Hlne Bouvier

Ojung and Pencak Silat : Village and National Sports in Madura

In: Archipel. Volume 40, 1990. pp. 23-28.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Bouvier Hlne. Ojung and Pencak Silat : Village and National Sports in Madura. In: Archipel. Volume 40, 1990. pp. 23-28.
doi : 10.3406/arch.1990.2659
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/arch_0044-8613_1990_num_40_1_2659
NOTES MADOURAISES
Hlne BOUVIER
Ojung and Pencak Silat :
Village and National Sports in Madura
Still practiced in several districts of the island of Madura (Indonesia), ojung is a male sporting duel using twisted rattan sticks as weapons. For
merly a bloody and sometimes deadly contest, ojung is still linked to ani
mistic rites, which can explain the government's reluctance to conserve
and promote it. More stylized, pencak silat is practiced in many parts of
Indonesia as a martial art. Beyond its sportive function, pencak silat has
inspired the masculine gestures and movements in dance and theater. This
paper compares the two sports as found in Madura in an effort to deter
mine why ojung remains confined to isolated rural areas while pencak silat
is hailed as a part of the nation's cultural heritage.
It was during the course of research into the artistic activities of Madura
that I gathered the data on which the following reflections are based. A
stay in the field between 1985 and 1987, in the eastern district of the main
island of Madura, in Indonesia, allowed me to discover two complex genr
es, which blend sport and music, game and combat, physical feats and
movement aesthetics. Arriving at a definition of games of torture and mart
ial arts is difficult indeed, and one is tempted to classify respectively ojung
and pencak silat in each of these categories.
In the region of Sumenep, where I carried out my research, ojung is
only found in several districts, considered as more traditional than others,
meaning that they remain attached to ancient practices which have disap
peared elsewhere. These regions are geographically isolated from the main
roads and the small urban centers; their arid limestone hills with poor soil
24
maintain them in a more pronounced state of economic poverty. The farms
are dispersed over difficult terrain, with the households grouped around
common courtyards. Maize, bean, cassava and peanut agriculture assures
little more than bare subsistence, and household animal husbandry is gener
ally reduced to one or two cows or goats and a few chickens. The crucial
problem is that of water : the wells are few and far between, very deep
and often dry during the long dry season which can last over 6 months.
Water from the rains is unpredictable and carefully collected. The inhabi
tants of this region are looked down upon as mountain people (oreng
gunong) by outsiders. Ojung is therefore perceived in this denigrated human
and material context. Another sentiment is added to this disdain, fear.
Proudly claimed by these mountain people , ojung is feared by the uni
nitiated neighbours, giving another argument for avoiding these people,
seen not only as crude, but dangerous.
This form of combat has somewhat frightening aspects indeed, since
up until several decades ago it nearly always ended in bloodshed, if not
death. Strictly masculine, it takes the form of a duel, pitting two men or
two boys against each other armed with a long woven rattan branch. The
weapon, measuring 1 meter 10 in length is held by a sisal cord around the
middle and ring finger. The duelists wear head protection made of burlap
and wrap their left forearm in cloth. They fight bare-chested, wearing seve
ral sarong (long, closed skirts worn by men) which have been rolled up to
the hips. They are also barefoot.
Ojung always takes place in the open air, usually on a hill. Before the
beginning of the duel, two opposing camps, or corners are formed. On
each side of the free space maintained in the center of the spectators which
will serve as the dueling ground, or ring , measuring about 3 by 4 meters,
the specialists and a dukon (traditional magician-healer) dress, massage and
counsel the fighters on each side. The pairs of duelists are chosen based
on their size and weight : potential rivals present themselves in the middle
of the fighting arena where organizers decide if their physical equality per
mits them to fight. The actual fight is divided into rounds (2 to 5 ronda)
lasting several seconds each, during which time the two dueslits must try
to wound their adversary with the rattan stick. The first to inflict a wound,
even a slight cut, is the winner. The most prized wounds are those inflicted
on the shoulder and upper back. The loser can also be he who has released
his stick. Today, the referees break up the fights once a clear winner has
emerged. In former times, the duels took place without referee and without
interruption until a blow caused a shoulder wound or one of the fighters
gave up out of exhaustion. A special form of music, called okol in the hill
areas of Batuputih and Batang-Batang, accompanies the ojung duels. It is
composed of ancient percussion instruments, including 2 or 3 large split
25
drums made out of various palm woods, a xylophone, and sometimes a pair
of small cymbals. Beating a throbbing rhythm during the duels, the okol
group plays varied and animated airs between each round. When there is
no okol group present, the referees chant rhythms aloud during the duels,
thus adding to the suspense and tension of the fights, as if this musical el
ement were absolutely necessary for the concentration of the duelists and
the attention of the spectators. The spectators are of all ages, but men easily
outnumber women. The women and girls remain at a distance outside of
the circle, often perched on rocky outcrops in order to respect the rules
of public avoidance between the sexes without missing any of the action
(more or less strict separation of the sexes is common at all sport and artistic
performances in Madura). The spectators are enthusiastic, voice their sur
prise or admiration and sometimes violence breaks out following a contes
ted refereeing.
