According to what I understand from my teacher, kembangan in our style is the following: Aesthetics is not the core of kembangan (aesthetics is the mask that seems very beautiful for an outsider, but he does not know what is behind the mask). Kembangan is closely intertwinned with the goal of pencak silat, survival. In the kembangan all the techniques are hidden, one movement in a kembangan is not just a movement. A movement is not just one technique, but each movement can contain many techniques (10 to 20). So in fact when you are practising kembangan you are practising the techniques of your style. Only you should become aware of them and learn the meaning of each movement and the possibilities of each movement. And in the end try to master them all, but this is a long way. Kembang means flower it is just like a flower a beautiful thing, but it also hides what it is all about. It hides all the techniques it is composed of. I also agree that kembangan is not the same as kata, but it is much more complex. In the kata one movement is one technique, in the kembangan one movement is several techniques. Kembangan is like a book in which many techniques are written, but you must first learn how to read and interprete the book (do not just look at the beautiful pictures in the book). Garuda...
Hello Wali, I tried to view the video clips in your website. No success. Also, the forum is temporarily closed. Maybe, next time I will be more successful. Meanwhile, could you look back at the previous posts and try to answer some of my questions, if possible? The rest of you guys, thanks for giving me info and pointing to new leads.
Hi, I agree with wali and garuda, based on my experience the dance, kembangan or flower is already the techniques of your silat. You would know if that person or his silat is very advance by just looking at his forms.
In Malaysia, kembangan is known as silat dance (tari) and sometimes bunga (flower) silat. Naturally flower will later become buah (fruit). Kembangan actually is very closely related to langkah. Through kembangan we would be able to change our standing position depending on our opponent(s). It is actually suitable if we confront numerous opponents. Every position in kembangan is actually a 'sikap pasang'. We should be able to defend ourselves when attacked in whatever positions. In my personal experience, doing kembangan will make me more relaxed and and my level of alertness increases.
first things first,before you do kembangan, first you need to learn how to move or learn your jurus, then advance to langka and lastly do kembangan. the way it was explained to me by my guru, kembangan is your own expression of what you learned from doing jurus, in some sense kembangan is your bua/fruit. fruit of your hard training. selamat
It is a mistake to regard Kembangan as nonsense. My teachers always hammered me hard on the importance of kembangan. To a Pesilat, kembangan is the same as your name card. If you meet an opponent and you do kembangan, he immediately knows what your style is and how good you are. In the old days, not many fights progressed after each fighters opens his/her moves with a kembangan. In practical fighting, kembangan is actually performs two things. One, to adjust our position to open ways to close and strike. Two, (this happens to many martial practicioners which do not understand silat) entice your opponent to attack. Hope this helps
Salam Silat, everyone. I am a silat practitioner from Java and hope to be able to shed some light on the practical use of kembangan in combat. To be frank there is none. What you use in combat is not the form of the kembangan. However, the essence or the soul of the form which you learn, you can touch by practising flowing kembangan movements. In combat you use pukulan, sodokan, towelan, kepretan, ambilan, bantingan, colokan, sikutan and all other ways of attacking and you don't use kembangan. However you move with flow and with grace and with the soul of the move (for example if you move the macan style you should 'catch the macan spirit') through the practise of the flow of kembangan. I hope this makes sense. Salam
Hello. I am glad this thread has elicited some more responses. Hi, Kiai Carita. You have a refreshing idea back there that I am sure will elicit even more response. The kembangan has no practical use, you say. Hmmm. Sounds interesting. Actually, I prefer if this issue was answered not with a "take-it-or-leave-it" kind of answer. What I mean is one's opinions must be backed up by compelling evidence. I personally remain open to all kinds of interpretation of kembangan, ibing, or bunga because I think that the kembangan aspect has several layers of meaning. I have heard all sorts of answers, and I respect them all. Most of the answers are based on traditional thinking and reflects the South-east Asian way of looking at things. I have no problem with that. But I would like to also view the question from another perspective. I think the Western mind tends to view things scientifically, and analyzing the kembangan from a scientific perspective can add another layer of meaning. I would like to see kembangan explained in terms of sound biomechanics, psychology, human kinetics, etc. For example, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) has been used to explain and enhance athletic performance. In kembangan, for example, what serves as the trigger to close or open a position in relation to the movements of the opponents? How can one program the mind to shift from a normal state of mind to a fighting/killing mood using body movements as triggers? The West has developed several good techniques the East can learn from - NLP, Silva mind control, and several other human potential development approaches, etc, etc. Asian masters tend to do things intuitively, and students are trained to develop their intuition. I think developing scientific analysis will complement, rather than oppose, one's understanding of Silat. It will de-mystify superstition and hearsay. Look at how scientific analysis has strengthened, rather than weakened, the Chinese art of accupuncture. I think it can do the same for Silat and other South-East Asian arts.
