Pencak silat groups have also been mobilized for the purpose of pursuing political aims. Increasing government intervention in pencak silat throughout the New Order period has led to the development of nationalized versions that seek to inculcate state-approved values within the body of the practitioner. Changing socio-cultural conditions in Indonesia have produced new forms of pencak silat. It is both an integrative and diverse cultural practice that articulates a holistic perspective on the world centering upon the importance of the body as a psychosomatic whole. As a form of traditional education, a performance art, a component of ritual and community celebrations, a practical form of self-defense, a path to spiritual enlightenment, and more recently as a national and international sport, pencak silat is in many respects unique.
The history, culture and practice of pencak in West Java is the subject of this study. Far from being merely a form of selfdefense, pencak silat is a pedagogic method that seeks to embody particular cultural and social ideals within the body of the practitioner.
This is my own account of the research and contains as its main content, work which has not been submitted for a degree at any universityĪbstract Pencak silat is a form of martial arts indigenous to the Malay derived ethnic groups that populate mainland and island Southeast Asia. Thesis School of Asian Studies Murdoch University Western Australia 2002 The Politics of Inner Power: The Practice of Pencak Silat in West Java
0 kommentar(er)
