Indonesia 1979.

"If the Indonesians don't pay attention and do better, in future
they'll have to go to Holland to learn Pencak."
These now famous words were spoken by Eddie Nalapraya, one of the most
prominent figures in the international Pencak Silat during a welcome

Foreign martial arts had secured themselves a place within Indonesian
society and the people had thoroughly neglected it's 'warasan', cultural
heritage.

Pencak has traditionally been a system which carried over from father
to son and as such it is understandable that there is a wide diversity.
The correct number is unknown, but the estimations of the number
of styles run from 450 to 600.
Because every family had in effect it's own system, all embracing
organizations IPSI has tried to form large styles of similar systems.
This necessitated the exchange of techniques and a determination
of what would be part of any one style.

Anton Kneefel, one of the earliest pendekars and main representative
of Tapac Suci in the Netherlands, tells:
"The formation of the style was influenced by the family and the region
in which one lived. Fishermen who had to face pirates developed a different
style from gardener/planter, who had to face thieves of his agricultural
products. Kampongs (villages) on the beach, which get attacked by
pirates, because they want a style which will give them a toehold in the
sandy beaches, developed a style of very low stances in which they
fight more or less on hands and feet.

"Even now, it will occur that in remote areas, villages and ships are
attacked by pirates. This can't be told of in newspapers, otherwise
the tourists will stay away. Wooden ships are still sailed, and although
the pirates have access to automatic weapons, there is still much use
made of the "badik", a stabbing weapon.
Pencak then serves for survival, because when at any times an
automatic weapon has to be reloaded, you're dependent on your
"badik" or your bare hands."

Kneefel is very explicit when he says that Pencak is purely
practical, and not influenced by match fighting and sport.

:"Thirty years back, in Indonesia, my weapon was still borrowed
to settle disputes. A guy will come up to you and ask:'Sir,
can I borrow your 'Golok?'
I told him I would want it back, to which he staid: 'I'll bring it
back, but if I won't be able to, my friend will.'
He brought it back himself, but what exactly did take place,
no one knows. Mind you, this was the Jakarta of thirty years
ago, Pencak at that time was still used to fight out feuds, but also
to keep the Kampong a little safe. There were neighborhoods where
no policeman could be spotted on the street. They wouldn't dare.
Robbers would do _anything_ not to be recognized, so confrontations
with them were best avoided. Still, that wasn't always a possibility. Right
in front of our house, several people have been murdered. My daughter,
who now also lives in Holland, and teaches at Leiden University, saw this.
I told her 'Don't do this', but she _had_ to go and look. Well, this guy
had been chopped to bits. I said 'what parts do you want - his eyes,
his entrails?' - she wasn't able to eat for days, after that. It's unimaginable,
but thirty years ago, these things still happened."

Shaking his head, he stares ahead for some time, and then the old master
says: "I was always taught that Silat isn't a sport."
 

Has no problem with the way in which Silat is presented in the Netherlands?

"No, I look at this in an understanding way. Putting across Pencak to
protect your Kampong can't be done here. Within the shortest time
you'd have to empty all jails to make room for all Pencakkers. Pencak
there was only directed towards survival."

Kneefel's story reveals much about the rigorous attitude many
Pencakkers show.

"As a teacher or a well trained Pencakker you know that Pencak
can truly be lethal. In Indonesia, it is even true that people don't like
to talk about Pencak. It is too direct and close to the bone and is
too much associated with life threatening situations. For this reason,
even in Indonesia, many teachers still teach in secret, in the old way.
Nowadays, there too, Pencak is more and more 'Olah Raga', a sport.

The old teachers can't change much, anymore, but they've grown up
with it from when they were little and they too will teach their children
in turn, what they were taught by their fathers what they used to
protect their children."

Kneefel tells that a Pencakker will do anything not to have to use
his Pencak, but when it comes to it, it's all or nothing.
To the question whether we properly understood the principle of
inflicting a minimum of harm (like only break an arm instead of killing)
doesn't apply, he answers dryly:
"No, as much as possible, first break the arm to make it easier
to kill. These are the extreme things in Pencak. You must do everything
to prevent it, but when you have no choice... you'll have to, because
otherwise he'll get back. Mind you, this is the Pencak in it's extreme,
traditional form. You must imagine that your Kampong is being attacked
by pirates. They did the same thing last year, when your best friend,
your neighbor and other relatives were killed by them too.
Not you, because you were lucky enough to be able to run fast enough
that they didn't catch you. So you're looking for revenge and you prepare
in case they come again. So now you're getting back at them. In that context,
maybe you understand what makes Pencak tick. How it works.
That's the reason why so many old teachers have difficulty with a Pencak
which is based on Olah Raga. When I have to train someone for Olah Raga,
I'll say: 'you have to get his knee'. But then, I'm wrong."

