Pencak Silat: One step toward becoming an official sport<\/p>\n
Imanuddin
\nStaff Writer
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta
\niman@thejakartapost.com<\/p>\n
An exhibition sport will not mean more gold, silver or bronze
\nmedals to pursue in the 14th Asian Games in Busan, South Korea,
\nbut nevertheless Pencak Silat will make an ambitious move toward
\ninternational recognition.<\/p>\n
There will be a fantastic opportunity to show the public,
\nespecially the Asian community, that there is a different
\ntechnique of self defense, known locally and in the Southeast
\nAsia region as Pencak Silat, which deserves international, or at
\nleast regional, recognition.<\/p>\n
Many, mainly in the Pencak Silat community, have praised its
\nsuccess in managing to get accepted to Asia's biggest sporting
\nevent, following Karate and Judo from Japan, Tae Kwon Do from
\nKorea and Wushu from China.<\/p>\n
\"Although, it (Pencak Silat) will only be an exhibition sport
\nin the Busan Asian Games, it's a great stride toward receiving
\nmore international recognition,\" said Indonesian Pencak Silat
\nFederation (IPSI) President and President of the International
\nPencak Silat Federation (Persilat) Eddie Nalapraya of Indonesia,
\non the sidelines of a recent function celebrating the inclusion
\nof Pencak Silat in the 2002 Asian Games.<\/p>\n
Similar feelings were shared by Abdullah Syafei, President of
\nSingapore Pencak Silat Federation, who expressed his joy at the
\ninclusion of Pencak Silat in the Asiad.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, President of Malaysia's Pencak Silat Federation Tan
\nSri H. Mohammad Thaib said: \"It's a golden milestone for Pencak
\nSilat in its attempt to receive official international
\nrecognition.\"<\/p>\n
Pencak Silat combines the skill of various traditional ethnic
\nof self defense techniques inherited by the people within the
\nSoutheast Asia from their ancestors centuries ago.<\/p>\n
Nowadays, Pencak Silat has been globally promoted and
\ndeveloped in the five continents under the flag of Persilat
\n(International Pencak Silat Federation, Persekutuan Pencak Silat
\nAntar Bangsa). The umbrella organization was co-founded by
\nIndonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam in 1980.
\nSince then, the organization has spread to 40 countries.<\/p>\n
The long and winding road toward reaching international
\nrecognition began in 1987, when Pencak Silat was included as an
\nofficial event in the 14th Southeast Asia (SEA) Games in Jakarta,
\ninvolving nine participating countries.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in the global arena, a Pencak Silat World
\nChampionship is held every two years.<\/p>\n
At home, Pencak Silat managed to enter the country's local
\nofficial multi-sport event, the National Games (PON), in 1973,
\nlong after Indonesia had its Pencak Silat Federation (IPSI)
\nestablished in Solo (Surakarta, Central Java) in 1948.<\/p>\n
And the long wait to enter a larger international stage has
\nborne fruit as Pencak silat was finally allowed as an exhibition
\nsport at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, (the city formerly known
\nas Pusan) South Korea before a probable official inclusion of it
\nin Qatar, the site of the 2006 Asian Games.<\/p>\n
The Busan Asian Games Organizing Committee has allowed Pencak
\nSilat athletes to participate but will treat them differently
\nfrom the official contingents, in that the pencak silat
\ncontingent will have to arrange its contest at its own cost
\nduring the competition.<\/p>\n
The Busan games will run from Sept. 29 to Oct. 14 and pencak
\nsilat will take place for two days on Oct. 5 and 6. Athletes from
\n15 countries, including host South Korea, are expected to compete
\nin the exhibition.<\/p>\n
It would not be too much of a distant dream to have Pencak
\nSilat eventually make it all the way to the Olympic Games, as its
\ncompetition and scoring systems share similarities with martial
\narts from other countries, such as Karate, Judo, Tae Kwon Do and
\nWushu.<\/p>\n
For competition purposes, Pencak Silat is divided into four
\ncategories -- match, solo, doubles and team.<\/p>\n
The match category involves a competition that involves two
\nathletes from different teams using the elements of Pencak
\nSilat's self defense and attack techniques with the goal of
\nachieving a higher score.<\/p>\n
Solo is when an athlete performs the Pencak Silat Single
\nCompulsory Steps with accuracy and precision, both empty-handed
\nand with weapons.<\/p>\n
The double involves two pesilat of the same team who perform
\ntheir skills and Pencak Silat's defense and attack techniques.<\/p>\n
The team category involve three pesilats of the same team who
\nperform their skills empty-handed in the Team Compulsory Steps
\naccurately.<\/p>\n
The four categories are divided into male and female events.<\/p>\n
Apart from the successful continuing lobbying endeavors of
\nPersilat officials to include Pencak Silat in international
\nmulti-event sports tournaments, the questions will be on how
\npeople of the countries of origin of Pencak Silat, especially
\nIndonesia, could maintain their supremacy in every tournament in
\nthe future.<\/p>\n
Or will they be willing to see themselves as spectators only,
\nwhile other countries excel and dominate every Pencak Silat
\ntournament?<\/p>\n
A good, but threatening example should be the 2000 Pencak
\nSilat World Championship in Jakarta when Indonesia managed to top
\nthe overall medal tally with 14 golds but relative newcomer
\nVietnam came second with five golds. However, the latest world
\nchampionship had shown us that four of the Vietnamese gold
\nmedalists were women, in contrast to Indonesia's mens'
\nachievement.<\/p>\n
Vietnam's increasing threat had begun in the 20th SEA Games in
\nBrunei Darussalam when its team outclassed Indonesia with seven
\ngolds, while Indonesia came second with five golds.<\/p>\n
An honest, but bitter statement from Eddie Nalapraya is that
\n\"Pencak Silat is no longer Indonesia's property\". This should be
\na real lesson to those involved here.<\/p>",
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