Preserved in music, dance, and art--as well as in ritual, tribal law, and mythology--the fighting arts of the Indonesian archipelago play a central role in Indonesian culture. The Martial Arts of Indonesia is a heavily illustrated and well-researched work from revered martial arts scholar and teacher Donn F. Draeger. Draeger offers an expert's perspective on the story of Indonesia's martial culture, providing a comprehensive introduction to the sophisticated forms of empty-hand combat. These acrobatic fighting styles like Pencak Silat--which was granted World Cultural Heritage status by UNESCO in 2019--and Kuntao are growing in popularity around the world. This book also has extensive information on traditional Indonesian weapons including: Keris: A dagger with a waved blade and pistol-grip handle Kujang: A sickle-shaped dagger with a distinctive curve Rencong: An L-shaped knife with a slightly curved blade Draeger shows how these unique Indonesian forms are related to their mainland cousins, provides a historical context for their development, and describes the various combat methods employed throughout Indonesia. This edition includes a new foreword by Gary Nathan Gartenberg, the world's leading expert on Indonesian martial arts, which explains the lasting importance of this classic study of an ancient martial tradition. With over 400 photos and illustrations of moves and weapons that showcase the intricacies of the Indonesian fighting forms, The Martial Arts of Indonesia is an indispensable addition to any martial artist's library.

The Indonesian talent for harmoniously blending indigenous styles with the arts of the Asian mainland has given rise to fighting arts that are among the most fascinating in the world. Preserved in music, dance, and art as—well as in ritual, tribal law, and mythology—the fighting arts of Indonesian archipelago play a central role in Indonesian culture. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia — a profusely illustrated and well researched work from renowned scholar and martial arts teacher Donn F. Draeger — provides a comprehensive introduction to the sophisticated forms of empty-hand combat and myriad unique weapons that characterize Indonesian fighting styles like Pentjak-silat and Kuntao. Draeger shows how the forms are related to their mainland cousins, provides a historical context for their development, and describes the combat methods of Menangkabau warriors, Alefuru headhunters and the Celates pirates. With over 400 illustrations, Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia is an indispensable addition to any martial artist's library.

The fighting arts of Indonesia, a mix of pentjak silat and Chinese kuntao, were never meant for sport: they are brutal, unrelenting and designed to take the enemy out and punish him every step of the way. This unprecedented book by a long-time student of Dutch-Indonesian Master Willem de Thouars shows you why.

Fighting arts have their own beauty, internal philosophy, and are connected to cultural worlds in meaningful and important ways. Combining approaches from ethnomusicology, ethnochoreology, performance theory and anthropology, the distinguishing feature of this book is that it highlights the centrality of the pluripotent art form of pencak silat among Southeast Asian arts and its importance to a network of traditional and modern performing arts in Southeast Asia and beyond. By doing so, important layers of local concepts on performing arts, ethics, society, spirituality, and personal life conduct are de-mystified. With a distinct change in the way we view Southeast Asia, this book provides a wealth of information about a complex of performing arts related to the so-called 'world of silat'. An ancillary media companion website (www.bits4culture.org/pencaksilatandmusic/) is part of this work. Login authorisation information is included in the book. Contributors include: Bussakorn Binson, Jean-Marc de Grave, Gisa Jähnichen, Margaret Kartomi, Zahara Kamal, Indija Mahjoeddin, Ako Mashino, Paul H. Mason, Uwe U. Paetzold, Kirstin Pauka, Henry Spiller and Sean Williams.

This study examines the Indonesian martial arts pencak silat as media practices. The author delineates embodied and disembodied media practices to analyze the dynamics of mediatization in pencak silat and Indonesian society at large.

The effort O'ong Maryono has made to compile a book on the development of pencak silat, is, in itself, commendable. This integrated presentation provides for a better and more comprehensive understanding of the various aspects of pencak silat. As well as discussing the historical aspects of pencak silat, O'ong Maryono also examines current issues in pencak silat. In other words, a retrospective and prospective view of pencak silat. I hope that this book will be widely read, and provide a 'lively' and substantial critical analysis that will improve the quality of discourse on pencak silat as a whole. Edy Sedyawati Director General of Culture Department of Education and Culture This book is quite unique. Unique in the literal sense: there is no other like it. It is quite a remarkable fact that although frequent reference is made to pencak silat in various contexts, and it even constitutes a specific type of literature and category of film that relate the heroic stories of its masters, never before has a writer attempted to gather comprehensive information about this 'art of self defence'. Therefore, this book by O'ong Maryono could be said to be uncontested. And herein lies its second uniqueness: this encyclopedic book was written not by a graduate in the peace and quiet of his study, but by an expert in silat in the frenzy of the contest arena. Henri Chambert-Loir Director Ecole Fran9ais D'Extreme-Orient

This is a complete presentation of the principles and applications of one of the most effective martial arts styles, written by one of the most sought-after Silat masters of all time, the late Herman Suwanda. The book explores the art and science of this Indonesian combat method. There is a detailed breakdown of the offensive and defensive skills used in Pentjak Silat, and the tactical elements of timing, distance, rhythm, cadence, and tempo. The unique principles and techniques of Silat as taught by the late Herman Suwanda are fully described in this authoritative book. It is a true gem by one of the legendaries masters of Pentjak Silat.