Just as with Japanese Budo, within Pencak, there is a strong etiquette, and
much is done to instill within the students the necessary values.

"You have to imagine it like this: you're teaching three guys.
One of the three is  a rotter, you know that in advance, or you feel it. There
are several things that can happen.
1) The guy isn't accepted by the others.
2) The teacher takes him out of the group.
3) The teacher gives him a chance to adapt."

To achieve this third aim, there are several ways, according to Kneefel.
Often, the student is tested without realizing it. The teacher will teach him
separately and he's subjected to harsh physical tests and extreme tests
of skill to see if he'll go through with it, and when he does, he'll be ordered
to help the sick and the needy for a time. Does he do this without objections
and does it well, then maybe his viewpoint is broadened and there is still
hope for him.
Therefore, in Pencak, there is most definitely a mental formation taking place.

Kneefel:
"I think that is even more important than the Pencak Silat. Pencak can be
learned, but the mental formation you must see, feel, and also practice.
For Pencak teachers, then teaching techniques isn't the difficult part, but
determining if someone is suitable to learn Pencak. Here in Holland, that
is _very_ difficult. Firstly, there is the problem of space. In Indonesia,
you can easily train a man or three in your backyard. You made a pagar
(bamboo fence), and behind that, you can train in the evenings. But here,
those houses! It has happened that there (pointing to a garden) a boy
was using his nunchaku, here in the room a girl was practicing the candle
dance and upstairs two guys were training in combat for a demonstration.
The main problem is that you only have one hall, like we did in those times,
you can't do a thing. During class, the hall is full, and after two hours
you have to get out. Here, you have to deal with administrative issues,
something you don't have to think about in Indonesia. You have to take
into account so many things, and navigate between them. When you don't
know that art, you go under and that means: all schools are closed.
It's a terrible thing, but that's how it is. Many good teachers have succumbed
to that. They're walking around with palpitations, pacemakers, upset
stomachs, while Pencak is supposed to be relaxing."

The pioneer of the Indonesian arts tells that he doesn't like all this red
tape himself. It would encroach on the Pencak. Because of his way
of teaching, his students can get into trouble at some games.

"Within half a minute they're disqualified. Because of their movements
alone. At least, when there's a good referee. To the question whether
they carry through their punches to far:
"No, they break. They try to entrap, get closer and then 'bam' they grab
and try to break.

He continues that the movements of the Kneefel "Pencak" are universal.

"If you're going from 'Kneefel' silat to Setia Hati, you have no problems.
If you're going to Bonkot in Groningen (See article on de Thomis), you'll
have no problems. From Kneefel to Perisai Diri, no problems."

He explains that he introduced this plurality on purpose, because he doesn't
want to be tied to one style.
His own Pencak shouldn't be confused with Tapac Suci, which was introduced
to Holland by John Soekario in 1972, who had learned it from his father.

"Tapac Suci that is solely aimed at sport, I must keep pure, I'm obligated
to that, I took an oath that I'll keep Tapac Suci pure and expand it's practice.
The philosophy behind Tapac Suci is based on Islam and the name means
as much as 'clean track' or 'beautiful hand' - Tapac means both hand and sole.
This means that where you have been, it must be safe, well-being must reign.
But it also means that as a practitioner of TS, you must remain on the straight
path, that your way of life must be more or less clean.
TS was officially founded on 31 of July, 1963. When in 1967 the communists
reached for control, the Islamic population of the entire region of Madiun,
with help of Tapac Suci, fought them off. After that, many Islamists took up
Tapac Suci as their official means of defense. They even went so far as to give
their suits the color of the communist flag - this was a provocation to the
communists, in the trend of: we'll get you wherever you are. We'll even wear
your colors. This all took place when there was a great backlash against
everything that was communist in Indonesia. Everywhere muslims were
called on to exterminate the communists - not to capture them, but to
exterminate them."

Therefore, Tapac Suci has proved itself in the harsh reality and has been
shown to be an effective system, before the Olah Raga was emphasized.
This, because they wanted to take over the entire world. This system, which
is based on Islamic ideas maintains that only a healthy mind can reign,
practicing a pure sport.