Pencak Silat Beksi
Betawi silat from Kampung Dadap in Tangerang. According to sources, the Peranakan Chinese Lie developed it. We have not found the year it arose.
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About Pencak Silat Beksi
Beksi is a Betawi silat from Kampung Dadap in the Kosambi district of Tangerang. According to several sources, the style was developed by the Peranakan Chinese Lie, who lived from 1854 to 1951 and combined his family's martial art with the teaching of Betawi teachers. His name is written in four ways in the literature: Lie Tjeng Ok (Hamidah 2024), Lie Tjeng Hok (Cipta 2023), Lie Ceng Oek (BPNB Jawa Barat) and Lie Cheng Oek (Jakarta Post).
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We have not found the year of origin. Purnama 2018 writes of the year 1800, and Hamidah 2024 cites an estimate by Guru Besar Dasik Aripin, according to whom the style arose in the last decade of 1880 or earlier. Nor is the explanation of the name uniform. BPNB derives it from the Chinese Bie Sie, where Bie means defense and Sie four. Purnama cites G. J. Nawi, according to whom it is the Hokkien bhe si in the sense of kuda-kuda, and Hamidah gives the expression Bi Sai in the sense of fighting as a possible origin. Technically, according to Jakarta Post, it is close-range fighting without attacking kicks. BPNB gives as a hallmark of the style an inverted fist strike with the inner side of the forearm up and an elbow strike, and Cipta names hand speed, a low stance and tight defense. In Petukangan, according to Hamidah, twelve jurus are taught, of which Beksi, Gedig and Tancep are among the basic ones. Instruction begins with the reading of the oath Ikrar Beksi. The style is used in the palang pintu ceremony at Betawi weddings, and Purnama estimates at least 120 sanggar of silat beksi in the Jabodetabek area.
History
Most sources place the beginnings of beksi in Kampung Dadap in the Kosambi district, which belongs to Tangerang in Banten province. Cipta 2023 describes Lie as a descendant of Chinese from a farming family, whose ancestors reportedly came from Xiamen, and gives the years of his life as 1854 to 1951. According to the same article, he combined his family's martial art with the teaching of Betawi teachers. Hamidah 2024 names as his Betawi teachers Ki Jidan, who lived in Gang Dukun in Kampung Dadap, and Ki Mi'ah, and further Pangeran Abdullah Gani.
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The year of origin differs even among scholarly articles. Purnama 2018 writes that beksi arose in 1800 in the village of Dadap. Hamidah 2024 cites an estimate by Guru Besar Dasik Aripin, according to whom the style arose in the last decade of 1880 or even earlier. The life dates of Lie Tjeng Ok agree across these three articles. The style spread further through students. Hamidah names four main students of H. Godzali: H. Hasbullah, Kong Muhammad Nur, Kong Simin and Kong Mandor. BPNB states that H. Hasbullah (1896 to 1989) developed his art in Petukangan, Kebayoran Lama, Ulujami and Pondok Aren, and calls him the founder of the local current. According to BPNB he created three present-day perguruan: Silat Beksi H. Hasbullah, Silat Beksi Engkong Nur and Silat Beksi Engkong Simin. Around the seventies, according to Hamidah, beksi began to be organized, among others in Perguruan Silat Putra Betawi. Naupal Haryawan, a teacher of the Silat Beksi Foundation, claims according to Jakarta Post that the first masters were strongly influenced by Chinese wushu and trained and taught in secret at night.
How it differs
From another Betawi style, cingkrik, beksi differs according to Jakarta Post in being close-range fighting in which attacking kicks with the legs are absent. According to BPNB, an inverted fist strike and an elbow strike are typical of beksi. Beksi itself is not uniform. In Petukangan twelve jurus are taught according to Hamidah, with names that differ from the list in Kompas, where the twelfth form is called Selempang 12. BPNB also distinguishes three present-day perguruan created by H. Hasbullah. The lists of forms differ among sources.
