Catatan Rhino

  During a Betawi wedding ceremony, there is a palang pintu (lit. door's bar) tradition of  Pencak silat Betawi demonstration. It was a choreographed mock fighting between groom's entourage with bride's jagoan kampung (local champion). The fight is naturally won by groom's entourage as the village champs welcomes him to bride's home. The traditional wedding dress of Betawi displays Chinese influence in bride's costume and Arabian influences in groom's costume. Betawi people borrowed Chinese culture of firecrackers during wedding, circumcisions or any celebrative events. The tradition of bringing roti buaya (crocodile bread) during wedding is probably a European custom. Palang Pintu Betawi is a  wedding  ceremonial event was very entertaining. Palang Pintu an activity that aims to get to know the family and arrival destination. Then, as a condition of acceptance of the groom, must pass an exam questions and compete martial arts before the door was open...

The Jawara and Pencak Silat Culture The Sundanesse term Jawara points to central tensions within pencak silat culture between issues of knowledges, power, authority and criminality. In common usage the world jawara has the meaning of a”champion”, an expert at fighting, or indeed anyone who has made a name for themselves in a particular field. In contemporary Sundanese society it is often interchanged with jago, jeger, garong and preman, covering a range of meanings from ‘champion’ and ‘tough’ through to ‘robber’ and ‘ hoodlum’. The Pendekar is the pinnacle of pencak silat culture. Traditionaly it has been an honorific title conferred by society upon a master, not only due to martial skill, but also attributes. More recently the term has become an official title conferred by IPSI (Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia). The development of a hierarchical grading system among modern perguruan, modeled largely upon the Japanesse belt system, awards the title to those who have achieved a hig...