According to reports gathered and observations made of the current
form of ojung, it seems that these practices have always been connected
with rituals asking for rain or the maintenance of well and spring water.
In former times, ojung would only take place at the end of a long dry sea
son, to ask for rain. Today, matches are organized as public rehearsals, and
are governed by a referee, as often as once a week year-round in some vil
lage. Still practiced at the yearly celebrations of wells and springs, and at
the end of the dry season to encourage the return of the rains, and already
transformed into a purely spectator sport with no direct ritual function in
other villages, ojung is presently in an intermediary phase where all the
stages of its use are present synchronically. It is currently practiced, howev
er, only in a few rural zones, and does not benefit from diffusion outside
of these regions of origin through the whole system of lessons, clubs, asso
ciations, professors and contests which surround pencak silat. Its reputa
tion as a cruel combat and instigator of rock-throwing fights between spec
tators disgruntled by the refereering renders it very suspicious to local
authorities, who always fear a violent outcome. The practice of buying a
protective magic formula (mantra) from a reputed dukon, often at consi
derable expense, is also incriminated as being a source of economic ruin
for the villagers involved. Finally, the money games and betting, officially
outlawed, often accompany the matches. Possibly, the fact that the mart
ial character of ojung has not been tempered by an obvious search for move
ment aesthetics prevents ojung from being a bona-fide martial art, and rele
gates it to the category of torture games ( pijnlijke spelen ) of which the
Brandts-Buys wrote. Indeed, it seems that ojung belonged to a family of
East Javanese physical training sports running the gamut from war dan
ces to masculinity trials, with different degrees of cruelty. The Ministry
of Culture of the East Java province considers these sports (called tiban
26
or ujung in East Java) as forms of collective exorcism. The duelists are seen
as flagellating each other in order to atone for the errors of the whole vil
lage, thought to be at the origin of an abnormally long dry spell.
Any man known to be an ojung expert (ahli ojung) is treated with genuine
consideration by his co-villagers. Some village heads, who once elected aban
doned this officially inadvisable practice, were able to reap the benefits of
acquired personal prestige. Several Madurese personalities (including a dis
trict head known as a protector of Madurese culture) have taken an inte
rest in the practice and have tried to obtain recognition for it as an honorab
le element of the Madurese cultural heritage. Despite these short-lived
promotional efforts, ojung seems to have permanently obtained a bad repu
tation, while remaining very popular in some villages of the Sumenep dis
trict. In the Indonesian context, it is perhaps not so desirable for the author
ities to encourage a practice which is linked with the pre-Islamic beliefs
condemned by religious leaders.
Pencak silat, of probable Malay origin, is clearly a martial art, used in
fighting or self-defense and which, according to the protagonists, takes the
form of simple bouts or dance movements. Pencak silat is practiced through
out Indonesia, particularly in Sumatra and Java, in clubs staffed with pro
fessors. In Madura, some groups are mixed, but most of the participants
are men. Usually a group is composed of a master, taught in Madura or
East Java, and a few young students, aged between 15 and 35. In the rural
areas, young men most often learn individually from a man considered a
specialist (ahli pencak silat), who is usually also a magician-healer (dukon).