Technique
According to BPNB, the hallmark of beksi is an inverted fist strike with the inner side of the forearm up and an elbow strike. Cipta 2023 names hand speed, a low stance and tight defense. Jakarta Post describes the style as close-range fighting without attacking kicks. The explanation of the name differs among sources. BPNB derives beksi from the Chinese Bie Sie, where Bie means defense and Sie four. Purnama 2018 mentions three explanations: Bie Sie according to Lie Ceng Oek, the Hokkien bhe si in the sense of kuda-kuda according to G. J. Nawi, and the acronym Berbaktilah Engkau Kepada Sesama Insan. Hamidah 2024 adds Bi Sai or Bhe Sai in the sense of fighting or competing. The basis of instruction is made up of jurus. Hamidah writes that in Petukangan people believe in twelve jurus, where the first four are followed by eight developing ones. Hamidah names them as follows: Beksi, Gedig, Tancep, Cauk, Broneng, Ganden, Bandut, Petir, Tingkes, Beksi I, Silem and Bolang-Baling. Kompas differs from this, the twelfth and last form being called Selempang 12 according to it. Purnama gives Beksi, Tancap and Gedig as the three basic jurus in all regions. According to H. Muhammad Soleh, a teacher from Petukangan, usually only three to six jurus are known.
Training
Hamidah 2024 describes three phases of learning: admission of the student, instruction proper and completion after full study. The source does not describe the requirements of each phase, only that every teacher has own conditions and peculiarities. Training begins with reading the oath Ikrar Beksi, whose aim according to Hamidah is good conduct toward Allah, and opens with a sholawat accompanied by rebana drums. Kompas cites the instructor Musleh from Pondok Aren, who says learning the twelve basic forms takes three to four years. This is one teacher's claim. The dress is a black pangsi, sarung and peci. According to Hamidah the fold of the sarung can also serve as a defensive weapon, and the pangsi is worn at performances and tournaments. Purnama documents the traditional belief that the rosulan ritual in three phases is a condition for a pesilat of beksi, and that whoever does not undergo it is to be struck blind. The article records this belief and does not present it as a verified practice of all schools.
Today
According to Jakarta Post, beksi is among the most commonly practiced forms of silat in Greater Jakarta. Purnama 2018 writes that at least 120 sanggar of silat beksi exist in the Jabodetabek area. This is an estimate. Hamidah 2024 gives no number of clubs, only that the land of Betawi has around 317 currents of maen pukulan, that is all Betawi styles, not just beksi. Silat beksi is used in the palang pintu ceremony at Betawi weddings, combined with pantun. Jakarta Post from 2016 states that it is to be included in the curriculum of schools in Tangerang as local content, first as an club at primary and lower secondary schools. The Silat Beksi Foundation in Petukangan has, according to the teacher Endang, hundreds of members, and half of them are young. This is the foundation's claim about itself.
Did you know
Purnama 2018, in an article on the myths of silat beksi, records the legend that Lie Ceng Oek met in a cave the figure of Ki Jidan, whom according to tradition Ki Belang, called Siluman Macan Putih, had trained. The training was reportedly supplemented by a forty-day fast said to give resistance to blades. The author documents it as a myth, not as a historical fact. According to the website Good News from Indonesia, beksi was inscribed in 2015 in the intangible cultural heritage of Indonesia, and the certificate originally said Silat Bekasi, which the government later corrected. The same website cites Turmuji, a fourth-generation descendant of Ki Jidan, who says the style was originally called Besi, not Beksi, and Ki Jidan taught it to Lie Tjeng Hok. This is the family's claim.
Frequently asked questions
Where does silat beksi come from?
From Kampung Dadap in the Kosambi district of Tangerang, where according to several sources the Peranakan Chinese Lie developed it. We have not found the year of origin, scholarly articles give the year 1800 or an estimate of around 1880 and earlier.
What does the name beksi mean?
Explanations differ. BPNB derives it from the Chinese Bie Sie, where Bie means defense and Sie four. Purnama gives the Hokkien bhe si in the sense of kuda-kuda according to G. J. Nawi, and Hamidah the expression Bi Sai in the sense of fighting.
How does beksi differ from other Betawi styles?
According to Jakarta Post it is close-range fighting in which, unlike the cingkrik style, attacking kicks with the legs are absent. BPNB names as a hallmark an inverted fist strike and an elbow strike.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.