Thank you for the response. It is a very enjoyable luxury to have these sort of discussions. I agree with the opinion of Western knowledge enriching silat; in fact I think that East and West and Centre have always contributed and shaped each other too. Since a long long time agi, further back than historians can find facts. Back to the discussion on kembangan, I would suggest that a more practical question which might elicit an enlightening response searched for by Red Bagani could be: Just how does the practise of kembangan increase effectivity in combat? (I'm taking kembangan does increase survival chances here) Still this is a difficult question to discuss over the web because I am not sure whether what I call kembangan is the same as what everyone else calls kembangan. And when I say the practise of kembangan I am actually refering to private experiences, which again, might be completely different to what other people are thinking. My father taught me to practise kembangan as thus:relaks, say a prayer, obey every will to move, move and don't stop (until he says it is time). In West Java I have seen something like this practised with double sided drums and gongs and a trumpet like the type you see in caricatures of turbaned snake charmers. It makes me think of those educational theories (like Montessouri, Rudolf Steiner, Ki Hadjar Dewantara -is this the right spelling? ) which say that learning is more richly layered and effective if it is presented in art and or play. In the West we see the application of this theory widely in nurseries and infants education. One, two, buckle my shoe (maths, practical living skills, music, rythm, spelling, writing, reading), three, frour, knock on the door (maths, social skills, music, rythm, spelling.... and so on). This makes me sad when I see music being taken out of those silat traditions which used so much of it as I see it as one of the riches of silat. An other observation on the practise of kembangan: the practise of kembangan makes the practitioner experience a creative process and develope creative skills. Hope this furthers the discussion. I would be very interested to hear/read other experiences with kembangan. Maybe with a little explaination what the kembangan was to make it more clear? I met a guy from London's East West studios a couple of days ago and we chated about kembangan and energies and I found it very interesting because this young Londoner of Spanish descent walked like a tiger and had alot of knowledge and experience on silat but refused to smoke a real Djie Sam Soe kretek cigarrette! When I was growing up under the shade of the Lawu mountain in Jawa I thought that to be a pendekar you had to smoke kretek cigarrettes and tie your udeng head scarf with a tiny triangle down the centre of the forehead. No I know better. :bang: I see there is a knowledgable senior member of this forum who trains in the East West studios in North London named Wali. I'm curious, does Wali in this forum have a yellow and black business card? Is it you who is going to Indonesia soon Wali? Salam persilatan.
Hi Kiai, No, it wasn't me that you spoke to, it sounds like it was Steve Benitez. As far as the smoking goes, it doesn't make sense that you need to smoke ANY type of cigarrette to become a Pendekar! What day did you go? Did you get to see any of the classes? The Kembagang night is on Wednesdays. Cheers, Wali
Dear Wali, I have never been to your studio. What time are your kembangan sessions on Wednesday night? How do you get to your studio by public transport? I would like to see your activities one day. Salam.
Hello Kiai Carita (is that pronounced with a K or a Ch?), I think rephrasing the original question will probably elicit more detailed and technically-oriented answers. This is indeed a very difficult question to pose in the internet, and I hope that people will be kind and patient enough to give a good response. When you said that it can't be used in a practical manner, was this based on your own experience or was it the way you were taught? How is your sparring different from the way you did kembangan? I understand that there is also a two-person form in kembangan
The fist word of my name is pronounced with a K and the second with a Ch.... back to the question of kembangan, I would like to make sure that what I say is kembangan is the same to what you say it is. What do you mean by kembangan?
in my understanding it is the solo practise of what I know. I imagine myself being attacked by one opponent, and visualise how I would deal with that, right through to takedown, falls, and then put another attacker in the picture to make me aware of another 'opponent', and I'll keep adding more and more until my brain freezes, then I'll step back, take a break and start again....
