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PERISAI DIRI SILAT
Author: STEPHEN CUE
FROM ITS OBSCURE origin in the backyards and garages of Brisbane in the 1970s, interest in the once little known art of Silat Perisai Diri in Australia has grown to the point now where 250 exponents train in 10 club venues across the nation. The Keluarga (or Brotherhood) Silat National Perisai Diri Australia club now boasts seven venues in Brisbane, one on the Gold Coast, another in Townsville and, more recently, one in Adelaide. Understandably, with this growth has come a greater understanding of Silat Perisai Diri (called PO for short) and a more mature approach to the art and its instruction.
The art of Perisai Diri was developed by the late Raden Mas Soebandiman Dirdjoatmodjo, who launched it as a Silat organisation in the Indonesian city of Surabaya in 1955. Pak Dirjo, as he has become affectionately known, developed the P.O. system after a lifelong study and mastery of many different Silat styles. (Silat is a Malay term for Martial Arts.) Pak Dirdjo's study was augmented by fourteen years of training under Shaolin .Kung Fu master Yap Kie San. This combination of styles was to produce a comprehensive Martial Art system which remains essentially Malay in nature.
The number of Indonesian exponents of P.O. is now conservatively estimated to number over 100,000. This growth of interest in the art is actively encouraged by the Indonesian government as part of a rediscovery of Indonesian culture after hundreds of years of Dutch colonial domination. As such, P.O. is taught to personnel in the Indonesian army, navy and police force. Not, surprisingly, the art has spread internationally and has exponents in Europe, North America and, of course, Australia.
Perisai Diri was first introduced here, on an appreciable scale, in the mid to late 1970s by red stripe instructor Dadan (Don) Muharam, when he chose to settle in Brisbane after a previous visit. Don's dream was to teach his art to westerners and as such began teaching individuals, and later small groups, all in the humble venue of his garage. Slowly the number of students grew and a base of local instructors was developed.
The training was hard in those early days as Don wished to establish a founning base of instructors, who were strong and adept, as soon as possible. (1 can personally attest to the intensity of the training having been a student of these early instructors at the beginning of the last decade). Students were not only required to partake in extremely arduous calisthenics but also had to survive the physical toughening process of having their bodies kicked and punched by their instructors. This toughening process was employed at a very early stage of the student's development to better equip them for the very physical free fights in which even the most dangerous techniques were used. Despite this precaution, the incidence of injury then was high and the dropout rate prolific.
However, in the mid-eighties, P.O. in Australia was to reach a turning point that was to see its practice here change for the better with a more complete understanding of the art as a whole. Russell Dennis, now a blue-red stripe instructor, explains the change:
"The first contact we (the Australian club) had with Indonesia was in 1984 when Don sent me over there on the pretext of getting some treatment for an injury he thought could be better treated there. But he had an ulterior motive, insomuch as he wanted to establish relations between the Australian and Indonesian clubs."
Russell said that the Indonesians were happy that P.O. had spread to Australia and were pleased with Don' s work and the standard of his students. He said that from that first meeting in Indonesia the relationship bloomed. As an expression of sincere interest in the art's growth here, a Pendekar, or spiritual master teacher, had visited Australia to meet with club members. The number of delegations to Indonesia grew resulting in a flow of information back to Australia, and an involvement of Australian club members in Indonesian Silat tournaments.
Having earned the trust of the Pendekars, the early Australian representatives returned to Australia and adapted their training methods so it was more closely modelled on the Indonesian approach to their own art.
"We don't have that many injuries now because of the nature of the revised training. The Serang Hindar (attack and avoid) is another example of Pak Dirdjo's genius in that we can become good at Martial Arts without becoming injured along the way. It doesn't take long for people to wise up to the fact that if a student gets bashed at training all the time, they are not going to be there for long."
"It was pretty rough in our day when you (the author) were training. There was a lot of hard contact back then, before we fully understood what we were supposed to be trying to do. The result was good and those who reached the top were tough and didn't mind being hit, but you can't teach like that now that we are in the days of the lawsuit and such. However, that is not the main reason. The main reason for the change is so that students can learn good techniques, hone their reflexes and go at full pace without injury."
