Traditional Indonesian Music & Dance in Pencak Silat

Gamelan Ensemble

A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. The tuning and construction of a gamelan orchestra is a complex process. Javanese gamelans use two tuning systems: sléndro and pélog. In general, no two gamelan ensembles are the same, and those that arose in prestigious courts are often considered to have their own style. In Indonesia, gamelan usually accompanies dance, wayang puppet perfonnances, or rituals or ceremonies.

Pencak Silat GADJAH PUTIH JATI WISESA

This style of Pencak Silat was founded by the last Maha Guru "AJI" (GADJAH PUTIH or White Elephant) of Garut in West Java in the early 1950's. Presently this style is under the supervision of Guru Besar Bapak A. Wajihaddin. The elements of the style consist of 25 jurus (movements/forms), 10 pernafasan (breathing forms), 9 langkah (extended forms), and a wide variety of two-person training drills.
The distintive langkah (in this case, footwork) play an important role in coordinating the technical purpose and penetration of the jurus. Breaking, twisting, a variety of elbow and take-down techniques with the aid of body weight combined with agile movements mark this style distinctively from other silat styles. The body conditioning usually is done through breathing exercises which build the inner strength (rasa) and sharpen the five senses.

The life of Pak Kahir

(Courtesy of Eric Chatelier) From a historical novel Pangeran Sundanese Kornel
written by Raden Memed Sastrahadiprawira
The paragraph below gives a clear description of Abah Kahir (also known as Embah, or Ayah Eyang Kahir) the legendary creator of Pencak Silat Cimande. Of all the styles of Pencak Silat from Indonesia, Cimande is perhaps the most well known, oldest and most influential.

The Life of Guru Kahir

[Short essay quoted from Gema Pencak Silat Vol 3 no. 1:18-19]

Kahir lived in a village of Cogreg, Bogor. He became a feared pendekar around the year 1760 which was when he first introduced to his students the maempo Cimande moves. His students then spread it out to other regions like Batavia, Bekasi, Karawang, Cikampek, Cianjur, Bandung, Garut, Tasikmalaya, Sumedang, Ciamis, Kuningan, and Cirebon.When he was living in Cogreg, Bogor, Kahir used to travel far, leaving his hometown for trading horses. There has been many attempts to rob him, but he was able to overcome them all because of his skills in playing maempo. In Batavia he was able to get acquainted with other silat pendekar(s) from Minangkabau and Cina - masters in the world of silat, and he traded experiences with them. His meeting with other silat pendekar gave him an idea to broaden his horizon by accepting other cultures into his own. When doing business in Cianjur, he met with the 4th city mayor of Cianjur, Raden Adipati Wiratanudatar (1776-1813).

The Myth of Maempo Cimande

[Source: Interview with Bapak Rifai, Guru Pencak Silat Cimande Panca Sakti in Jakarta, 1993]

Not far from the Mande river shore was a family of a merchant by the name of Kahir who lived in peace and calm. One day his wife went toward the river to run her daily errants such as washing laundry, cleaning food materials and relieving herself. When the wife was washing laundry she saw a school of monkeys across the stream, picking up "kupak" fruit along the river shore. Not too long after that a tiger appeared at the same place. Feeling that the presence of the tiger was very disturbing, the monkeys screamed and made loud noises, as loud as they could. Kahir's wife was alerted and wondered what would happen next. The tiger roared furiously and charged towards the monkeys with its strong paws, but the little monkeys, not showing any fear at all, dodged the tiger and striked back by biting on the tiger's stomach. The tiger struggled and striked back, but his attacks did not prevail over the monkeys. On the other hand the other monkeys, using branch sticks, they tried to divert the tiger's attention and made him even more angry and jumped on them again. But at the same time the monkeys dodged the attack and bit on him again.

Embah Kahir and Cimande

[Source: Passage from the book, Learning Silat, page 10, by Mr. R Asikin, Bandung, August 1975 and authorized by H. Suhari Sapari, The General Leader of PPSI "The Indonesian Self Defense Association" of West Java, and the IPSI, Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia]

Cimande "Buhun" or "Wiwitan"

The Sundanese people of West Java, Indonesia are considered to be the oldest race of people on Earth. Indeed, the oldest human remains ever found was on the island of Java, now termed "The Java Man". The Sundanese people's original religion that is said to be at least 15,000 years old is called "Buhun". During the reign of the first Sundanese Kings: King Salaka Nagara in the 1st Century to King Pajajaran in the 17th Century, "Buhun" was the religion of the Sundanese people. Buhun is accepting of all other religions and has elements very similar to most. After the spread of Islam and Buddhism, other off-shoots of Buhun formed in West Java, Central Java and even Bali. The King of Central Java originally came from Sunda, thus Kejawen, which also adds elements of Islam and Buddhism, is a newer adaption of the the original Buhun beliefs. The oldest Cimande practiced in West Java is normally referrd to as "Ulin Sunda". Sometimes it may be called "Cimande Buhun".  The religion practiced in Cimande Tarik Kolot today is called "Jangjawokan" and is a mixture of "Buhun"  and "Islam".