Perisai Diri
Indonesian silat founded on 2 July 1955 in Surabaya. According to Draeger, it builds on straight punches and heel kicks.
Quick Facts
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Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
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About Perisai Diri
Perisai Diri, or PD for short, is an Indonesian style of pencak silat. According to Depdikbud 1985, Keluarga Silat Nasional Perisai Diri was founded on 2 July 1955 in Surabaya, and the basis of its style was created by R.M.S. Dirjo Atmojo. Draeger 1972 states that its origin is sometimes traced to Jogjakarta in Central Java, but he calls the efforts there an imperfect beginning and attributes the main credit to the founder R.M.S. Dirdjoatmodjo, who lived in the Surabaya area and gave PD its substance. The founder's full name is given by Afandi and Trilaksana 2023 in the journal AVATARA: R.M. Soebandiman Dirdjotmodjo. According to them, the school began as a silat course at the Cultural Office of East Java and in 1959 became a recognised school with an organisational system.
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Draeger describes PD as a modern offshoot of Central Javanese styles whose movement began in 1955, but whose technical and philosophical roots reach, in his view, into antiquity. The style is a synthesis of various pencak silat styles, yet it keeps clear of the foreign ideas of Japanese judo, aikido, karate-do and jujutsu and of Western boxing. It values straight punches, kicks go straight, no circular kicks are used, and the emphasis on the heel kick points, according to Draeger, to Chinese roots. Chambers, Draeger and Alexander 1970 call PD the most sharply rhythmic style of pencak silat, whose abrupt movements allow exceptionally upright stances. According to Draeger, instruction includes prepared forms, breathing exercises and weapons, which come only after unarmed fighting has been mastered. Depdikbud 1985 describes student grades called tanda, and according to Green 2001 PD in Bali adopted a belt system modelled on the Japanese arts. In 1985 it had around 15 thousand members in Bali, mostly school pupils and university students.
History
According to Wikipedia id, the founder was born on 8 January 1913 in Yogyakarta. After school he went on foot to Jombang, where he studied silat under K.H. Hasan Basri, then in Solo under Sayid Sahab, and with his grandfather Ki Jogosurasmo he studied kanuragan. In Semarang, according to the same article, he studied under Soegito of the aliran Setia Saudara. He settled in Parakan, opened the Eka Kalbu school and met the Chinese master Yap Kie San of the Siauw Liem Sie lineage, with whom he studied for fourteen years. These biographical data come only from Wikipedia. We have not found the names Siauw Liem Sie or Yap Kie San in Draeger, Chambers, Depdikbud or Green.
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In 1947, according to Wikipedia id, he was appointed a civil servant of the Ministry of Education and Culture, pencak silat section, and in 1955 he moved to Surabaya, where with Imam Ramelan's help he founded on 2 July 1955 the Perisai Diri silat course at the Cultural Office of East Java. The date 2 July 1955 is confirmed by Depdikbud 1985 and Asrianda et al. 2022, and Surabaya and the year 1955 are also given by Afandi and Trilaksana 2023. In 1970, according to Wikipedia id, the statutes were drawn up and the full name of the organisation was approved as Keluarga Silat Nasional Indonesia Perisai Diri, and the uniform changed from black to white. The abstract by Afandi and Trilaksana summarises the same. Wikipedia adds that the founder died on 9 May 1983 and that in 1986 the government awarded him the title Pendekar Purna Utama. In 1982 he reportedly appointed 23 students as Pendekar, called Pendekar Historis. In Bali, according to Depdikbud 1985, PD appeared around 1965 with Bapak Made Suweca as the main figure. Elsewhere the same document gives PD's development in the Bali area from 1 April 1964.
How it differs
Draeger 1972 states that the Balinese Bhakti Negara, Tridharma and Kerta are called purely Balinese styles, whereas Perisai Diri is a transplanted East Javanese form, which is not regarded as purely Balinese pencak silat. According to him, Tridharma, Bhakti Negara and Kerta Wisesa proceed from low crouched stances and are very deceptive, whereas he describes PD as a more upright and more economical system with more direct attacking action. Depdikbud 1985 states that in Bali PD differs from Bhakti Negara and Kertha Wisesa in that it is spread mainly in towns and its members did not know one another beforehand, whereas both Balinese associations operate in villages. The emphasis of PD is on self-defence and sport, and only then on the cohesion of the association. The document also writes that PD in Bali shows acculturation with Balinese culture: materials from the Hindu philosophy of Bali are inserted into spiritual instruction, and the result is an acculturation of Chinese, Javanese and Balinese silat.
Technique
Draeger 1972 writes that PD is a synthesis of various pencak silat styles, but it keeps clear of the foreign ideas of Japanese judo, aikido, karate-do and jujutsu and of Western boxing, and confines itself to native tactics. It values straight punches, and the fist is screwed in on impact. Kicks go straight and no circular kicks are used. According to him, the emphasis on the heel kick points to Chinese roots.
