Page 16 - New Silat Rules 2020

Silat is a collective word for a class of indigenous martial arts from a geo-cultural area of
Southeast Asia encompassing most of the Nusantara, the Indonesia Archipelago, the Malay
Archipelago and the entirety of the Malay Peninsula.

The origin of Silat is uncertain. The Silat tradition is mostly oral, having been passed down
almost entirely by word of mouth. In the absence of written records, much of its history is
known only through myth and archaeological evidence.

Reference – Green, Thomas A. (2010). Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History
and Innovation. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598842432.

As an art (seni), Pencak Silat is performed to celebrate the beauty of movement. Pencak
Silat seni expresses cultural values in the form of patterns of movement and rhythm, which
involve harmony, balance, and the accord of gracefulness, rhythm, and feeling. In some
regions, artistic moves are accompanied by special percussion instruments and are performed
at social events, such as harvest festivals, marriages, and public gatherings.

As a form of self-defense (bela diri), Pencak Silat is performed to heighten the human instinct
to defend oneself against any kind of threat and danger. To this end, the tactics and
techniques that the Pencak Silat practitioner (pesilat) uses emphasize his physical safety and,
if necessary, attacking the opponent first.

Likewise, as a sport (olah raga), Pencak Silat prioritizes physical skills to attain fitness,
dexterity, and endurance. When training, a pesilat (practitioner of Pencak Silat) strives to
enhance the agility of the body and to make more forceful maneuvers, while gaining
confidence in order to perform well in sport competitions.

As a spiritual exercise (olah batin), Pencak Silat focuses more on shaping the individual
bearing and character of the pesilat as befitting its spiritual philosophy. It places equal
emphasis on controlled physical movements, inner power, and observance of the core value
of nobleness of mind and character (keluruhan budi pekerti).

These four aspects combine in the specific movements of Pencak Silat, which consist of
several key components or basic techniques. In general, we can differentiate four kinds of
basic techniques: initial stance, footwork, offensive techniques, and defensive techniques. By
assuming an initial stance (standing position), the pesilat shows that he/she is ready and on
guard. This could switch at any time to a particular tactical move. Normally both legs and arms
are employed in this stance, which may involve standing, crouching, sitting, or lying down.

If initial stances are the static part of Pencak Silat, the footwork is its dynamic part. By
determining the direction, type, and tactic of the maneuver, the pesilat moves to defend or
attack. More specifically, defending oneself involves taking action to evade attack from an
opponent (using defensive, evasive, and disengaging techniques for instance). Offensive
action involves trying to bring down the opponent in a number of ways, such as punching,
kicking, and grappling. These defensive and offensive techniques also make use of several
kinds of weapons, such as knives, swords, trisula (tridents), and toya (wooden staffs usually
of rattan).
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