Groups or separate individuals may appear at demonstrations during public
ceremonies, but most often perform during private meetings of 'village
revolving-credit association meetings (arisan), bringing together each week
dozens of friends, family and neighbours. The public is the same as for ojung,
the women remaining outside of the men's circle. The fighters perform two
or three at a time, in varied numbers during which they must show skillful-
ness, quickness and precision in the postures and movements. Acrobatics
and dance blend into a sort of simulated combat, the postures miming ani
mal movements, such as tiger, monkey, bird or snake. Acts of endurance,
dexterity, or magic may also complete the performance (such as eating fire,
pouring boiling oil over the hands or head, juggling burning touches, swal
lowing lightbulbs, standing eggs on end, etc.). Accompanying the perfo
rmance is a musical group generally made up of one or more metal percus
sion instruments and drums which plays in ojung, mostly between each act.
Bouts are fought bare-handed, or with bamboo sticks, bullwhips, knives or
sickles; the blows rarely make contact. The traditional costume for men
and women is loose-fitting black jacket and high-cuffed trousers with a cloth
band at the waist. The participants, who are all amateurs, are supposed
27
to possess physical and moral force, and extraordinary endurance, acqui
red through physical training and knowledge of mantras. Pencak silat has
directly influenced masculine gestures in many other artistic forms, inclu
ding the masked theater (topeng), ludruk theater or ketoprak Madura, the
tayuban dance, and certain styles of haddrah (a collective Moslem chanted
dance). Generally, gestural references to pencak silat correspond with
expressions of challenge, courage, audacity, power and physical or mental
confidence.
This marks one of the major differences with ojung, where the techni
que seems to have had no influence on other sportive or artistic practices.
It seems also that the physical feats of ojung are more glorified than the
mental mastery on which they depend. Mental force depends more on pos
sessing the right mantra than any particular discipline of concentration or
energy control. Considered as a tool fundamentally outside the individual
and purchased from a specialist, magic is an essential ingredient for vic
tory in combat. It is probable also that ojung's historical link with ritual
practices reinforced the importance of magic words. In the pencak silat
however, where physical and mental training are advocated, the mantra
is nothing more than a supplemental guarantee, and gift from the silat mas
ter to his student, consecrating the power of mind over body. The pencak
silat training focuses on the individual and should lead to the mastery of
one's own energies and those of the adversary. In short, ojung appears to
satisfy collective needs (of ritual or warfare), while pencak silat affirms itself
as an individual practice for personal improvement or self-defense.
Through its widespread rural and urban practice supported by a vast
network of associations and competitions, pencak silat is truly the natio
nal martial art. As for ojung, disparaged for multiple reasons, it cannot
even incarnate a regional or ethnic tradition (in this instance that of
Madura). Pencak silat even benefits from indirect promotion in the form
ofilm silat. Although Indonesian films dealing with pencak silat are much
less common than Asian kung-fu or karate films, the name silat is used
to designate without distinction all arts falling into this popular cinemato
graphic genre, giving it a supra-national role. A national association (IPSI :
Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia) has succeeded in standardizing the rules
of pencak silat, which differ regionally, in order to include pencak silat
among the sports practiced in the Indonesian Olympic Games (PON : Pekan
Olahraga Nasional). This concern with homogenizing multiform practices
corresponds with the general movement of Indonesianization (Indonesia-
nisasi) aimed at giving a national and unique character to diversified regio
nal traditions.
28
REFERENCES
N.B. This research was made possible through an Allocation de Recherche pour Jeune Cher
cheur (Direction Gnrale de la Recherche, Ministre de l'Education Nationale, Paris),
and a scholarship from the Indonesian Government (Ministry of Education and Culture).
Brandts Buys, J.S. and A. Brandts Buys- van Zijp, 1928 : De toonkunst bij de Madoeree-
zen , Djawa 8 (3-6) : 122-128.
Dinas Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Jatim, 1986 : Ensiklopedi Seni Musik dan Servi Tari Dae-
rah. Laporan penelitian dan pencatatan kebudayaan daerah Jawa Timur : 309-310.
Note of the Editors
A vivid description of an ujung contest, which was still practised in the Tengger area in the
early 1930s, may be found in the ethnographical short story by Romano (Liem Khing Hoo)
entlited Oedjoeng (Liberty V, 50, May 1932, pp. 52-58).