. Central Java | synthesis of arm and leg tactics (Setia Hati style)
4. East Java, Bali, Madura | synthesis of arm and leg tactics plus grappling methods (Perisai Diri, Bhakti Negara, Pamur styles)
   

Hand Formation of Karate-Do | Uraken

Uraken is called for back fist