Pencak Silat Training Camp in Indonesia 2003

From 4-16 August the Pencak Silat Federation of the UK (PSF UK) sent a team of trainers and senior students from perguruan Pencak Silat Gerak Ilham Bugis-Makassar to participate in a tailored course organised by PERSILAT and IPSI. The course was held at the Padepokan in Jakarta and at the beach resort in Carita, West Java.

En-route to Jakarta the UK team stopped over in Singapore and visited the new headquarters of the Singapore Silat Federation (PERSISI). The students from the UK were shown around the Silat Centre for Excellence and were impressed by the standard and quality of the facilities and teachings.

Members o PSF UK
and PERSISI in front
of Silat Centre in Singapore

Silat Centre of
Excellence in
Singapore

The excellent facilities of the Padepokan again proved an ideal venue for the training and the bungalows at the seaside in Carita provided a more relaxed surrounding for the weekend training.

The teachers and IPSI trainers instructing the pesilat (students) from the UK were of the highest caliber and their skill, enthusiasm and patience has left a lasting impression on all that attended the course.

The students were privileged to be able to learn Mustika Kwitang (Silat Betawi) from the Grand Master of this Silat style, Bapak Zakaria, and his two sons, Pak Syaiful and Pak Ishak.


Training in Mustika Kwitang

The course also included training in Tanding (Olahraga) and the Jurus Tunggal and Jurus Regu. Some of the trainers and senior students were also given instructions in the rules, the scoring system and organisation of Tanding (Olahraga) competitions.


Tanding Training

Jurus Tunggal Training

Training in Wasit (Referee)

Pesilat from UK with Bapak Prabowo Subianto, Pesident IPSI (in white shirt)
and Bapak Aidinal Alrashid, President PSF UK

Pak Aidinal Alrashid, President of the PSF UK, the UK pesilat as well as the Indonesian National Team attended a dinner at the residence of Bapak Prabowo Subianto, the new President of Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia (IPSI).

Dinner at the residence of Bapak Prabowo Subianto

At the personal invitation and in the presence of Bapak Rahmat Gobel, Vice President of IPSI, Bapak Aidinal Alrashid and the students from the UK also enjoyed a superb Japanese dinner at Hotel Nikko in Jakarta.

Dinner at Japanese Dinner with Bapak Rachmat Gobel

Boat trip to Krakatao, one of the many active volcanos in Indonesia. Those with enough stamina made the arduous climb up the volcano and were rewarded with a magnificant view.

Overall, the two week training program was a huge success and we hope to be able to repeat similar training camps in the coming years. Before returning to London, the majority of the group stayed on in Indonesia and explored South Sulawesi, Bali and Lombok.