'Silat' meet for the blind

'Silat' meet for the blind

JAKARTA (JP): The Merpati Putih pencak silat (Indonesian martial arts) school will hold a national competition for its blind members at the Senayan stadium east gate on Sunday.

The competition is part of the martial arts group's celebrations of its 32nd anniversary. Around 15,000 Merpati Putih members from throughout Indonesia are expected to come and see, not only the competition, but also a demonstration which will involve about 300 athletes.

The competition will include four events: cycling race, cycling according to traffic signs, identifying colors and walking on stilts in accordance with traffic signs.

Exponents of pencak silat claim that physical objects radiate electrical waves which can be detected by the body, enabling blind people to "see" them.

Five blind pencak silat athletes from Bali, 10 from Malang, East Java, one from Lirik, Jambi, one from Yogyakarta, Central Java, and one from Cirebon, West Java, are scheduled to take part in the competition.(arf)