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According to Draeger, PD is almost entirely free of the tactics of West Java and Minangkabau with the stances depok and sempok, and kuda-kuda is used very little, although in earlier years all teachers insisted on it. As special tactics he names the shoulder block, which is reinforced by economical breathing, and a wide turning movement around the opponent's side. Practitioners perceive the opponent's body as an inverted triangle whose apex is at the crotch, and they look at the centre of the body, not at the eyes. Chambers, Draeger and Alexander 1970 call PD the most sharply rhythmic style of pencak silat and essentially a system of the hands and arms. Practitioners can strike with the forearm as strongly as followers of Mustika Kwitang, but they prefer the open palm, and they are known for rapid change of direction. Wikipedia id states that techniques are learned by grade, for example Minangkabau techniques at the grade Calon Keluarga, Burung Meliwis at white, Kuntul at white-green, Garuda at green, Harimau at green-blue, Satria at blue-red, Pendeta at red and Putri at red-yellow.
Training
According to Draeger 1972, a training session usually lasts an hour, twice a week in the first year, then once a week is enough. The practitioner is to develop technical precision, speed, reaction time, strength, patience and calm, in that order. Weapons are added later, when the skills without weapons seem mastered. No resistance exercises are done except nearly isometric ones, in which the resistance is gravity. Inner strength develops last, a spiritual strength that Draeger calls the mark of a master. The basis of every bodily movement is breathing. According to him, the school speaks of five centres of spirituality, which are symbolised by the five stars in the organisation's emblem. Instruction uses predetermined forms that resemble Japanese katas. Of the short sword pedang, the Chinese straight double-edged type is used. Among special weapons Draeger also lists the halberd and the boxer. Asrianda, Zulfadli and Wibowo 2022 write that serang hindar is found only in Perisai Diri. Two practitioners perform it as a pair, one attacking and the other evading. The method originated directly with the founder and refers to the motto Pandai silat tanpa cedera. According to them, the compulsory weapons are pisau, pedang and toya. Wikipedia id adds that the knife is begun at the grade Putih, the sword at Hijau and the staff at Biru Merah.
Ranks and progression
The system of grades differs between sources. Depdikbud 1985 describes the PD grades in Bali by the colour of the mark: Tingkat I white, II green, III blue, IV red and V golden yellow, each about a year. After passing a test before a committee from the centre, the member is ranked as Pendekar. Examinations are held yearly at a branch's request and led by examiners from the centre. At the third grade, breathing practice begins from four to six in the morning with some mantras, and at the fourth, ethics and spiritual education are added. Depdikbud also describes the beginning: the basic grade has white clothing and belt, after six months a test and belt swapped for a red one, after six more months a test and the title Cakel, calon keluarga, who may wear the emblem. Asrianda, Zulfadli and Wibowo 2022 give other colours: two basic grades, dasar 1 with a white belt and dasar 2 with a black one, then the grade cakel with a red belt and the grade keluarga, marked by the colour of the stripe on the chest badge. Green 2001 writes that PD in Bali adopted a belt system modelled on the Japanese arts, for example judo.
Today
Depdikbud 1985 states that PD in Bali had around 15 thousand members with branches Tabanan, Badung and Buleleng. Membership is open and most members are secondary-school pupils and university students. As its aim and principle the association names creating a quality Indonesian self-defence and a Pancasila person healthy in body and spirit, and developing Indonesian unity and world friendship through national silat. According to the same document, the association's main aim in Bali is for the pupil to achieve the best possible result in competition. Draeger 1972 writes that PD claims around 75 thousand members across Indonesia, is led by eight master teachers and has branches in France and Italy. This is a claim by the school, relayed by Draeger, from the turn of the sixties and seventies. Wikipedia id states that Kelatnas Indonesia Perisai Diri is a member of IPSI and one of the ten schools with the designation Perguruan Historis Pencak Silat, because it contributed to IPSI's early history. According to the same Wikipedia, it has branches in almost every province and commissariats in ten other countries. This is the organisation's claim about itself.
Did you know
Draeger 1972 explains that the name Perisai Diri means self-shield, that is, a shield of oneself, and that it is usually called P.D. The five stars in the organisation's emblem, arranged in a pentagon, symbolise the five centres of spirituality. Chambers, Draeger and Alexander thank the members of Perisai Diri in Java and in Bali in their book of 1970. Wikipedia id states that the international championship Perisai Diri International Championship was first held as Invitasi Internasional in 1991 in Semarang and the ninth edition took place in 2017 in Malang.
Frequently asked questions
When and where did Perisai Diri originate?
According to Depdikbud 1985, it was founded on 2 July 1955 in Surabaya. Draeger 1972 confirms the year 1955 and the founder in the Surabaya area.
Is Perisai Diri a Chinese martial art?
Draeger 1972 calls PD a synthesis of pencak silat styles that confines itself to native tactics, and links Chinese roots only with the emphasis on the heel kick. Wikipedia id states that the founder studied under the Chinese master Yap Kie San of the Siauw Liem Sie lineage.
How does one progress in Perisai Diri?
According to Depdikbud 1985, in Bali one advances through five colour-marked grades, each about a year, and after a test before a committee from the centre a member ranks as Pendekar. Asrianda and co-authors 2022 give other belt colours: white, black, then red.
What is serang hindar?
It is a paired exercise where one practitioner attacks and the other evades. According to Asrianda and co-authors 2022, it is found only in Perisai Diri and came directly from the founder.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.