Sounds a good practise of kembangan Silat Pupil. Try not to stop flowing and take your time to make every move until you get the proper form (sempurna). It is not neccesary to imagine attackers, just follow the logic and flow of your movements and positions. Mind listen to body not body follow fantasy. Hope this helps.
I find the imagination lets my mind empty of thinking what im going to eat next, or work I need to get done, eventually there is just me, and my 'attackers' and my body moves on its own accord as my mind is 'busy' trying to beat my body.... its quite fun really, and I only stop when I get too tired, maybe 15mins after I started...
I think we are in agreement with what we mean by the term "kembangan". When I did it, it was just like how you guys described it, basically to relax, and go with the spirit and flow of the art. I think others call it the bunga, or ibing, or some other name. In Merpati Putih, there is a similar exercise called "gerakan mabuk", loosely translated as drunken movements, because one moves as if drunk with energy. From my experience, it is very spontaneous, and people move differently from one another. Even at different times, the same person will move differently, depending on his/her present level. What I want to understand is that aspect of combat where the pesilat makes gestures before a clash with an opponent. How is this done properly in Silat? Maybe this is better answered by personal anecdotes and description of actual experiences and understanding, rather than hypothetical ideas or references to videos or other training materials. I'd like to know if anyone has actually sparred or fought using Silat, and if they have, what are their insights? I think it is really hard to discuss this topic in the net, but many have already provided valuable lessons in this thread.
ahhh, what your talking about it the principle of Off-timing, basicly using thigh slaps, hand flashing to distract the opponent from what your about to do. Its a form of decoying, by slapping your leg, the opponent often looks at the source of the sound, which lets you direct an attack at their face with a time window where they dont see it coming. Of course, when you know it, you dont fall for it so easy....
Salam silat... Red Bagani ... In real combat your moves would change depending the environment of the fight and on your opponent(s) attack(s). I don't think Mr.Bush' concept of pre-emptive strikes is compatible with the universal warrior code or pencak silat . In silat usually the code is 'Lu jual gue beli' or 'You sell I buy' implicating that a fight is actually a negotiation and also a pesilat does not begin attacking without being attacked first. Sudanese elders say :Alien: 'nista, maja, utama', meaning first let someone humiliate you . If that does not bring peace the second choice is to move away :love: . If you are still prosecuted then give them your best and fight-utama . In combat or in dangerous situations, your flow of movements will be good if you practise your kembangan, or 'gerak-mabuk' or 'gerak naluri' or whatever you call it - that very Indonesian method of creating art which is the core of all Indonesian arts, from meteorite finding for keris blades to dance or headhunting - which is called following the krenteg- (the second-to-second pull of the heart). These 'kembangan' practises must be correct and diligent and truthfull and done in faith as a way of surrendering to God's Will. In this aspect Indonesian silat might differ with other martial arts because one of the important elements of the silat method is the presence of Faith (any religion will do as long as the Faith is strong). In a fight whether you actually make any kembangan moves or not, depends on the circumstances. ... In a duel or a sport championship where kembangans get points, the pesilat often begin to move towards eachother in formal kembangan. Whether or not it is effective depends on the sweat and tears poured on the training floor. As to your question about anecdotes I can say that since I began learning silat in 1983 I have never had fisticuffs with anyone. However I have been in dangerous situations and have found myself moving in circular motions and assessing 360 degrees and constantly being consious of spatial relations and people's intent. In meditation I find this is because of the drill of the moves and breathing exercises that keep me aware and calm, and the exercise of the flow movement, free-movement, flower-movement, what-we-have-been-discussing-movement, makes it possible to flow like water and have something to do while living through the suspense of impending violence. I flowed in my heart without any physical silat like moves so nothing much to tell. I hope someone more heroic will be able to give a more exciting account of the magic of this art. Selamat berlatih.