"Pak Dirdjo combined the natural rationale of mankind to protect himself and his knowledge of the reflex reaction to produce P.D. Perisai Diri (Shield of Oneself) is a vision become reality. The shielding of oneself is intrinsic in mankind. All Martial Arts have it; all people have it. If someone attacks you, you will naturally shield yourself. The second part is reflexes. P.D. movements are based on reflex reactions. If someone attacks, we move in a certain way that is safe for us, but we train to do it as a reflex reaction. It is our first action. We don't have to think."
"And so, in the beginning, we teach the student's body how to move quickly without getting the brain in the way; the reflex movement. We also teach them a wide range of technique."
The techniques of P.D. that Russell refers to include: Pendera (Priest), Putri (Princess), Setria (Patriot), Garuda (Eagle), Burung Kuntul (Crane), Harimau (Tiger), Linsang (Otter), Melewis (Swallow) and Naga (Dragon).
"I think the reason there is such a range of technique is because there are so many different styles of Silat in Indonesia," Russell explained, adding that it was therefore only natural that Pak Dirdjo incorporate so many different styles in P.D. He went on to say that students were given a basic grounding in the different techniques and their application for the first eighteen months, by which time they should have gained their red belt.
After red belt, the student studies each technique individually and exclusively for a minimum of a year, the progressive mastery of each being necessary to move to the next level. Training after red belt was taken by the committee which now includes, apart from Russell, Wesley Clarke (blue stripe), Steve Colledge (blue stripe) and Miko Saeri (blue stripe from Indonesia). Don no longer teaches in Australia as he and his family returned to Indonesia in the late eighties.
Another aspect of the contemporary approach to P.D. in Australia is humility. "If you are not humble, if you believe you know it all or think you are already good enough, you put a roof on yourself," Russell said. "You are then not able to go through that to excel even further. You ego has limitations in a Martial Art. The more you humble yourself, the easier it is to learn."
Along with its attention to all three major aspects of a serious martial art the physical, the mental and the spiritual - P.D. also has its sporting side. In the past, Australian P.D. exponents have taken part in tournaments of other Martial Art styles such as Jujitsu and Karate. However, under the guidance of one of P.D's most successful Australian tournament competitors, Steve Colledge, students are being encouraged to learn how to compete in Silat tournaments.
In Indonesia, the governing body for this competition is the Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia (or IPSI for short). Established in the mid-sixties as a competition organisation for all styles of Silat throughout Indonesia and elsewhere, the IPSI world titles are held every two years.
Steve, who trains himself and students for the titles, plans to establish an IPSI competition in Australia with the first titles to be held in Brisbane, possibly in March of 1993. The titles would be open to all other styles of Martial Art.
"At this stage, interest is being generated by word of mouth," Steve said. "I have spoken to a lot of senior instructors from other Martial Arts about IPSI and its success overseas. The resulting interest in it seems to be based on the fact that the rules ofIPSI seem to suit a lot of other arts and not just Silat. The key, of course, is to separate the martial training from that of the IPSI training, which is a sport, and adapt one's style to the rules of the competition."
Generally speaking, as with any Martial Art, Perisai Diri students can only, in part, be as good as their instruction. Therefore, with interest in the art growing and the increase in the number of classes a likelihood, the quality of instruction is, of course, a major concern. "We are not looking at booming, as we are not trying to turn the club into a big commercial concern," Russell explains. "We want our instructors to be ready and well equipped for when they may, for example, move interstate and wish to begin teaching. Anybody can teach physically, but when it comes to preventing injuries in the class, it is a different matter."
With its lack of reliance on brute power and emphasis on technique, speed and reflex, Perisai Diri is an attractive option for people of any size, male or female. Coupled with a more balanced approach to training, Perisai Diri appears ready for the long haul on the local scene as a rich addition to the Australian Martial Arts fraternity.
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